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Weekly Lists
May 12, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
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Infrastructure
Serbia again extends deadline for bids for Nikola Tesla Airport 25-year concession
PM warns any referendum on Koper-Divaca railway expansion would be setback for Slovenia
Serbia’s government and the country's largest airport, state- controlled Aerodrom Nikola Tesla (ANT), have again extended the deadline for bids for the 25-year concession for ANT until May 30, according to an announcement posted on the airport's website.
The concessioner will handle the financing, development through the construction and reconstruction, maintenance and manage- ment of ANT’s infrastructure as well as operating the airport. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic previously announced that the 25- year concession contract for the airport would bring in a €350mn- 400mn advance payment and a further €10mn-11mn every year.
This is the third extension of the deadline. The public call for the 25-year concession to operate ANT had an initial deadline of April 13 which was firstly postponed to April 24, then May 15. The best bid is expected to be revealed by the mid-September.
A proposed referendum on the planned upgrade of a rail link be- tween the port of Koper and the inland hub of Divaca could hamper Slovenia's development and undermine its credibility, Prime Minis- ter Miro Cerar told Slovenian Press Agency (STA) in an interview. He believes the opposition to the legislation is politically motivated.
The Koper-Divaca railway project involves construction of a 27km second line of the railway. It is the biggest infrastructure project in the country and is also strategically important, as it connects the capital Ljubljana with the country’s sole Adriatic port, Koper. This is also the main maritime gateway for Hungary, handling over three- quarters of its container trans-shipments
Slovenian National Assembly passed the act on the second track be- tween Koper and Divaca on April 20 and confirmed it again on May 8, overturning the upper chamber's veto. A civil initiative is meanwhile collecting signatures to initiate a referendum procedure.
Output in the Czech construction sector returned to growth in March, expanding 6.2%, according to data released by statistics office CZSO on May 10. In working-day adjusted terms, the growth was trimmed to 2%.
The gain, coming after many months of weakness, is nominally a good sign for investment. Production growth remained negative in both January and February, but the March result managed to push the first quarter performance to a positive of 0.2% q/q.
Czech construction shows signs of tentative recovery in March