SOFIA (Bulgaria), March 31 (SeeNews) – Chinese company Hainan Longquanren Century Invest and Development is interested in obtaining a concession on the Plovdiv airport in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian economy ministry said on Tuesday.
The Chinese company intends to turn the airport into a logistic hub for Europe and Asia, the ministry said in a press release after a meeting between economy minister Bozhidar Lukarski and officials of the Chinese company.
Last month local media quoted Ivan Karnabitov, then head of the airport operator, as saying it has more than 1.36 million levs ($755,500/695,500 euro) in unpaid liabilities and is facing bankruptcy. Karnabitov later resigned over disagreement with the government's financing policy in relation to the airport operator.
In the first nine months of 2014 the Plovdiv airport cut its net loss by 0.7% to 752,000 levs, while operating revenues went down 2.9% to 3.1 million levs.
Plovdiv, in southern Bulgaria, is the country's second-largest city.