He pulled out his pen. On the bid form, he wrote his total: 48,720,000 lekë. Exactly 5.8% above the manual’s baseline, but justified by four attached invoices and a notarized exchange rate statement from the Bank of Albania.
Ardi had been a site engineer for twelve years. He’d survived the price chaos of 2022 when a bag of cement jumped 40% overnight. He’d seen subcontractors walk off sites in 2023 when diesel hit 300 lekë per liter. But this—this thin manual—was different. This was the government’s final word on how much a brick, a beam, or a bucket of paint was allowed to cost in public works. manuali i cmimeve te ndertimit 2024
Last year, the 2023 manual had been a joke. The listed price for rebar was 110 lekë per kilo, but the market was selling it at 155. Every bidder had to fudge numbers, hide margins in “transport costs” or “unforeseen earthworks.” It was a game of lies. Two contractors had even gone to jail for fraud. He pulled out his pen