Opposition to Skavica Dam an environmental NGO located in Dibra has secured an important milestone in the fight against Skavica Dam project in Albania, in region of Dibra. A constitutional complained submitted by Opposition to Skavica Dam has now been accepted for trial in public plenary. The complaint alleges the violation principles of economic freedom and legal equality in the reward of public contract. Without any tender procedure, the Bechtel Corporation was approved from the parliament of Albania approving special law 38/2021 that protects Bechtel Corporation and warranty the build of Skavica Dam regarding of Environmental assessments and feasibility studies. The Skavica dam would flood the last free-flowing stretch of the Black Drin River in Albania which originates from Lake Ohrid, in North Macedonia, and flows into the Adriatic Sea. Plans for the project date back to the 1960s, when Skavica was conceptualised as part of the Drin Cascade comprising three other large hydropower plants, which are already in operation.
The financial costs of the project have risen four times to over a billion euros but financing has not been secured yet. Bechtel has gained notoriety in the region and globally for its involvement in various unsuccessful and/or overpriced projects, often awarded without tender processes.
The Skavica reservoir would submerge much of the impoverished but historic region of Dibra, a long, fertile, and scenic valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. In recent years it has emerged as a hub for ecotourism and organic farming, partly subsidised by the Albanian government.