Between public - private partnerships and public finance in the public infrastructure sector: The water and sanitation sector in Albania

It’s known in the literature that public-private partnerships (PPPs) are one the main instruments that permit private collaboration in projects that are public otherwise. It’s also clear that their implementation is different depending on the rules of the countries, their market level of acceptance etc. The first objective of this paper is to revise PPPs projects in the water sector in Albania, seen in the context of alternative financing ways for joint-stock companies of Albanian water sector, due to the nature of the market (a developing emerging market), in the context of bad fi nancial times after 2008 (the start of the international financial crisis). The second objective is to describe the development of the Albanian legislation for management contracts introduced for the first time in the waters and sanitation sector in 2004 and privatization practices in public sector. The main conclusion is that in the developing markets creating possibilities for private sector participation in the infrastructure public services (especially in the drinking water and sanitation sector) will be seen with skepticism because of failed previous privatization practices or the sensitivity degree of the water sector related to the penetration level of private factor in the sector. Public finance will be explored as a convenient alternative.