September 15 (SeeNews) - Croatia's Rijeka port is extending the procedure for selecting a concessionaire who will develop and run the Zagreb Deep Sea container terminal (ZDSCT) until the end of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, local media reported on Tuesday.
Both bidders in the tender for awarding the concession contract have extended the validity of their offers and guarantees until the end of the year, state news agency Hina reported, citing information from port operator Luka Rijeka.
In March, Luka Rijeka said it had received two bids in the tender - from a 70/20/10 Chinese consortium comprising Ningbo Zhoushan Port Company, Tianjin Port Overseas Holding and China Road and Bridge Corporation; and from a 51/49 consortium made up by the Netherlands-based APM Terminals BV and Croatia's Energia Naturalis (ENNA) Logic.
Luka Rijeka has not yet provided any details oft the proposals of the two interested investors.
The estimated cost of the project is 350 million euro ($416 million), according to the project description published on the website of the European Commission in 2018.
The Rijeka port authority competed the construction of ZDSCT in May 2019, following a 112.5 million euro investment by the World Bank and Croatia's state budget.
The terminal, 400 metres in length, is expected to be expanded to 680 metres later on. Water depth at its berths is 20 metres, which will allow the port to receive the latest generation of container ships.
ZDSCT is part of the Rijeka Gateway project, which aims to improve Rijeka port's transport and infrastructure network.
($=0.840797 euro)