The Tender Commission for the concession of Montenegrin airports will hold a new session in the coming days to review whether the scoring process should be annulled and how to proceed. This follows a decision by the state Concessions Commission that awarding zero points is lawful, which had previously been disputed, raising questions about the justification of the second scoring of technical bids.
Vice Prime Minister and head of the Tender Commission, Nik Đeljošaj, confirmed that the new session will address these issues. The Concessions Commission ruled on a complaint from the second-ranked bidder, Corporacion América Airports S.A. (CAAP), stating that the commission must provide a clear explanation of the ranking list, as the previous one lacked sufficient reasoning, creating room for arbitrariness and raising concerns about transparency.
According to the ranking list, the South Korean company Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) leads with 96.18 points, while CAAP is second with 65.15 points. The Concessions Commission found that while awarding zero points is legally acceptable, it must be clearly justified based on objective criteria, such as failure to meet the requirements of the public tender.
The technical evaluation of bids was conducted twice. During the first scoring, IIAC received zero points from some members and was initially excluded from the next round, which evaluates financial bids. This led to an intervention by the IFC, a government consultant, arguing that tender rules were not properly followed. Đeljošaj publicly criticized IFC’s role and emphasized that zero points can lawfully be awarded when a bid fails to meet the criteria.
The Concessions Commission determined that the complaints about repeated scoring were unfounded. The Tender Commission had unanimously decided to re-evaluate the technical bids after multiple sessions in June 2025, resulting in both bidders exceeding 80 points and qualifying for the next stage.
Đeljošaj stressed that IFC’s opinion is advisory and cannot override domestic legal regulations. The responsibility for scoring lies with the members of the Tender Commission, who must provide independent, clearly justified evaluations of bids. The new session will focus on finalizing a transparent and legally compliant ranking process.
