POGRADEC, Albania — A 23-storey development approved for Pogradec has put Socialist Party MP Bledi Çomo under scrutiny because the company listed as the project's developer, MOLOS sh.p.k., is registered with Çomo and his brother Genci Çomo as its owners.
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The case has drawn attention because Çomo is not only connected to the company behind the project but is also a sitting member of Albania's Parliament representing the Korçë electoral district, including Pogradec, local media reports.
From Socialist youth organization to Parliament
Çomo's political career began in the Socialist Party's youth organization, FRESSH, in 2004, according to Albanian media reports. He later worked as secretary to Socialist politician Fatmir Xhafaj and subsequently held positions in local government, including secretary of the Korçë Regional Council and deputy mayor of Pogradec.
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His election gave Pogradec a direct representative in the new parliamentary majority.
One year later, the city is at the center of a controversy over a major construction project.
The company behind “Feneri i Pogradecit”
Corporate-registration information provides a particularly important piece of the story.
MOLOS sh.p.k. was established in July 2024 with its registered headquarters in Pogradec. Its declared business activities include real-estate investment, property transactions and civil, industrial, economic and tourism construction.
According to the company's registration history, Bledi Çomo initially owned 100% of MOLOS. On April 24, 2025, he transferred 50% of the shares to his brother, Genci Çomo, leaving the company with a 50–50 ownership structure between the two brothers.
That means the company identified as developer of the 23-storey “Feneri i Pogradecit” project is not merely associated with Çomo through a historical connection: the available corporate records show that he remained a 50% shareholder of MOLOS.
The question of the “trusted person”
Reports about the case have also focused on a change made after Çomo entered Parliament, when he reportedly transferred the active exercise of his rights over his shares to a person identified as Kristi Kokoneshi.
That distinction matters.
Under Article 70 of Albania's Constitution, MPs cannot exercise profitable activities arising from state or local-government property, nor acquire such property. The Constitution also establishes a procedure for determining incompatibility, with the Constitutional Court having the role of establishing it in the circumstances specified by the Constitution.
A 2025 Constitutional Court decision concerning another parliamentary incompatibility dispute also discussed the legal significance of transferring the management or active exercise of rights while retaining ownership. The Court stated in that case that appointing trusted persons to manage companies does not, by itself, mean that a deputy has lost ownership or the right to benefit from the shares.
That precedent does not automatically establish that Çomo has violated the Constitution. The circumstances of each case must be examined separately, including the source of any public benefit and the precise nature of the transaction.
But it makes the ownership structure of MOLOS a legitimate matter for public scrutiny.
A 23-storey tower in Pogradec
The KKTU documentation cited by Albanian media lists “Feneri i Pogradecit” as a hotel, residential and service structure reaching 23 floors, with MOLOS sh.p.k. named as the developer.
The project's scale is particularly significant in Pogradec, a lakeside city whose urban landscape is substantially smaller than that of Tirana, where high-rise construction has become increasingly common.
The central question is therefore not simply whether Albania permits 23-storey buildings.
It is who is behind the development, how the permit was evaluated, and whether all applicable conflict-of-interest and transparency requirements were properly respected.
Those questions become more important when the developer's ownership includes a sitting MP from the governing party representing the area where the project is being built.
Politics, business and the public interest
The case also illustrates a broader issue in Albania's development model: the increasingly close proximity between political office, private investment and decisions concerning valuable urban land.
The existence of that proximity does not, by itself, prove an illegal act or establish that a permit was improperly granted.
But it creates a transparency question that deserves documentary answers.
The relevant records should make it possible to establish:
- who formally applied for the construction permit;
- who owned MOLOS when the application was submitted;
- who owned it when the permit was approved;
- who exercised the economic and voting rights attached to Çomo's shares;
- what public authorities reviewed the project;
- what urban-planning criteria justified the 23-storey height;
- and whether the relevant parliamentary conflict-of-interest rules were considered.
These are questions that can be answered through official documents rather than political slogans.
For Pogradec, the issue is ultimately larger than the name of one MP or one construction company. A 23-storey project can materially change the city's skyline and urban character. At the same time, the company's ownership structure makes the project relevant to a wider discussion about the separation between public office and private economic interests.
The permit may be legal. The ownership may be declared. But transparency requires that the public be able to see exactly how the two intersect.
And in the case of “Feneri i Pogradecit,” the documents now put that intersection directly in the spotlight.