site.btaBids for Sofia Airport Concession to Be Opened May 9

April 25 (BTA) - Bids for the Sofia Airport concession will be opened at a May 9 public meeting of the commission responsible for the procedure, Transport, IT and Communications Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov said on Wednesday. The commission will read out the binding offers made by the approved bidders and will announce details, including the annual royalty fee, proposed investments and plans for the airport's development, the Transport Ministry said.

Zhelyazkov told the Parliamentary Transport Committee that the bidders or their representatives and other persons can attend the meeting.

He said the concessionaire is to build a new terminal and a runway at Bulgaria's largest airport within ten years of the signing of a concession contract because the existing ones are used to capacity.

Under the concession, all airport infrastructure and assets remain publicly owned; the private partner will be granted the right to operate the airport for the duration of the contract.

The Transport Minister said amendments had been drafted to the Civil Aviation Act, the Railway Transport Act and the Merchant Shipping Code in response to an action brought against Bulgaria by the European Commission on January 18. It invokes Article 21 of Directive 2004/49/EC, saying that this country has failed to
ensure the independence of the specialized investigation unit from the infrastructure manager and to ensure sufficient resources for that unit so that it can carry out its functions independently.

The government also proposes that a national board investigating rail, maritime and air accidents be set up as an independent judicial person with the Council of Ministers as a second-level spending unit to the Transport Minister.   

On July 5, 2018, the Bulgarian government launched an open competitive bidding procedure to select a concessionaire for Sofia Airport. A concession notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on the same date. The private partner who offers the highest share of gross annual revenues and proposes the best sustainable airport development plan, in addition to paying a fixed upfront fee of 550 million leva (281 million euro), will be selected. IG/DD
 


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