BELGRADE (Serbia), March 21 (SeeNews) – Stefan Schulte, CEO of Fraport, has said the German airport operator is more interested in the tender for a concession to operate Bulgaria's Sofia airport than in the respective procedure for Belgrade airport in neighbouring Serbia, as the interest of competitors in the latter is very high.
"We have a look on Belgrade to know what is going on. The appetite on Belgrade is very high on the market," Schulte told analysts and investors on Friday during the presentation of Fraport's financial performance in 2016, according to an audio file posted on the company's website. "There are a lot of competitors who are interested in Belgrade. We work more on Sofia."
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"The topic on Sofia airport has shifted several times and we have to see how they develop," Schulte added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bulgarian public radio broadcaster BNR quoted caretaker transport minister Hristo Aleksiev as saying that he proposed to cancel the tender for awarding a 35-year concession contract for the operation of Sofia International Airport, as the tendering procedure in its current form doesn't ensure sufficient protection of public interest.
In June, the transport ministry launched a tender for a Sofia Airport concession contract, seeking at least 550 million levs ($313.6 million/281.4 million euro) as a one-off upfront concession payment. The deadline for submitting bids in the tender was extended four times, with the latest one set to expire on May 31.
Earlier this month, Serbian infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic said a total of 27 companies have submitted declarations of interest in the pre-qualification stage of the Belgrade airport concession tender and 25 of them procced to the next stage and should prepare non-binding offers. Belgrade will pick the best offer by the end of August 2017, Mihajlovic said.
Serbia's government invited bids in February for a 25-year concession contract to operate the airport. Prospective bidders must not own more than 20% interest in the concessionaire of an airport, which is located within a 450 km radius from Belgrade and has serviced more than one million passengers in 2016.