French To Lose Zagreb Airport Concession Unless Work Starts This Autumn

Croatia’s Transport Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic has told a local news station on Sunday night that the government will tear up a contract made with French consortium ZAIC (Zagreb Airport International Company) for the upgrade and management of Zagreb international airport if they do not fulfill contractual obligations and begin building the new terminal this autumn.

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 earlier reports, ZAIC’s main problem is finding a guarantee for a 120 million euro loan secured from the European Investment Bank. The contract stipulates that all building work needs to be complete by April 2016.

Hajdas Doncic says that a new tender will be put up if the French fail to meet to the last deadline this autumn. It was planned that over the next three years the new terminal worth 236 million euros would be built, which would initially 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.