November 14 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria intends to relaunch the procedure for awarding a concession contract for the operation of the Plovdiv Airport by the end of the year, tourism minister Nikolina Angelkova said on Thursday.
There is serious interest in the procedure, Angelkova said during a meeting of tour operators in Plovdiv, as heard in an audio file posted on the Bulgarian National Radio's website.
Angelkova did not provide further details.
The initial procedure for awarding the concession was cancelled in October 2018, as 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 ($87 million) in the airport and pay an annual concession fee of 600,000 levs plus 6% of all net income from the operation of Plovdiv Airport.
The Trakia Economic Zone - PIMK tie-up had proposed to invest 65.5 million euro and pay each year 120,000 levs plus 6% of all net income generated from the airport's operation.
($ = 0.9089 euro)