TIRANA — Mounting evidence suggests that sanctioned Russian and Iranian interests may be exploiting Albania’s infrastructure to evade Western trade restrictions, raising alarms among investigators and NATO partners over potential corruption and state negligence.
Reports indicate that through a mix of smuggling, lax oversight and possible complicity within the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama, entities embedded in Albania’s critical infrastructure have facilitated commercial flows that appear to violate international sanctions on Moscow and Tehran.
A recent investigation by RBC Ukraine uncovered how banned Russian fuel products are being smuggled into Europe via Albanian ports. The report details deceptive cargo declarations — including two ships that docked at the private port of Porto Romano near Durrës under the guise of carrying cement but were in fact transporting roughly 600,000 litres of undeclared diesel. According to Balkan Insight, parts of this network trace back to supply chains involving Libya’s Khalifa Haftar and may serve as funding channels for Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
Around the same period, a separate case drew attention to another sector of Albania’s infrastructure. A Swiss-based company — whose ultimate shareholders are Turkish-Iranian nationals previously sanctioned by U.S. authorities — reportedly entered Albania’s market through Algeria. The firm’s opaque ownership and alleged ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps were outlined in a Hashtag.al investigation, prompting concerns that Iranian interests have gained indirect access to Albanian assets.
The controversy surrounding Vlora International Airport has added a new dimension to these worries. Local media have revealed that the airport’s operating company maintains a partnership with an offshore entity named Compartment Bernina, a Luxembourg-registered securitisation vehicle. According to Vox News Albania, the structure allows for the transfer of assets beyond Albanian jurisdiction — and the entity’s representatives are reportedly linked to Russian state networks.
The pattern has left analysts questioning Albania’s ability to safeguard its infrastructure against foreign influence. As The GPC recently noted, Albania’s NATO membership and pro-Western stance are undermined by weak governance and a lack of transparency in port, fuel and airport management.
Whether this erosion of safeguards stems from deliberate collusion, bureaucratic failure or endemic corruption, the implications are serious. Albania now appears to be one of the weakest points in Europe’s sanctions regime — a breach through which Russian and Iranian interests continue to flow unchecked. Without decisive oversight and accountability, the wall meant to contain sanctioned regimes could soon crumble into little more than a façade.
