Hysenbelliu Family
Irfan Hysenbelliu is an entrepreneur in the field of construction, hotel business, brewery and private higher education. He started his career in 1994 as a trader and importer of goods, but later expanded into the profitable construction market in Tirana. In 1997 Hysenbelliu privatized the state-owned enterprise for the production of educational materials “ALB-MS 97’ and together with ten other businessmen privatized ‘Birra Tirana’- Albania’s largest beer brewery. Later he sold his stake in ‘Birra Tirana’ and bought the ‘Birra Korca’ brewery in 2004.
In 2002 Hysenbelliu invested in the media sector and founded Panorama Group LLC, which owns the daily newspaper Panorama, the sport daily Panorama Sport and the weekly magazine Psikologjia. In 2011, Hysenbelliu extended his reach in the audiovisual media market and bought the TV station News 24, the daily newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare, the portal Balkanweb.com and radio Rash for 5.9 million EUR together with the late banker Artan Santo. After Santo’s brutal assassination in June 2014, Hysenbelliu became the sole owner of Focus Group.
In January 2023, he expanded his media activity again with Panorama TV. In June 2023, he donated his shares at Panorama Group to his children, Fabiola (50%) and Fatmir Hysenbelliu (50%).
In two decades as a media publisher, Irfan Hysenbelliu managed to maintain close relations with both government and opposition politicians. But the situation changed in September 2022, when a governmental agency seized a hotel owned by Hysenbelliu, claiming it had been built illegally. In December 2022, the hotel was demolished by the authorities in a spectacular way without waiting for the court's decision. Hysenbelliu accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of orchestrating the attack and claimed that this was a revenge for the editorial line of News 24 and the newspaper "Panorama". Rama denied the accusations and insisted that the issue was only related to law enforcement.
Business
Construction
Erjoni (100%)
W. Elektrik (100%)
Trade
Pegasos (50%)
Hysenbelliu Group (100%)
Tourism and hospitality
Hysenbelliu (100%)
Winery
Egnatia Group (100%)
Bottled water production
Fab Group (100%)
Brewery
Egnatia Group-Birra Korca (100%)
Education
Kolegji Universitar Luarasi (100%)
Family & Friends
Affiliated Interests Family Members Friends
the daughter of Irfan Hysenbelliu, 50% shareholder of Panorama Group and a member of the supervisory council of the company.
the son of Irfan Hysenbelliu, 50% shareholder of Panorama Group and a member of the Supervisory Council of the company.
Further Information
Meta Data
The ownership structure and financial statement are publicly available at the Albanian National Business Registry for Focus Media News, Focus Press and Panorama Group. The financial data provided are for 2022. The Central Bank's average exchange rate for 2022 was used to convert the amounts into USD. Focus Group and Panorama Group replied to the MOM information request on 27 July 2023. See sources for more.