Transfer of management rights and commencement of construction works of the new passenger terminal at Zagreb airport is expected in late September
The Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Sinisa Hajdas Doncic, said on the press conference that he could see no reason why construction works on a new terminal at Zagreb Airport would not start this October."The realistic deadline for the start of work is the end of September and the beginning of October and I can see no reason why it would not begin then," Hajdas Doncic told a press conference. He added that a building permit was expected at the end of August.
Should there be a delay for no good reason, the Ministry would activate a guarantee of 900,000 euros. "Our partners (French concessionaire ZAIC) know this and are not afraid of it," the minister said.
Hajdas Doncic said that the concession agreement would not be changed and that the entire project would be carried out in accordance with it. He also noted that it was the duty of the concessionaire to secure financing and that the government did not issue guarantees for it.
Christophe Petit, Development Director at Bouygues Batiment International, said that funding for the construction of the terminal had been secured, but that contracts had not been signed yet. He said that this business was near completion, adding that negotiations were under way with banks.
There is no doubt that the banks are ready to financially support this project, Petit said. He added that a large European
company and a Russian investor were interested in joining the project.Hajdas Doncic and Petit concurred that it takes time to finalise the concession agreement and noted that the project should be implemented in accordance with European standards and experience.
The Director of ADPM (Aeroports de Paris Management), Jacques Follain, said that he was already in contact with air carriers which were expected to use the modernised airport and that the initial effects of these talks could be visible already next year. He said that Croatia Airlines would have special benefits.
The press conference was held after Hajdas Doncic recently described this day as D-Day for harmonisation of all points of contractual obligations concerning the Zagreb Airport modernisation project and announced that a new tender would be called unless an agreement was reached today at the latest.
The concession agreement for the construction and management of Zagreb Airport was signed on April 11, 2012, whereby ZAIC was awarded a 30-year concession to build a new passenger terminal and to manage the existing and newly-built terminals and accompanying infrastructure. However, the concessionaire has not yet secured the necessary funding, which is the main precondition for taking over the airport and starting the work.
Under the concession agreement, ZAIC would invest about 190 million euros in the first stage of the project and would build a terminal for 3.5 million passengers annually.According to media reports, the projected increase in the volume of passengers to 3.5 million in the first stage is not so certain any more, so the concessionaire is seeking to reduce the volume of work on particular parts of the airport in the first stage of construction in order to reduce the total cost of construction and is proposing an increase of various taxes to be paid by passengers and air carriers.
(Hina)