Montenegro Airport Concession Scandal: Was the Tender Rigged?
If you thought public tenders in Montenegro were a fair game, think again! The tender commission responsible for deciding who will get the concession for the airports in Podgorica and Tivat has not finished its work yet, and the deadline is looming! And that’s not all – one of the companies has already announced an appeal, meaning the whole process will drag on until September or even longer.
Two giants in the race, but…
On the table are two bids: the South Korean Incheon International Airports Corporation (IIAC) and the Luxembourg-American consortium America Airports (CAAP). Last week, the commission ranked Incheon first and CAAP second. But CAAP is not sitting still – they claim the commission illegally changed the scoring of technical bids, which also affected the financial scoring. Allegedly, Incheon’s bid did not have enough points in the first round, but the commission, under pressure, changed the score and allowed them to pass to the next phase.
Drama in the commission
At yesterday’s lengthy session, the commission was adopting minutes and reports, but there was no information about changes in the decision. However, CAAP has already announced an appeal, which means the entire process will be further delayed. According to the law, an appeal suspends all further activities, so the Ministry of Transport will have to wait 30 days to respond to the appeal, and the government will not be able to make a decision before September.
Law or improvisation?
CAAP claims the law does not allow repeated evaluations or scoring, and the commission, they say, evaluated the technical bids twice with the same members, which is legally unacceptable. They also state that the commission never responded to their letter from June 13, in which they pointed out these irregularities.
Independence of the commission in question
The worst part of the whole story is that the commission, which should be an independent expert body, changed decisions under pressure. This casts a shadow over the entire process and raises the question of whether the airport concession in Montenegro was awarded fairly or if everything was rigged.
What’s next?
If CAAP files an appeal, the whole process will be prolonged, and the airports will remain without a concessionaire for months. This means Montenegro will lose valuable time and potential investments. And the citizens? They will continue to watch public property being divided behind closed doors while the rules of the game change as needed.
Conclusion
This airport concession saga is a prime example of how even the simplest process can be complicated in Montenegro. Is this just the beginning of a new era of transparency or another proof that public tenders are a farce? Leave a comment, maybe you have the answer!
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