25-year concession for Serbia’s Belgrade Airport– bids invited

As part of a 1.2 billion euro (US$1.27 billion) loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2015, a number of Serbian state-owned companies, including Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport have had to be sold off. As a consequence, bids are now being invited for a 25-year concession for the capital’s international airport, the largest in the Balkans.
Speaking in December last year, Serbian Prime Minister Alexander Vucic indicated that his cabinet expects to raise approximately 400 million euros (US$426 million) from the sale. One of the terms of the offer is that prospective bidders, companies or consortia, must not have more than a 20 percent stake in an airport within a range of 450 kilometres and which serviced more than 1 million passengers in 2016. Additionally, bidders will be required to have accumulated capital in excess of 500 million euros (US$530 million)
The offering should attract strong interest as European Airports are seen as good investments where infrastructure is concerned, primarily due to the unexpected increase in passenger numbers, together with the privatisation of other airports in the region, including Sofia, in Bulgari.
Nikola Tesla Airport is located some 17km from Belgrade city center, and in 2016 it catered for 4.92 million passengers, an increase of 3 per cent compared to 2015. From January to end September, 2016 the airport reported a net profit of 2.4 billion dinars (US$206,600), a rise of 13 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.