Lawsuit dismissed in part of concession procedure for Podgorica and Tivat airports

The Administrative Court rejected the lawsuit of Corporación America Airports SA against the decision of the Concessions Commission of the Government of Montenegro dated September 1 last year.

The Administrative Court said that the aforementioned decision, upon the plaintiff's objection, restored the ranking list of bidders determined by the tender commission in the concession procedure for the right to use the Podgorica and Tivat airports, in order to eliminate the identified irregularities.

"The Administrative Court assessed that the Concessions Commission acted correctly when, partially accepting the objection, it returned the ranking list to the tender commission in order to eliminate irregularities, which related to the lack of explanation of the ranking of bidders, i.e. the absence of a detailed presentation of the elements on the basis of which the points were awarded," says a statement published on the Administrative Court's website.

That court determined that such action was in accordance with Article 32, paragraph 2 of the Law on Concessions, which stipulates that, in the event of incorrect application of the criteria or violation of the procedure, the ranking list is returned to the tender commission for re-decision.

Contrary to the prosecutor's allegations, the Administrative Court, it is added, assessed that the results of the bid evaluation were not determined twice.

"After determining the average score according to the criteria of the technical offer, the air accessibility development plan and the investment plan, the tender commission session was not concluded, but due to the objections of individual members and with the opinion of the International Finance Corporation consultants, it was decided to repeat the scoring in the part related to the analysis of the air accessibility development plan and the investment plan," the statement says.

The Administrative Court said that by signing the final list of bids that meet the technical requirements, in accordance with Article 10, paragraph 1 of the Regulation on the detailed manner of conducting the public bidding procedure in the open and two-stage concession award procedure, the first phase of the procedure was completed.

"The court also noted that the International Finance Corporation, in accordance with the contract for the provision of financial advisory services, had an advisory role in the proceedings, including support in the evaluation of bids and the preparation of analyses," the statement said.

The participation of representatives of that institution in the tender committee sessions and the provision of expert opinions, as stated by the Administrative Court, does not constitute an excess of the powers defined by the contract.