Granite tiles for 1.6 million euros: a car park for MPs is going up on land the state took away from itself

Behind Parliament, right next to the army headquarters, a car park is being built for the vehicles of MPs and staff. The project is worth 101,951,456 denars - a little over 1.6 million euros. The contractor is the firm „Stenton gradba\", with whom the contract was signed on 8 June this year, with a one-year completion deadline.

Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi announced the project in vocabulary in which nothing sounds expensive: „This space is getting a tidier and more functional appearance, creating better conditions for parking and for the everyday needs of Parliament.\"

What goes into 1.6 million euros

According to the tender documentation, the works cover breaking up the existing asphalt, laying granite tiles, building paths and parking spaces, planting trees, urban furniture and lighting, a new gatehouse and a vehicle access control system.

Not one of those items is questionable on its own. Together, they are a bill of over one hundred million denars for arranging a space with a single purpose - where MPs and official vehicles will park. Nobody else will be walking on those granite tiles.

The story of this land is older than the car park

The space was originally earmarked for a multi-storey garage. In 2013 the company „Ango\" bought the 2,455 square metres of land at public auction for 333,000 euros, planning to use a small part of it as commercial space too.

In September 2024 Mickoski came out against the project, judging that somebody had acted unreasonably and irresponsibly in approving construction that endangers the security of Parliament. Parliament then passed a law declaring the land a security zone, construction was halted, and the owner was promised compensation.

So: a private company bought land at public auction with permission to build. The state later decided that permission had been a mistake, annulled it by law - and is now building a car park for itself on the same spot, with budget money. The compensation for the owner has still not been added up in any of these statements.

The question no statement asks

What does the total bill come to? 1.6 million euros for the construction, plus compensation for the company whose investment was halted by law. Both items are public money and both flow from the same move. No statement adds them together.

The car park is due to be finished by the end of 2026. The question of what the 2013 mistake cost will stay open after that too.