GMR, four others other bid for operating Belgrade airport

Serbia expects the deal to be worth around 400 million euros

Four consortia and one company will proceed the next round of bidding for a 25-year concession to operate Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport, the biggest in the Balkan region, the company and a Serbian government commission said on Wednesday.

Serbia, which has an 83.1 per cent stake in the airport, expects the deal to be worth around 400 million euros ($446 million).

The only company to have a non-binding bid accepted was France's Vinci Airports, according to a statement posted on Belgrade airport's website.

The consortia are France's Meridiam Eastern Europe Investments, Zurich Airport AG and France's Eiffage; India's GMR Infrastructure Limited and Greece's Terna; South Korea's Incheon International Airport Corp., Turkey's Yatirimlar ve isletme and Russia's VTB Capital Infrastructure; China's Hainan Air Travel Service, HNA and China National Aero Technology, the statement said.

The government repeatedly extended an initial March deadline to give bidders more time to complete their offers.

The statement said a total of 27 consortia and companies offered non-binding bids. "The public body (government and airport management) has accepted the evaluation of the team of experts and recognised qualified bidders," it added.

Nikola Tesla airport's net profit increased by 21 per cent in the first four months of 2017 to 831.7 million Serbian dinars ($7.6 million).

Under the terms of the offer, prospective bidders must not have more than a 20 per cent stake in another airport within 450 kilometres of Nikola Tesla, which handled more than 1 million passengers in 2016.