Albania courts NATO investors to revive Soviet-era munitions plants

WARSAW, Poland — Albanian Defense Minister Niko Peleshi has announced that the country’s government aims to relaunch its three dormant weapon and ammunition production facilities amid military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. The ministry intends to attract foreign investors to allow the companies to roll out new products.

“Revitalization will be a process aimed at promoting innovation. We no longer pretend that the industry will be developed by the state, but by attracting investors from NATO,” the official said on April 17 at the Albanian parliament.

With this development, the Albanian government is joining a growing number of European countries who have intensified efforts to ramp up ammunition production in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Peleshi said that the Defense Ministry has already kicked off work on the project to revive the three factories, collaborating with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. Tirana aims to determine the necessary investment values and the demand for their potential products, according to the official.

Albania halted manufacturing of arms and ammunition at the plants following the collapse of its communist regime and the country’s transformation into a market economy. The production facilities were built in the 1960s, and are located in Poliçan, Elbasan and Gramsh. The latter two factories have been transformed into weapon demilitarization facilities, while the plant in Poliçan was completely shut down.

Albania joined NATO together with Croatia in April 2009.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——阿尔巴尼亚国防部长尼科·佩莱希宣布，鉴于欧洲和中东的军事冲突，该国政府计划重启三家闲置的武器弹药生产设施。国防部打算吸引外国投资者，使这些公司能够推出新产品。

“振兴将是一个旨在促进创新的过程。我们不再幻想这个行业将由国家发展，而是通过吸引北约投资者来实现，”这位官员4月17日在阿尔巴尼亚议会表示。

随着这一进展，阿尔巴尼亚政府加入了越来越多的欧洲国家的行列，这些国家在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后加大了弹药生产的力度。

佩莱希表示，国防部已启动三家工厂的复兴项目，并与北约支援与采购局合作。据这位官员透露，地拉那方面的目标是确定必要的投资额以及潜在产品的市场需求。

阿尔巴尼亚在共产主义政权垮台、国家转型为市场经济后，停止了这些工厂的武器弹药生产。这些生产设施建于20世纪60年代，分别位于波利坎、埃尔巴桑和格拉姆什。其中，埃尔巴桑和格拉姆什的工厂已改建为武器销毁设施，而波利坎的工厂则彻底关闭。

阿尔巴尼亚于2009年4月与克罗地亚一同加入北约。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。