February 17 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Welink appealed the recent decision of the local competition authority to turn down its request to suspend a tender for the dry leasing of a medical services helicopter called by state-owned aviation operator Heli Med Services, Heli Med said.
The appeal was lodged with the Supreme Administrative Court on February 15, Heli Med’s managing director Georgi Gvozdeykov said in a social media post on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) turned down Welink’s request to suspend the 1.76 million euro ($1.87 million) tender, saying that Welink had no legal interest to contest the procedure.
According to the Bulgarian commercial register, Welink’s line of business includes renting out audio-visual equipment and event management.
Gvozdeykov said in January that the tender had attracted offers from two companies – Belgian airline operator Heliventure FTO and Slovakia's Air Transport Trading. At the time, Gvozdeykov expected the winner to be selected by February 17.
Separately, the Bulgarian government is working on a 135.6 million levs ($73.8 million/69.3 million euro) procedure to purchase six medical helicopters through direct negotiations with Italian aerospace and defence company Leonardo. At the start of February, the CPC also turned down a complaint of US aerospace manufacturer Bell Textron against the parallel procedure.
($ = 0.9402 euro)