Embargo of the EMS APO East-Terminal in the Albanian port Durres

In 2013, EMS APO signed a long-term contract with the Albanian ministry for transport, in which EMS APO was appointed as operator of the East-Terminal. EMS APO pays a monthly rent and the state participates in the profits. In addition EMS APO committed itself to invest a double-digit million sum into the terminal, more than five million Euros have already been invested into the modernisation.
Besides bureaucratic obstruction by the port administration there are frequent illegal occupations of the terminal. In the longest one so far the terminal has been occupied for more than a week now.
We are very worried regarding the event in Durres”, says Manfred Müller, general manager of EMS APO. “A port is a very dangerous workspace and such embargoes put our employees are put in danger.”
There is total incomprehension on the part of the EMS APO managers regarding the reaction of the port administration which does nothing about these activities. “We look at this as a concerted action to push EMS APO from the port. Only last week we were told in written form that our legal basis is more than sound. We are still regularly paying the rent for the terminal to the port administration but at the same time we are barred from doing business. What is happening here will deter foreign investors who are planning to do business in Albania”, Manfred Müller continues to say.
EMS Albanian Port Operator Shpk is part of the EMS-Fehn Group – 17 companies with locations in Leer, Emden, Papenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, Helsinki, Riga, Bolzano, Genoa, Palermo, Durres, Skopje and Ft. Lauderdale. The EMS-Fehn Group comprises chartering-, logistics-, specialised transports-, port handling-, yacht transport-, warehousing-, intralogistics and crewing companies such as shipping companies with presently 19 ships. The EMS-Fehn Group has 230 employees on land as well as 220 employees on board of the ships.
www.ems-apo.com     www.ems-fehn-group.de