EUR 350-450mn from airport concessionaire right away - PM

The future concessionaire of the Belgrade's Nikola Tesla International Airport might immediately pay between 350 and 450 million euros to the state budget.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said this on Wednesday, adding that the concession would be fully transparent and that the concessionaire would also be paying an annual fee.

Asked whether Air Serbia was in a crisis, Brnabic told RTS that the carrier was trying to operate in a very demanding market, and that it was succeeding.

"Air Serbia is a key elements behind the airport's success," she said.

Brnabic also stated that the company's business also played a key role in attracting "five quality bidders" for the concession.

She added that Air Serbia was "not in big problems" and was doing business "excellently" - describing it as very important for Serbia from various points of view, including the country's image.

It was announced that a preliminary decision on the best bids for the airport concession would be made by December 25, and that it was expected that all five qualified bidders would submit binding offers.

But Beta reported later on Tuesday that one of them, the Chinese consortium of HNA and China National Aero-Technology, joined by the Cypriot company Severika, had withdrawn from the proceedings.

The bids have been submitted by the Swiss-French consortium of the Zurich Airport and the companies Eiffage and Meridiam Eastern Europe Investments, the Indian-Greek consortium of GMR Infrastructure ltd and Terna, the French company Vinci Airports, and the South Korean-Turkish-Cypriot consortium of Incheon International Airport Corporation, Yatirimlari ve Islatme and VTB Capital Infrastructure.

The Serbian government in February invited potential concessionaires to bid for the right to finance, develop, maintain and manage the airport's infrastructure and acts as an operator for a period...

Continue reading on: