ogress in 1970 on a line that will connect Elbasan
with Prrenjas, which is just over five miles from Lake Ohrid. This line
follows the route of the old Roman Via Egnatia, and in later programs it
will probably be extended to Lin, on the lake, and then southward to
Korce. When these lines are completed, they and the road network will
provide vastly improved internal communications, but many small areas
within the North Albanian Alps and the higher central and eastern
mountains will remain difficult to reach.

Pipeline

During the mid-1930s the Italian state-owned petroleum company
constructed a forty-four-mile, eight-inch pipeline to connect the
oilfields in the Stalin area with the port of Vlore. The line had a
capacity of about 5,000 barrels a day and carried crude for
transshipment to refineries in Italy. In the early 1950s the line was
extended northward to the newly built refinery at Cerrik.

Airlines

In the early post-World War II period when Albania was practically a
vassal state of Yugoslavia, regular air traffic was established between
Belgrade and Tirana. After the estrangement of Yugoslavia from the
Soviet Union, when Albania became a satellite of the Soviet Union,
regular traffic was set up between Tirana and Moscow and, to a lesser
degree, between Tirana and the capitals of the Eastern European
Communist countries other than Belgrade. When Albania became aligned
with Communist China, direct connections with almost all external points
were severed. Even Peking flights were routed via intermediate stops in
Italy, usually Bari or Rome.

Between 1967 and 1970 connections between Albania and most of the
Eastern European countries, but not the Soviet Union, were gradually
restored. Service is scheduled but infrequent. Weekly flights are
typically connected through Belgrade. Traffic elsewhere is ordinarily
routed via Italy. Albanian officials depart and reenter the country via
Bari or Rome, connecting to Tirana on a scheduled Alitalia flight or by
an Albanian flight. Internal air services are also limited. Those
available are centered on Tirana.

Merchant Shipping

Because no railway leaves the country and border-crossing roads are
inadequate, nearly all foreign trade is carried by sea. Durres and Vlore
are the major ports. Durres has a first-class harbor, warehouses,
petroleum storage tanks, a shipbuilding capability, and railway spurs to
the docks. Vlore is a better natural port and is the terminu