The Serbian government has, for a second time, delayed its decision to grant a 25-year concession for the financing, development through construction and reconstruction, maintenance and management of infrastructure of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The Public Body overseeing the process announced this evening, "The extension of the deadlines for the Public Body's decision on the selected best bid is necessary for the purpose of comprehensive analysis of additional information and documentation received from bidders at the request of the Public Body, with the purpose of expert evaluation of the bids in accordance with terms and criteria defined in advance in the Instructions for Bidders for Phase 2 of the Procedure and for the purpose of protection of public interest and equal and fair treatment of all bidders".

Three consortia and one stand-alone company have submitted binding bids. Originally, the decision on the winning offer was to be made on December 25, but was moved to December 29 due to the Christmas holidays in the majority of countries taking part in the process. The decision is now due on January 5, 2018, unless it is prolonged again. The concession process commenced on February 10, with 27 companies expressing initial interest. Under the terms of the concession, the individual bidder or consortium cannot hold more than 20% of the share capital or voting rights of an airport with more than one million passengers located within a 450 kilometre radius from Belgrade. As a result, this immediately disqualified Aéroports de Paris, the Marguerite Fund, Bouygues Bâtiment International, TAV Airports, Limak and Fraport.

Commenting on the concession process earlier this week, the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić, said, "The airport is being given up for concession for a period of 25 years. In addition to an up-front payment of at least 450 million euros, we expect investments to amount to 700 to 800 million euros, as well as an annual tax of some five to six million euros". He added, "Passenger numbers at the airport have increased 51% since 2012 as result of Air Serbia and its strategic partner". The government expects to wrap up talks with the future concessionaire by the end of March. The future operator is set to take over the airport by August 1 at the latest.

BIDDERS

Vinci Airports - The French construction and concession company recorded 38.1 billion euros in revenue in 2016 and took part in 270.000 infrastructure projects worldwide. It holds concession contracts in a number of airports including Chambéry, Poitiers-Biard, Lyon-Bron, Nantes Atlantique, Rennes and Toulon in France, Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Santiago de Chile, Kansai, the majority of Portugal's commercial airports, including Lisbon, as well as international airports in the Dominican Republic, including Santo Domingo. It signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Belgrade Airport for the development of joint projects back in 2015.

Consortium Meridiam Eastern Europe Investments, Zurich Airport International and Eiffage - The Franco-Swiss consortium is being headed by Zurich Airport (Flughafen Zürich AG), which is engaged in six airports worldwide. In addition to two Brazilian airports in Belo Horizonte and Florianopolis, it runs a further four airports in Latin America. The Swiss company said in a statement, "Our two partners, Meridiam and Eiffage, have committed themselves to the long-term success of the airport of the Serbian capital, bringing important relevant experiences with infrastructure projects in the Central and Eastern Europe region". Zurich Airport was the finalist in Zagreb Airport's concession process.

Consortium Incheon International Airport Corporation, IC Ictas Altyp Iyitirimlari VE Isletme and VTB Capital Infrastructure Holdings Limited - Seoul's Incheon International Airport Corporation, which leads the consortium, runs South Korea's busiest airport which last year handled 57.7 million passengers and generated revenue of one billion euros. Its international expansion began in 2009 when it signed a consulting project to support the operation of Iraq’s new Erbil International Airport. It has since concluded 25 overseas contracts for projects in twelve countries. It was selected to provide operations consulting services for Istanbul's new airport, which is currently under construction and expected to be the world’s largest. The Corporation also boasts projects in Indonesia, India, Russia, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic and Paraguay. It unsuccessfully bid for a concession of Zagreb Airport in 2011 with consortium partner IC Ictas Altyp.

Consortium GMR Infrastructure Limited and Terna S.A. (Tourist Technical and Maritime Society Anonymous) - The GMR Group is one of the fastest growing infrastructure enterprises in India. It currently owns and operates Delhi International Airport and Hyderabad International Airport. The Group is also developing Goa’s greenfield airport. Furthermore, GMR Infrastructure is operating and developing Mactan Cebu International Airport - the second largest airport in the Philippines. Jointly with its Greek partner Terna S.A., the duo have won a concession to develop, operate and manage the new international airport in Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete.