October 4 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's ministry of transport said that it has decided to extend by one month the deadline for submitting offers in a tender for a 35-year concession contract to run Sofia International Airport.
The new deadline is November 22, and the offers will be opened the following day, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the tender documents, the total estimated value of the contract is 3.9 billion euro ($4.6 billion).
The concession fee will carry the highest wеight in the procedure for selecting a concessionaire, of 55%. The remaining 45% will depend on the submitted development plan, business plan, financing plan, general strategy, traffic estimates and capital expenditure.
The requirements for the potential candidates include having a net asset value of at least 200 million euro throughout the last three year and operating at least one international airport with an annual traffic of over 10 million passengers.
On Wednesday, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said that it is partnering with Chinese state-owned Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) in a bid for the concession contract. MAG's strategy focuses on introduction of more routes from Sofia to Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Tirana, as well as all other European capitals, the UK airport operator said.
($ = 0.8623 euro)