"We entered the concession competition [on the Belgrade airport]. We like the airport, we believe that this is a promising point - both for Russian tourism and the possible point of departure from regional hubs in Central and Eastern Europe, "said Novakport (50% via Aeon Corporation), a co-owner of the airport holding company, on Monday Trotsenko (quotation on the "Interfax"). The holding estimates the required investments at about 250 million euros, Trotsenko added.

The Serbian government announced the contest for the concession of the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (ANT) to the concession on February 10: the winner will have the right to establish an SPV company in Serbia, which will receive all movable and immovable airport assets and a license for airport activities for 25 years, the Documentation on the ANT website. The Belgrade airport belongs to the state, in 2016 it received 4.9 million passengers (+ 3% by 2015). "For the development of the ANT it will be necessary to build a new terminal for 5 million passengers, 250 million euros is a preliminary estimate of the investments," says a person close to Novaport.

It claims to Belgrade and the holding "Airports of Regions" (it is included in Renova by Viktor Vekselberg), says his representative. "We applied for the competition. We are in principle interested in assets in Europe, moreover, the development opportunities in Russia are limited, since almost all significant assets already belong to certain profile investors, "the source explains. The representative of the "Basic Element" does not say whether the company submitted the application (the deadline expired on March 10). How many applications have been submitted, on the ANT website is not reported. Representatives of the Government of Serbia and the ANT did not respond to requests.

Minority opinion

At the Nikola Tesla airport, 17% is held by minority shareholders. Have agreed with them the terms of the concession, one of the applicants asked. The organizers of the contest answered that the rights of minority shareholders are defined and consistent with the Serbian legislation, and the topic itself does not matter at this stage.

The competition is held in two stages, the notice on the ANT website says: according to preliminary requests, the organizer will select the participants of the second stage, they will receive the tender documentation and within 75 days will have to prepare a binding offer. For the first stage, the requirement is one: do not own more than 20% at the airport, which is located near 450 km to Belgrade and has received in 2016 more than 1 million passengers.

At the second stage, there is a requirement: the applicant (or one of the participants in the consortium) must own and manage the airport, which has annually received over 5 million passengers in the past two years. Four harbors of the "Airports of the Regions" received 9.2 million people in 2016, but the largest one - Koltsovo (Ekaterinburg) - only 4.2 million. The largest Novaport airport Tolmachevo (Novosibirsk) received 3.9 million passengers , Although all 13 airports of the holding serviced 15.9 million Novaportu will not help, even if in a consortium with RFPI and QIA it will immediately close the deal to buy 25% of the "Air Gate of the Northern Capital" (Pulkovo Concessionaire - 13.6 million Person) - such an asset to the applicant for Belgrade should be owned over 10 years.

We are aware of this condition, says a representative of the "Airports of the Regions". "If it is left to the second stage, we will have to look for a partner to participate in both the" Airports of the regions "and us," says a person close to Novaport. "The organizer has the opportunity to cut off on a formal basis a large number of applicants. We hope that this condition can be extended (all the assets of the applicant will be considered), especially since the flagship airports of Russian holdings are close to 5 million passengers, "the manager of one of the contenders argues.