Eight foreign cos interested in Serbia’s Belgrade airport - report

The potential bidders for state-controlled Aerodrom Nikola Tesla [BEL:AERO] include VINCI airports, which runs 34 airports worldwide, Germany's Fraport, which operates two Black Sea airports in Bulgaria and Slovenia's main airport in Ljubljana, and French Bouygues, which is part of the consortium that owns Croatia's main airport in Zagreb, Vecernji Novosti reported, quoting sources. The list includes also two unnamed companies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and three companies from China.

Earlier this year, Serbia selected French investment bank Lazard Freres as advisor in the privatisation or concession of the Nikola Tesla airport. According to the source, quoted by Vecernji Novosti, the advisor will most likely recommend to the government to choose the concession method in favour of privatisation or a public-private partnership.

Aerodrom Nikola Tesla, in which the government owns an 83.1% stake, expects to handle more than five million passengers this year, up from a record high of 4.8 million in 2015.

The airport's market capitalisation stands at 34.3 billion dinars ($311.5 million/277.7 million euro) presently.

(1 euro=123.496 dinars)