A three-member delegation of representatives of the "Mother Teresa" international airport from Tirana last week visited the Tivat airport during which the representatives of the main Albanian airport, which is controlled by a businessman Shefket Kastrati, provided a detailed insight into almost every aspect of the daily work of the Tivat airport.
This was confirmed to the "News" by several sources from the Tivat airport, who did not hide their surprise at the fact that someone from the management of the Airport of Montenegro (ACG) allowed representatives of a competing airport in the region to enter the Tivat airport and tour in detail for three hours and observe the operational functioning of almost of each of its segments.
ACG confirmed to "Vijesta" that they were visited by colleagues from Tirana, that this is nothing unusual and that they continuously maintain collegial relations with airports in the region and beyond, as well as that mutual visits are good business practice and an opportunity to exchange experiences.
One source of "Vijesti" said that the Albanian delegation was allowed to enter the security sterile zone of the airport and that they, accompanied by employees from the Security Service, i.e. the Dispatch and Reception Service of Tivat Airport, toured the airport for hours and examined in detail every aspect of its operation - including good and bad sides in serving about 30 planes a day on a narrow and unconditioned platform, that is, several thousand passengers who pass through the dilapidated and congested terminal building every day.
"From what was seen on that occasion, they became extremely well acquainted with the situation at Tivat airport and did not refrain from asking very detailed questions, looking for explanations for some obvious, elementary things that could only be of interest to someone who has the ambition to manages the Tivat airport", said the "Vijesti" source, adding that something like this is unusual in the airport industry, especially in a situation where a decision has not yet been officially made on the fate of the current tender for the concession of Montenegrin airports, which was announced five years ago.
The management of ACG did not respond to the question of whether he is the executive director of ACG Roko Tolic or the director of Tivat Airport Vladimir Praščević issued an order to the Security Service of Tivat Airport to let representatives of Tirana Airport into the security sterile zone, because such an order could only come from those two addresses. There was no answer to the question whether this visit was made possible at the request of someone from the Government and if that was the case, on whose initiative it was done.
"ACG continuously maintains collegial relations with airports in the region and beyond, and mutual visits are good business practice and an opportunity to exchange experiences. As in all cases so far, the ACG responded positively to the collegial inquiry from Albania and enabled the representatives of "Mother Teresa" Airport to visit Tivat Airport, which is their third visit this year. In addition, it is a matter of continuing the communication initiated by the ACG because we expressed interest in getting to know the automation of airport procedures in Tirana immediately, which is also our inevitability", they explained to "News" from the ACG regarding the visit of the Albanian delegation.
They claim that this is not something unusual because "in the same way, representatives of ACG recently visited Sarajevo International Airport, where they discussed with the company's management about the experiences in building a new terminal, openness 24/7 ...
"Also, their return visit to Podgorica was announced in October, and we expect to welcome airport representatives from Skopje and Memmingen during that period. During such visits, colleagues get to know the airport infrastructure, technical and administrative procedures and work processes on the spot, which is information that is publicly available and for the most part standardized according to international regulations", explained the ACG.
Three bidders, the consortium of Turkish TAV and French Aeroports de Paris, the South Korean Incheon International Airport Corporation and Corporacion America Airports from Luxembourg entered the shortlist for granting ACG the concession. Since 2020, the Kastrati Group has been the holder of the airport concession in Tirana, which it bought for 71 million euros from the Chinese "Real Fortress Private Limited". Since then, and especially in the last couple of years, "Mother Teresa" Airport has recorded enormous growth with the ambition of becoming the busiest in the Western Balkans region. The airport in Tirana also took part of ACG passengers because foreign airlines, especially low-cost airlines, are much more interested in flying to Tirana than to Podgorica, primarily because of the much larger overall market there, which is covered by the "Mother Teresa" airport, and with which the Montenegrin market it can't even come close to measuring up.
The recent prime minister Dritan Abazovic last year he launched the idea of keeping Podgorica airport in state hands and simultaneously giving Tivat airport a concession. According to the speculations that appeared in the public at the time, the plan that Abazović had allegedly already agreed in principle with the Albanian prime minister Edi Ram and Kastrati, who has close ties with Ram, was for the Kastrati group to get a concession on the Tivat airport, so that the entire trade would be as cheap as possible, and later, through recapitalization and investments, the Albanian businessman would take over the entire airport in Tivat.
According to the claims of the "Vijesti" source, the current Prime Minister's Government Milojko Spajić who personally prefers to give both airports a concession to the South Korean Incheon Airports, "keeps the door open" for the option of giving the Tivat airport to the Kastrati group. This is especially so in a situation when, according to unofficial information, the Koreans are "cooling down" from their interest in investing in what they consider to be an extremely expensive takeover of Montenegrin airports. Therefore, says our interlocutor, this last week's visit from Albania should also be viewed in that light.
Airports: We take care not to disclose business secrets
The state-owned company claims that they take care of all aspects of competitiveness and the details of commercial policy, and that "the contents of the contract are never disclosed to anyone because it is information that is a trade secret."
They also said that for the consent of the ACG administration to visit the airport, "the prerequisite is certainly not the status of the interested party in the context of the pre-qualification tender for the concession".
"Thus, in June last year in Tivat we welcomed representatives of Aerodrom Srbija who, like their colleagues from Tirana, are not bidders in the current tender, while in March 2024 in Podgorica we hosted representatives of the South Korean company Incheon International Airport Corporation, which are one of the three interested bidder. ACG will continue and intensify cooperation with all airports in the region and beyond", said the state company.
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