The Tender Commission responsible for awarding the concession for Montenegro’s airports has extended its work by seven days, as it was unable to review and approve all documentation by the original July 9 deadline.
This is the second extension for the commission, led by Minister of Economic Development Nik Đeljošaj. The initial deadline for ranking bids was previously extended by a month after the government became involved. Once the commission submits its recommendation, there is a mandatory 15-day period for potential appeals by tender participants.
If any appeals are filed, the commission must resolve them within 30 days, which could delay the final decision on concessions for Podgorica and Tivat airports until autumn.
Earlier, the second-ranked bidder, American company Corporación América Airports (CAAP), was expected to appeal the commission’s decisions. Initially, the commission excluded the South Korean firm Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC), but later reinstated it as the top-ranked bidder after re-evaluation.
After reviewing bids, the commission ranked IIAC first with 96.18 points, while CAAP received 65.18 points. Previously, IIAC was nearly eliminated for not meeting technical criteria.
In earlier phases, both bidders received zero scores in some categories, and a previous commission decision, differing by just 0.3 points, effectively removed IIAC from the process.
The commission evaluated the technical part of the bids twice and initially excluded IIAC from the financial evaluation round following claims by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) that voting rules were violated. IFC acts as an advisor to the government in this concession process.
On June 10, following legal advice and further consultation with IFC, the commission acknowledged that both bidders’ technical offers were formally valid and had been assessed across multiple categories. The commission then carried out a re-evaluation of the technical offers in line with legal requirements and IFC expertise.
