Bulgaria again extends bidding deadline in Plovdiv Airport concession tender
Bulgaria's transport ministry said on Tuesday it has extended the deadline for submitting offers in its tender for awarding a concession contract for the operation of Plovdiv Airport to March 24 from February 25.
The bids will be opened at 1430 local time on March 24, the ministry said in a statement, without providing further details.
This is the fifth time the ministry has extended the bidding deadline.
The previous tender for awarding a concession contract to run the airport was cancelled in October 2018 after the first-ranked consortium comprising China's HNA Group and Dutch-registered Plovdiv Airport Invest withdrew its offer. The transport ministry said at the time that the second-ranked offer, coming from a tie-up comprising Bulgaria's Trakia Economic Zone and local transport and logistics company PIMK, was significantly lower and it is in the country's best interest to relaunch the procedure and seek new offers.
The HNA Group - Plovdiv Airport Invest tie-up had offered to invest 79.1 million euro ($96 million) in the airport and pay an annual concession fee of 600,000 levs plus 6% of the net income from the operation of the airport. The Trakia Economic Zone - PIMK consortium had proposed to invest 65.5 million euro and pay each year 120,000 levs plus 6% of the net income generated from the airport's operation.