State to recapitalize Airport to finance Aeronautical Museum renovation

The Belgrade “Nikola Tesla” Airport, which controls the concession process of Belgrade Airport managed by Vinci, has called an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting for December 26, the main item on the agenda of which is the decision to increase capital by making a new share issue, all due to the announced reconstruction and expansion of the Aeronautical Museum.

As stated in the draft decision, the airport plans to issue 6.25 million ordinary shares, which is almost 18 percent of the existing number of shares, brokerage company Momentum announced. The price at which the shares will be issued will be determined as the weighted price in the last six months of the period preceding the day of the decision determining the market price of the share. The deadline for subscription and payment of shares will be 30 days from the publication of the prospectus by the Securities Commission.

As the company stated, the goal of raising funds is “to strengthen the financial structure of the company in order to implement development initiatives, invest in infrastructure and technology projects, as well as ensure long-term sustainable growth, modernize operations and improve market position.”

Behind this verbiage is actually the reconstruction of the Aeronautical Museum, which is owned by the Ministry of Defense, while the Nikola Tesla Airport should operate from the modernized facilities for a period of 20 years after the reconstruction is completed. This deal was announced in August of this year, but it was not stated how much money the company itself would provide for the adaptation and modernization of the Museum.

It was also announced at the time that the Aeronautical Museum building wass one of the facilities scheduled for reconstruction as part of preparations for the organization of EXPO 2027. On this occasion, the existing Aeronautical Museum building will be adapted and modernized, and the works will also include the construction of multi-purpose hangars.

The Aeronautical Museum was founded in 1957 as the “Department of History and the Museum of Yugoslav Aviation” at the Air Force Command in Zemun, with the aim to preserve material evidence significant for the emergence and development of aviation in our region. With the development and growth of the fund, the Museum changed locations, and on May 21, 1989, on the day of the Yugoslav Air Force, it received its building at the location where it is located today.

Momentum also states that the shares of the airport with low turnover reached a historical maximum of 2,500 dinars today, which corresponds to the company’s market capitalization of 87.6 billion dinars (about 746 million euros).