Transport Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic said the most important amendments related to the definition of new risks and their consequences stemming from higher construction and management costs, acts of God, fewer flights or Croatia Airlines' bankruptcy while the state is its majority owner.
In such cases, the payment of the concession fee will be suspended until the contracted level of revenues is achieved again, enabling the payment of operational costs and the servicing of loans. The suspension cannot last more than three years, during which time an interest rate of four per cent will be charged, said the minister.
No public–private partnership contract is perfect but the Zagreb Airport concession contract is the best Croatia has ever signed, because there is no traffic risk, collateral or burden on the new airport building. The building will always be in Croatia's ownership and for the first time the state will be paid a fee for it, Hajdas Doncic said, adding that there had always been traffic risk so far, for example with the motorways.
He said the consortium that would manage the airport comprised operators which managed more than 30 airports and that this was an additional security factor.
The minister added that the suspension of the fee payment was a customary arrangement which was not a state guarantee and did not add to the public debt.
Commenting on the mention of suspicious capital in public, he said this could not be ascribed to the European Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank, the World Bank or Zagrebacka Banka, which are involved in the project.
"The terminal is being built, it's in Croatia, it's Croatian property, there will be a turnover of planes and people, and if the turnover is not sufficiently big, the worst that can happen is that the concessionaire won't pay the concession fee for a while," said Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.
In a worst case scenario, if the concessionaire goes bust, the building remains ours, the Zagreb Airport company immediately takes over the building, the workers and the equipment because there is no lien on the moveables and real-estate, Hajdas Doncic said, adding that all the rights of the employees were protected.
Both he and the PM then added that the concessionaire could not go bust.