February 27 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's government said on Thursday that it has endorsed the transport minister's decision to launch a new tender for awarding a concession contract for operation of Plovdiv Airport.
The ministry aims to secure the future development of the airport by attracting a financially stable investor with experience in airport management, the government said in a statement following its weekly meeting.
Among the specific goals is the construction of a new cargo terminal at the airport in Bulgaria's second largest city, the government noted.
The previous procedure for awarding a concession contract for running Plovdiv Airport was cancelled in October 2018, after the first-ranked consortium comprising China's HNA Group and Dutch-registered Plovdiv Airport Invest, withdrew its offer. The transport ministry said at the time that the second-ranked offer, coming from a tie-up comprising Bulgaria's Trakia Economic Zone and local transport and logistics company PIMK, was significantly lower and it is in the country's best interest to relaunch the procedure and seek new offers.
The HNA Group - Plovdiv Airport Invest tie-up had offered to invest 79.1 million euro ($86.7 million) in the airport and pay an annual concession fee of 600,000 levs plus 6% of the net income from the operation of the airport.
The Trakia Economic Zone - PIMK consortium had proposed to invest 65.5 million euro and pay each year 120,000 levs plus 6% of the net income generated from the airport's operation.
($ = 0.9126 euro)