The Montenegro government wishes to concession Tivat and Podgorica (the capital city) airports, the only two international ones. The Transport and Maritime Ministry indicated that the concession will cover a 25- to 30-year term and that it had received interest from investors from China, the UAE, Azerbaijan and Canada.
Tourism has been growing very strongly to the small country which is being promoted as an “undiscovered gem” and many of the resorts are accessible from Tivat Airport in particular; particularly Porto Montenegro, a luxury yacht marina owned by, amongst others, members of the Rothschild family and the Russian aluminium billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
Despite some privatisation of airport companies in nearby countries (e.g. Greece, Macedonia and Albania, where the privatisation of Tirana Airport has been surprisingly successful) both Podgorica and Tivat airports remain under the control of the state-owned company Airports of Montenegro (Aerodromi Crne Gore), a public enterprise established by the Government of the Republic of Montenegro in 1999 and previously owned by Serbian airline JAT until April 2003. Since then the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has supported reconstruction and modernisation at both airports to the tune of EUR30 million, including a new terminal at Podgorica which opened in May 2006. The reconstructed and modernised Tivat Airport was officially opened to traffic in June 2006.