Two concessionaires on Croatian roads under the majority ownership of the state – Bina Istra and the Autocesta Zagreb – Macelj (AZM) motorways – have not paid a cent of concession fees to the state, the Vecernji List daily reports.
Istra Bina has held concession rights to the Istrian Ipsilon since 1995, while the company AZM has had a concession on the Zagreb – Macelj motorway since 2004. Despite this, the state has yet to reap any profits from the concession.
Thus the suggestion from Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor’s adviser Zeljko Lovrincevic that state-owned roads should be let for concessions has obviously failed to help Croatia’s empty National Budget.
The reason for this is that the concession agreements stipulate that the concession fees are not to be paid at once, rather bit by bit.
In both cases, the concessions granted were modeled as public-private partnerships. In the instance of the AZM, the private partner is the Austrian firm Strabag (through its company Pyhrn Concession Holding GmbH) which holds a 51% share in AZM, while the Republic of Croatia holds the remaining 49%.
According to figures the Vecernji List received from the Ministry of Transport, Sea and Infrastructures, AZM is meant to pay a concession fee in the value of 6% of the total dividend paid out to shareholders. However, the AZM has yet to end a financial term in the black.
The Ministry reports that the concessionaire compensates this by paying a 6% interest fee, in accordance with the company loan agreement. According to this article of the contract the AZM has paid only interest on a €103,910 state loan, in the amount of €91,582.
