November 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's transport ministry said on Friday it extended the deadline for submitting offers in a tender for granting concession on Sofia International Airport to January 31.
The extension was made at the request of "one of the large airport operators in Europe", the ministry said in a statement, quoting transport minister Ivaylo Moskovski.
This is the third extension to the deadline. Earlier this month, the deadline was extended to December 14.
In September, the ministry extended the concession deadline by four weeks to November 18. Moskovski said at the time that the extension was made at the request of three companies.
"This will create an opportunity for the next government to decide whether to proceed with the concession on the airport," Moskovski said.
Prime minister Boyko Borissov submitted the resignation of his minority coalition government on Monday after the candidate of main governing GERB party lost the presidential elections the day before.
The financial parameters of the concession include mandatory one-off payment of at least 550 million levs ($310.5 million/281.3 million euro), excluding VAT. The concessionaire should also pay an annual fee equal to at least 7% of its net revenue but no less than 9.95 million levs. The concessionaire will also have to invest at least 306.5 million levs in the airport for the entire term of the concession contract.
The required investments include the construction of a new terminal capable of handling three million passengers per year as well as infrastructure upgrades.
The candidates' offers will be evaluated according to several criteria based mainly on the concession payment and the investment programme, which carry a combined weight of 75% of the total score.
(1 euro=1.95583 levs)