The Croatian government is considering rolling back the tender process, which was issued in October last year, to award the concession of the Croatian motorway network.

According to sources, the government will not take the decision until the second half of November, when offers from potential investors are expected.

The 1,024 Km motorway concession includes the Bregana - Zagreb - Lipovac, Zagreb - Split - Ravca, Zagreb - Rijeka, and Zagreb - Gorican motorways.

The motorways could be leased for a period of between 30 and 50 years with the government in Zagreb eyeing a one-off payment of around €3.0 billion ($3.8 billion).

The government announced plans to use the funds to ensure the repayment of loans taken out by state-owned motorway operators Hrvatske Autoceste and Autoceste Rijeka Zagreb which have to repay €2.0 billion during the next three years. A total of €4.0 billion must be repaid until 2039.

According to sources, five teams are in the race to bid for the concession:

• A team composed of Croatian pension funds AZ, PBZ-Croatia Osiguranje, and Erste Plavi, together with Goldman Sachs Infrastructure, Vinci, and Allianz Capital Partners,
• Raiffeisen mandatory pension fund and Macquarie Group,
• A team led by Strabag,
• A team led by Cintra, and
• A team lead by Atlantia.

Erste Group together with Deloitte and Wolf Theiss Rechtsanwalte are advising the Government of Croatia on the project.