Procurement Review Body confirms Award to Limak – Aéroports de Lyon

Today the Procurement Review Body notified the Ministry of Finance and Economy that it has rejected the complaint submitted by the Pristina Airport International Consortium (PAIC) with regard to the Pristina International Airport concession.

The complainant, PAIC, was disqualified by an Evaluation Committee comprised of international and local experts for conditioning its proposal on unacceptable changes to the PPP Contract. PAIC submitted a complaint to the PRB requesting to be reinstated as the third place bidder and/or to nullify the tender process. The PRB rejected this complaint as entirely baseless, thereby confirming the legality, transparency, and efficiency of the procurement process. The resolution by the PRB cannot be appealed.

The Procurement Review Body confirmed the award to consortium Limak-Lyon, comprised of the French Airport operator, Aéroports de Lyon and Turkish construction company, Limak Construction, who had offered to pay the highest percentage of gross revenues to the Government in exchange for the concession.

The review board also verified that the Evaluation Committee was correct to disqualify PAIC because it failed to meet the requirements set forth in the RFP.

The procurement process leading to the award of this contract has been praised internationally and today's resolution by the PRB is seen as further confirmation of the transparency and professionalism with which the process has been managed. This is Kosovo's first successful attempt to attract long-term strategic investment to public infrastructure and services and the process is being heralded throughout the world as a major achievement and a vote of confidence for the country's government and legal system. It is also viewed as a key validation of the country's efforts towards creating a multi-sector public-private-partnership program.

The consortium Limak-Lyon was awarded the contract on May 14 by virtue of offering the Government of Kosovo an average of 39.42% of gross revenues in exchange for the concession rights. Fraport IC ICTAS, the second place bidder, proposed an average of 30.37% of gross revenues.

The consortium Limak-Lyon will be required to modernize and expand Pristina International Airport, investing over €100 million in new infrastructure, including the construction of a landmark terminal building.　 The future concessionaire will also be required to operate the Airport with expanded service offerings and improved quality levels. The Republic of Kosovo will retain 100% ownership of Airport assets.

The Selected Bidder, Limak-Lyon, and the Government of Kosovo, must now fulfill a number of conditions before the PPP Contract will enter into force. Some of these conditions include the transfer of PIA employees to the new operator, the approval of designs for the Airport terminal, and financial close.

It is anticipated that the PPP Contract will enter into force in late 2010.