The number of qualified bidders for the lease of Montenegrin airports could be reduced to only two even before the publication of the new Government invitation, because the Indian GMR drops out of the game after its 49 percent share was bought by another bidder, AdP from France, and "Corporacion America Airports" from Luxembourg is in financial trouble. This is shown by official data from the stock exchange in New York, where "Corporacion America Airports" is listed.
On January 15 this year, after a pre-qualification tender, the government commission chose four companies - "Incheon International Airport" from South Korea, GMR from India, a consortium of French AdP and Turkish TAV and "Corporacion America Airports" from Luxembourg. AdP/TAV, which is unofficially considered the favorite of Transport Minister Osman Nurković, who publicly denies it, already has three airports in the region of Zagreb, Skopje and Ohrid, and the South Korean "Incheon" manages the airport of the same name, the largest in Asia. The Koreans were also participants in the tender for the Zagreb airport, but lost to the consortium led by AdP.
After the announcement of the results of the pre-qualification tender, AdP headquarters bought 49 percent of the Indian GMR, and in the conditions of the pre-qualification tender it is written that related parties who own more than five percent in another bidder cannot participate, which is why the Indians may be disqualified.
"Corporacion America Airports" based in Luxembourg, mostly manages airports in Latin America - 52 in seven countries, and in Europe it has only Florence, Pisa and Yerevan. In 2019, there were at least 83,5 million passengers. This company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and, according to those reports, is in financial trouble. The company's shares at the beginning of this year were worth $6,44, and a year earlier they were $7,6. They have been in constant decline since the New Year, and only yesterday their value was reduced from 4,1 to 3,45 dollars per share.
This company announced last week that it is returning one of the largest airports in that South American country, Natal Airport, to the Government of Brazil, because for financial reasons it is no longer able to manage it under the current concession conditions.
"Corporacion America Airports" announced last week that it is returning to the Government of Brazil one of the largest airports in that South American country, "Natal Airport", because for financial reasons it is unable to manage it under the current concession conditions
In February, they also announced that in January they had a four percent drop in passengers compared to the same month in 2019. A month ago, their plan to expand the airport in Florence was rejected, because they did not receive environmental approval.
According to the latest annual financial report, the company's 2018 revenues fell by 9,5% (from $1,6 billion to $1,4 billion). Net profit in that year fell by 16,6 percent, from 545 to 455 million dollars. After all deductions, the company reported a loss of $2018 million in 10,6.
According to the latest quarterly report (July - September 2019), revenues fell by 4,3 percent compared to the same quarter of 2018, and EBITDA fell by 25,5 percent.
Their shares were first listed on the stock market in 2018 at $16,6, but have been on a steady decline since then.
After the pre-qualification tender for Montenegrin airports, the offers of the company "Limak Holding" from Turkey and two Turkish-Danish consortiums "Cengiz & Copenhagen Airports" and "DAA - Bouygues - Marguerite - TII" consisting of companies from Ireland, France and Luxembourg were rejected. "Limak" and the consortium led by "DAA" submitted appeals, which delayed the announcement of the second round for the selection of the final bidder, planned for the beginning of February.
This delay and other issues such as property disputes and whether and how the future tenant can increase the prices of airport services call into question the Government's plan to complete the entire work by the end of the year and thus earn the planned 70 million euros from fees.
Affair
The founder of "Corporatio America Airports" Eduardo Eurnekian is connected with the "Notebook scandal" ("Caso de los Cuadernos"), a major scandal related to the suspicion of bribery of officials. According to local media, in connection with that investigation, in December 2018, the Argentine federal police searched all the houses owned by him. His nephew Hugo Eurnekian, who is in charge of the energy business "Corporacion America" has admitted that he gave money to Roberto Barata, Argentina's assistant minister for planning and public investments. The director of "Corportaio America Airports" is now Martin Eurnekian, the second nephew of Eduardo who is 87 years old
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