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Fiks Fare denounced on Thursday evening the confusion surrounding the opening of the Museum at the General Directorate of Archives, which was presented with much fanfare, but has not yet opened, due to "technical problems".
The project, construction and supervision cost around 1 million euros, but the opening has been indefinitely postponed, initially due to the delay of the winning firms and then due to the restoration of the materials that will be placed on the stands.
In 2023 and 2024, the former director of the Archives, Ardit Bido, presented the Museum project, saying that it would open very soon. A 3D video of what the Museum would look like was even presented to a group of foreign historians.
According to documents researched by Fiks Fare, the first tender was for the design, announced in November 2022, with a value of 833 thousand lek. In May 2023, the procedure for the "musealization and fire protection system for the Archive Museum" was opened, with a value of 83 million lek and a duration of 6 months. The first procedure was canceled, because no suitable offer was submitted.
The procedure was re-announced with the same value in June 2023, where the winner was the joint venture of operators "OB Konstruksion and ED Konstruksion", although they did not have the lowest bid. In August 2023, the contract was signed, which was to end after 6 months!
Despite these expenses, has the museum been opened at the General Directorate of Archives?
A Fiks Fare associate went to that Director to ask if the museum was open, claiming that a group would be coming from Italy to visit it. The employees' response was that "it's not open yet," without giving a timeframe. Another response was that "there are technical problems," as the agony continues in that institution.
After this response, Fiks Fare journalists went and interviewed the current director Auron Rrokaj. He said that the Museum was taken over at the end of 2024 and the Archives had 1 year to see if there would be any problems. "There were some problems that the contracting company came and fixed. We have made all the preparations, there has been a delay in the restoration of documents and materials. We are also preparing some regulations and it will open very soon," said Rrokaj.
Fiks Fare asked him if he had information on how much the design, construction or supervision, as well as other procedures of the Archive, cost. He said that the restoration in the laboratory costs. Another procedure opened by the Archives Directorate was the purchase of laboratory equipment, with a fund of about 9 million lek. Again, in the service of the Museum, which has not yet opened and continues to devour money.
The director said that he would send us the exact figure in writing. In his written response, Rrokaj said that the procurement value was 99.8 million lek including VAT, or about 1 million euros. According to him, from this value, the economic operator was withheld an amount of 7.1 million lek as a penalty for the 83-day delay in the completion of the works. The design and supervision cost 1.6 million lek.
In the same response, the Archives says that the curation of documents, the processing of photographic, audio and video materials, has been a process outside this project. In the interview, the director said that some videos and photos are being projected on the monitors. The same institution, in 2023, has opened a tender for the digitization of sound and image materials. The value of the tender was 46 million lek. So, the tenders for the completion of the Museum have continued.
When asked why the opening of the Museum was delayed, the Archives said that the temporary handover of the works was made on September 1, 2024 and the works were carried out with a delay.
Fiksi asked the Archive about former director Ardit Bido's statements in 2023 and 2024 that the Museum would open very soon. The response was that "the institution cannot comment on statements made by current and former directors."
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