The potential concessionaire of the Airport of Montenegro (ACG), the company “Incheon International Airport Corporation” (IIAC), plans to increase the annual passenger traffic at the airports of Podgorica and Tivat - from three to nine million per year. They intend to do this by quadrupling the area of ACG, building new and connecting them to the existing terminals, doubling parking spaces, renovating the runway and modernizing the infrastructure.
This is stated, among other things, in the document on the concession and modernization of ACG, which the Government shared with the media yesterday after a thematic session at which the proposal for a decision on granting a concession for ACG was determined.
The government has proposed to the Parliament to grant a concession to the first-ranked “IIAC” for 30 years. The Parliament will decide on this issue because the value of ACG's fixed assets is estimated at almost 265 million euros, while in the case of the green light - the contract for this deal would be signed by the Prime Minister Milojko SpajicAccording to the Law on State Property, all property worth more than 150 million is decided by the Parliament.
The tender for the ACG concession was announced back in 2019, and the finalists were the South Korean IIAC with 96,18 points and the Luxembourg-American company "Corporación América Airports" (CAAP) with 65,15.
Focus on Asia and the US
According to the document, the South Koreans project that the number of passengers will increase from three to nine million annually, of which 5,4 million would be received by Podgorica airport within seven years, and 3,7 million by Tivat airport within half a decade. They plan to attract traditional and low-cost operators to Montenegro, while placing special focus on connecting with markets in Asia and the United States of America (USA).
A total investment of one billion euros is planned in Montenegro, including 300 million euros for the reconstruction and construction of the airport, with the aim of quickly removing infrastructure constraints and increasing capacity, a one-time payment of 100 million upon signing the contract, and 600 million euros that the concessionaire would pay to Montenegro over 30 years through 35 percent of gross annual revenues.
The plan is to invest 132 million euros in the first three years or by the end of 2029, 54 million for capacities and the terminal in Podgorica, and 78 million for the terminal, runway and other facilities in Tivat.
They intend to increase the area of both airports from 10.788 square meters to 40.381, with new passenger terminals, while Tivat Airport would also receive a maritime terminal with a dock and a tourist complex, for the purpose of integration with the tourist offer and maritime traffic. In addition, the intention is to introduce 13 more parking spaces for aircraft to increase the number of flights, but also to increase parking spaces for vehicles from 965 to 2.186 spaces. In Tivat, the construction of a parking tower is also planned due to seasonal load and tourist traffic.
Podgorica would thus receive a new passenger terminal of 12.594 square meters with seven new aircraft stands, while in the first three years the two-story terminal would be expanded, parking spaces would be doubled, and after five years the plan is to reconfigure the existing one and connect it with the new building.
A 13.899 square meter passenger terminal and a parking tower would be built at Tivat Airport, along with six aircraft parking spaces. In addition, the runway would be relocated and extended at this location. The first three years would see the construction of a new terminal, tower, maritime air terminal, and runway extension, while the terminals would be connected over five years, enabling the reception of 3,7 million passengers.
It is emphasized that these investments will create development benefits through greater accessibility, tourism, revenues and logistics, i.e. that modern management will strengthen the capacity of the airport network in the long term, reach new operators and low-cost companies through air accessibility, but also open up space for new facilities, such as cargo transport.
The intention is to introduce self-service check-in, to reduce crowds at the counters and speed up passenger check-in, with automated passport scanning. Existing ACG workers are promised protection for five years, so anyone with a valid contract could lose their job only if they violate their work obligations or at their own request.
ACG would remain in state hands and oversee the concession process, while the South Koreans would establish a project company in Montenegro to apply domestic legislation.
It is pointed out that IIAC is a state-owned operator, meaning that they are fully owned by the South Korean government, and that they operate Seoul's Icheon Airport, which is claimed to be consistently among the top five in the world. It is also added that 75 million passengers passed through it last year.
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Coordinator of the Transport Sector Filip Radulović said yesterday that the ACG concession is not controversial to the European Commission (EC), because they are also interested in the future of the airport, and that they are aware that the situation must be improved due to infrastructure limitations.
Advisor to the Prime Minister for Economic Policy Milena Milović emphasized that they considered issuing a new tender for the concession, but that "IIAC" offered 35 percent of the annual gross revenues, although the procedure required ten percent. She also explained that after signing the contract with the concessionaire, Montenegro will have a year to provide all the prerequisites and hand over the airports to them for management.
The opposition is already against
Some opposition parliamentary groups told "Vijesti" last week that they would not support the concession over ACG, because they believe that the tender was compromised and that not all development models were considered.
The Civic Movement URA, the Social Democrats and the Democratic People's Party announced that they would vote against this issue when it comes to the parliamentary agenda. The Democratic Party of Socialists did not comment at the time.
The ruling Democrats emphasized that they cannot make a decision on the concession of ACG until they see the complete documents, procedures, conditions and the impact of this decision on the citizens and Montenegro. A representative of the Socialist People's Party told "Vijesti" similarly Bogdan Božović.
The Europe Now Movement and the New Serbian Democracies did not want to comment, while the Bosniak Party said they did not yet have a ready answer.
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