Over €450 million for Belgrade concession

Over 450 million euros have been offered as an up-front payment by one or more of the four bidding parties vying for the 25-year concession of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, local media reported. The winning offer is expected to be made public tomorrow. "The Public Body overseeing the process is due to make a conclusion on the best bid today, after which the government has to green-light their decision. This will be followed by a meeting of the airport's Supervisory Board. Since all of the offers are of a high quality, and there is little setting them apart, the Public Body could recommend more than one bid, which would then require additional information and documentation", an official from the Serbian government said.

The state has downplayed the recent delays in awarding the concession contract. The Public Body was to make its initial decision on December 25, but delayed it until December 29, and then again until January 5. Commenting on the Body's failure to come to a decision last week, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement, "Three expert teams are working day and night in order for a final decision to be made on January 5. This is an extremely important project for Serbia, which is why nothing can be left to chance. This has been one of the most professionally-run tenders ever undertaken in Serbia and is in line with global standards".

The Public Body reserves the right to extend deadlines in order to facilitate the submission of additional information and documents by the bidders, as outlined in the original public invitation for the granting of the concession. However, some analysts have warned that such practice casts doubt on the process and could give reason to question the transparency of the tender procedure. Nevertheless, the Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure noted in December of last year that a decision on the future airport operator would be made either by the end of that month or in early 2018. The Public Body has previously said that it delayed its pronouncement on December 25 due to the Christmas holidays, while on December 29 it said the extension was "necessary for the purpose of comprehensive analysis of additional information and documentation received from bidders at the request of the Public Body".

Four binding offers have been submitted for the 25-year concession, after the fifth bidder, a consortium headed by China's HNA group, pulled out. The decision came after the indebted conglomerate no longer fulfilled one of the financial requirements in the second phase of the concession process, despite attempts to overcome these issues by adding another company, registered in Cyprus, to its consortium in December. Over the past month, the HNA group has turned to using some of its most liquid and valuable assets to borrow more cash. It is seeking to sell six billion dollars in overseas property as it faces mounting debt and regulatory investigations in Europe. HNA’s financing woes became apparent last month, with reports that airlines owned by the Chinese conglomerate have missed some payments due on leased aircraft.