Croatian Motorway Concession Consultants Announced

The Croatian government has announced that banking giants Erste Group from Vienna, together with Deloitte and Wolf Theiss Rechtsanwalte from Zagreb, will be their consultants in the Croatian Motorway Concession process.

The Erste Group and Partners tender, at 50.8 million kuna (6.5 million euros) was the cheapest out of all of the international tenders bidding for the job.

“If everything goes to plan, the advisors will at the latest by next spring give their recommendations about a concession model to the government, and then will go about seeking investors. The whole process is expected to take around 18 months, which means a concession is expected to be given at the end of 2014 or the start of 2015,” said Minister of Transport Sinisa Hajdas Doncic.

The government plan to lease out the operation of its motorways, for a period of 30-35 years, to help reduce public debt and repay loans taken out for highway construction. The concession will cover the country’s two biggest motorways, which head towards the Adriatic coast, and other highways.