MIE postpones deadline for Vlora Airport concession

TIRANA, March 12 – The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy has postponed the deadline for submission of bids related to Vlora Airport by potential investors to 30 March. On its official website, the date has changed from March 12, which was initially March 3rd, leaving more time for the interested parties. Such a situation seems to be related to the problems that the coronavirus has created in the country as the focus of institutions has shifted to this area.
Postponing the bidding deadline is expected to bring a postponement of all processes starting from the evaluation process to the projected start date which was earlier announced that it would be at the end of May.
The government has decided to guarantee the concessionaire’s revenue for at least 10 years if the amount is lower than 138 million euros. The guaranteed revenue for the first 10 years of operation is expected to total 9.6 million during the fourth year, 10.3 during the fifth year, 11.2 during the sixth, 12.1 during the seventh and so on, reaching a peak of 18.6 million euros during the thirteenth year. In total the guaranteed revenue should be around 140 million euros, according to government officials.
“This project carries high risks because it is an airport built from scratch on a green field, and it is impossible to accurately predict the turnover and air traffic. Also, according to the forecast of the consultant contracted by the Contracting Authority, a low rate of return of 9.23 percent is observed in the base case scenario. In these circumstances, if the decision to go through with the development of this project is approved, then the contracting authority will take measures to guarantee the revenue estimated in the base case scenario, that is the revenue missing between the actual and projected level in the base case scenario during the first 10 years that the airport will be functional,” the document reads. In case that the projected revenue is exceeded, then the total revenue will be divided 50/50 between the concessionaire and the government.