Prime Minister in the technical mandate, Dritan Abazović, by stating "that we should ask potential bidders to increase the concessions to at least 200 million euros or to call for a new tender" continues the policy of the former government regarding the concession of the Airport of Montenegro, said Ivica Vukčević from Prava Montenegro.
"During the mandate of Government Duško Marković, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) announced a tender for the concession of the Podgorica and Tivat airports, which are part of the Airport of Montenegro. This decision of the DPS is very bad, because there is no economic justification for strategic state resources such as airports are given under concession," said Vukčević, in a statement from Prava Montenegro.
At yesterday's press conference dedicated to the budget proposal for 2023, Abazović said that he believes that the Airport of Montenegro should be given a concession and that this is his personal opinion, and that he does not know whether the Government will solve this issue in its mandate. He emphasized that he thinks the same about Luka Bar.
"Experience from other countries has shown that the main goal of every concessionaire is profit, which is often achieved at the expense of citizens. The latest proposal to increase the concession could have a negative impact on the increase in airport taxes. Concessionaires in Belgrade and Zagreb, for example, caused an increase airport taxis, which caused ticket prices for passengers to rise," says Vukčević.
Montenegro's airports, he adds, are one of the few profitable and strategically important state enterprises, whose development can be financed from its profits.
"It is against the interest of Montenegrin citizens to give profitable state enterprises to foreigners under concession and thus enable them to take out of the country the profit they acquire in this way. The citizens of Tivat have repeatedly protested against giving the Tivat airport under concession," says Vukčević.
He says that the problems that have arisen at the Zagreb airport, which recorded less traffic than expected after it was put under concession, are a warning that the concession is not a good solution for Podgorica and Tivat airports.
"Most airports in Europe are managed by the state. In the event that problems arise at one of the airports under concession, for example in France, other airports remain available to the state. Montenegro must not allow itself the risk of giving the airports in Podgorica and Tivat under concession , because it has only those two international airports. In the event that the concessionaire does not fulfill the provisions of the concession contract, the state may have major problems, which may have a negative impact on the development of tourism and the overall economic development. The tender procedure for the Airports of Montenegro must be terminated and thus stop the legalized robbery of citizens of Montenegro through the airport," concluded Vukčević.
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