A consortium of Hainan Air Travel Service, HNA, and China National Aero Technology, has qualified for the final round of bidding on the concession to redevelop and operate the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade.
According to the airport website, there are four other bidders approved to participate in Phase II: a Swiss-French consortium comprising Meridiam Eastern Europe Investments, Zurich Airport and Eiffage; an Indian-Greek consortium made up of GMR Infrastructure Ltd and Terna; the French company Vinci Airports; a South Korean-Turkish-Russian consortium comprising Incheon International Airport Corporation, JC Ictas Altzapi Yatirimlari ve Islatme, and VTB Capital Infrastructure Holding Limited Cyprus.
Binding offers, with the details pertaining to the development of the Belgrade Airport and planned investments, will have to arrive by September 4.
The Serbian deputy prime minister, who also holds the position of minister of construction, traffic and infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlovic, has said that she expects the concession agreement relating to Nikola Tesla Airport to be signed before the end of the year.
In May, Mihajlovic visited Beijing where she met with senior Chinese officials and Hungarian foreign minister Pete Szijjarto to discuss progress on the Belgrade to Budapest high-speed rail link, which is being built by Chinese companies.
The concession term for Belgrade Airport, which is one of the fastest growing in the region, will be 25 years.
A total of 27 non-binding bids were sent during the pre-qualifying stage, including companies from Russia, Japan, Spain and Germany (Fraport). There were also bids from Shenzhen International Airport Group, China State Construction Engineering Corp and Jiangsu Nantong Liujian Construction Group.
Elsewhere in the region, neighbouring Bulgaria is also pressing ahead with the delayed privatization of Sofia Airport. The tender will be relaunched in September this year, Bulgaria’s minister of transport, information technology and communications announced recently.
Photo: Dungodung / Wikipedia.com
