Tendering for the sale of Port of Novi Sad to take place in September

The tendering for the privatization of the Port of Novi Sad, the only remaining port with a majority stake belonging to the state, should start in September. Some of the most famous companies in the world are interested in the port, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure told Tanjug.

– We are completing the work on defining the property of the Port of Novi Sad. In order for the privatization to be carried out, port land and infrastructure, which will remain in the ownership of the Republic of Serbia, need to be extracted, which means that the object of the privatization will be the port’s business and it suprastructure – cranes, buildings, warehouses and similar facilities – said the assistant to the minister for water transport, Veljko Kovacevic.

As he said, the privatization will secure over EUR 15 million of investments in the development of the port: the construction of a new wharfage, a new silo and the mechanization.

This will accelerate its operations, as the port currently reloads around a million tons of goods a year, and its capacities exceed 2.5 million tons.

– The obsolete mechanization, the inefficiency and the slowness of the port are what lower its place in the market at the moment. Both the privatization and the new investment capital should enable a quicker development of the port – Kovacevic notes.

He adds that the procedure of the extraction of a part of the property and its transfer to the Republic of Serbia has been carried out and that the privatization documentation is currently being prepared.

– We expect the tendering for the privatization, that is, the selection of the port operator to start in September. Some of the most reputable companies in the port business have expressed a great interest in the port – he said.

According to him, these companies include Dubai Port World from the United Arab Emirates, Germany’s Rhenus and the American Valona Group. Also, numerous other well known companies have already sent letters of intent.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

DP World ad Novi Sad

DP World

Rhenus Logistics Holzwickede Germany

Valona Holding Pte. Ltd.

Ministry of Construction

Port of Novi Sad

Dubai Port World

Rhenus

Valona Group

privatization of the Port of Novi Sad

Veljko Kovacevic

sale of the Port of Novi Sad