site.btaGovernment Sells Concessions for Six Beaches

Government Sells Concessions for  Six Beaches

Sofia, January 11 (BTA) - The government sold concessions for six beaches on Wednesday. The concessionaires were picked on a competitive basis. They will manage the beaches for a period of twenty years.

These are all popular beaches on the southern and central part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and include the beach of Oasis Camping, Dyuni South, Obzor South, the nea beach at Sveti Vlas, Sveti Vlas Iztok and Nestinarka Camping.

Earlier in January the Socialist party accused the outgoing government of awarding lucrative beach operation contracts to companies linked to the power-holders.

The Tourism Ministry said that after the new managers step in, tourists will be charged only 0.36 leva for a beach umbrella and as much for a sunbed at the Nestinarka beach, 3 leva for umbrella and 3 leva for sunbed at Obzor South, 6 leva each for umbrella and sunbed at Oasis, 8 leva each for umbrella and sunbed at Sveti Vlas and 7 leva each at Dyuni South.

Tourists often complain that the beach amenities in Bulgaria are a ripoff.

The Tourism Ministry said that the decisions for the beach concessions are based on reports by special commissions with the participation of experts from the Ministries of Tourism, Finance and the Interior, and the special administration of the government.

The procedures for awarding concessions for two more beaches, Bourgas North and Pomorie Central, are being contested at the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC). Even though the law allows to carry through these procedures, a decision has been made to wait for the opinion of the CPC and dispel any suspicion that the competitions may have been rigged, said the Ministry.