The EBRD (The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) is considering financing the rehabilitation of up to 500km of the regional and local road network in Albania. The project will be co-financed with EIB and supported with IPA funds.

The project supported by the Albanian Government is part of a wider program of regional and local road rehabilitation, parallel-financed by the World Bank, CEB and the OPEC Fund for International Development.

The main objectives of the program are to improve access to markets and essential services, supporting the economic development of rural areas and their integration into the national economy. The implementing agency of this major project is the Albanian Development Fund (ADF).

This project supports the ongoing reforms undertaken in the road sector in Albania. Under these reforms the administration of the national and regional roads will get consolidated via the establishment of an independent road agency. The reforms represent the shift towards a commercial arrangement for the arrangement for the provision of road administration in Albania.

The rehabilitation of the secondary and local roads in Albania which started last year is considered by the Government and donors as a major program as it will improve the living conditions of the inhabitants in rural areas via the reconstruction of the road infrastructure and will increase access to markets, improving productivity and promoting development of the agricultural sector.