The bid for a concession on Zagreb Airport submitted by the French consortium Zagreb Airport International Company (ZAIC) is extremely good and, if adopted, Croatia will get hundreds of millions of euros in concession fee, the state secretary for infrastructure at the transport and infrastructure ministry, Tomislav Mihotic, said on Monday.
Bids for a concession for the construction of a new passenger terminal were submitted by ZAIC and the Swiss-Austrian consortium Airport Zurich/Strabag, but its bid was not considered because it was incomplete. ZAIC is backed by the Paris airport (ADPM - Aeroports de Paris Management) and the construction company Bouygues Batiment International (BBI).
ZAIC has offered a fixed sum of EUR 87.2 million over a 30-year period and, when one adds the variable part, Croatia could get a couple of hundred million euros in concession fee, Mihotic told the press, adding that "we can all be very pleased," as the bid is excellent and would be backed by reputable international banks.
Mihotic said that although the concessionaire was in charge of financing the project, those banks had contacted Croatia, but would not say which banks, only that they backed the biggest infrastructure projects in Croatia.
The decision on the bid will be made by the government within 100 days. The government is expected to take into account the fixed concession fee, the variable concession fee, the business plan, the technical and operational plan, and the financial plan.
If the government annuls the tender, the bidder will request the protection of its interests, so Croatia will to pay penalties, reporters were told.
The concession, which the government is giving for 30 years, envisages the construction of a new passenger terminal and the management of the existing as well as the new terminal and their infrastructure.
Investment in the first stage of construction of the new terminal is estimated at EUR 190 million.
