August 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's BDZ Passengers has decided to lease five Siemens Vectron electric locomotives from UBEX Bulgaria for 8.5 million levs ($5.2 million/4.3 million euro) following a tender for the contract, state-owned railway group BDZ Holding said on Tuesday.
BDZ Passengers has an option to extend the term of the two-year contract by one year and to increase the number of leased locomotives by five, its parent company BDZ Holding said in a statement.
The first locomotives should be delivered 60 to 90 days after the contract is signed.
Two other bidders - ELL Germany and Sofia-based S Rail Lease - reached the last phase of the tender.
According to data from BDZ Passengers' website, ELL Germany's offer was priced at 9.3 million levs, while S Rail Lease offered the five locomotives for 9.9 million levs.
UBEX Bulgaria, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) industrial supplier, is fully owned by private investor Stefan Stefanov, according to commercial register data.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)