SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 16 (SeeNews) – The European Commission said on Friday it has granted approval to Bulgaria to provide financing needed to repay certain debts of state-owned railways operator BDZ, amounting to 224 million levs ($127.8 million/114.5 million euro).
The Commission found no concerns under EU state aid rules for the reimbursement of certain amounts of VAT paid by BDZ and the repayment of BDZ's debts towards the national railway infrastructure manager, it said in a statement.
The debts are directly linked to BDZ's transport operations, thus hindering the company's sound financial management and their repayment will not prevent effective competition on the market, the Commission added.
In May, Bulgaria’s transport minister Ivaylo Moskovski said the country plans to use the proceeds from the concession of Sofia International Airport to finance BDZ’s debts.
On Thursday, Moskovski said the tender for awarding a 35-year concession contract for the operation of Sofia International Airport, which was cancelled in April, is expected to be relaunched by September.
(1 euro=1.95583 levs)