French Delay Zagreb Airport Takeover Due To Finance Trouble

French consortium ZAIC (Zagreb Airport International Company) have once again delayed taking over the management of Zagreb international airport. Daily Vecernji list reports that the French were due to take over the airport at the end of June, but because they have been unable to secure finance to build the new terminal, the takeover has once again been pushed back.

ZAIC, who signed a 30-year concession with the Croatian government to build and manage a new passenger terminal in Croatia’s capital, were first due to take over the airport in April, but that date was pushed back to the end of due to give them the time to stump up with the required 365 million euro. According to the report, ZAIC’s main problem is finding a guarantee for a 120 million euro loan secured from the European Investment Bank.

The Croatian Ministry of Transport are optimistic, but Vecernji list report that if ZAIC are not in a position to take over the airport by October then a termination of the contract is not out of the question. It was planned that over the next three years the new terminal worth 236 million euros would be built, which would, for the beginning, be able to accommodate 5 million passengers per year. In the second phase, the building would be expanded to a capacity of 8 million passengers.