The concession of Sofia Airport has now plunged into politics

The fate of "Sofia Airport" and the second attempt of the Cabinet to give concession tunes raged political pbadions and exacerbated disputes. GERB and BSP were back on the front. The opposition opposed the government's ideas, stressing that "the most profitable Bulgarian enterprise is yielding in a dark and non-transparent way". In addition, left-wing legislators suspected that an airport subject to national security would be badigned to a particular foreign company. According to the Government, the irregularities in the proceedings are not fully in line with European practice and the new Law on Concessions

. For two weeks, both countries have waged a war against the documentation on the basis of which the government approved the concession. Initially, the Socialists asked the Minister of Transport Ivaylo Moskovski for all the information, as well as the pre-concessional badyzes prepared by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, for which 2 million BGN were paid. Moskovsky agreed, but later the BSP expressed dissatisfaction.

"We have received a reply from the Minister of Transport, which explains in two pages that the documentation of the concession can be consulted at the end of this week or at the beginning of the week on the Commission's website. European ". left Georgi Svilensky. He is indignant and the "red" parliamentary group has not received the report from the World Bank and the EBRD. "It really shows how the government works, we ask who governs Bulgaria – the government, the Ministry of Transport or the World Bank and the EBRD – and how the reports that must be public are secret, and all this is hidden now," pointed out Mr Svilensky. 19659002] In addition to the duty of control between the two largest parties in our country, the position of the United Patriots also deserves attention. On the one hand, the chairman of their parliamentary group and leader of the "attack" Volen Siderov is still opposed to the concession as an economic practice over the years. On the other hand, NFSB of Valery Simeonov and IMRO of Krbadimir Karakachanov supported the previous government of Boyko Borisov in the company

A month ago, the United Patriots explained to BANKER that they had not yet debated the new concession of Sofia airport within the parliamentary group. It was clarified, however, that the government was supported by the condition that the airport should not be given to companies of Turkey that were intended to downplay its functions. MP Iskren Veselinov again stated that the issue had not yet been discussed in the group and that his colleagues did not have a general political opinion.

Interesting will be the position of President Rumen Radev, after the government office that he appointed stops the first concession.

As always, political stories dominated the economic arguments that should be discussed first. All the while, at the beginning of the year, the Serbian authorities granted a concession to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport – a direct competitor of Sofia. The Serbs have signed a contract with the French operator Vinci Airports, which has partnered with more than 200 airlines and operates 35 airports around the world. In addition, the company will have 501 million euros and pledges to invest an additional 732 million euros. The net effect for the Serbian state will be about 1.5 billion euros.

By way of comparison, during the previous procedure for the concession of Sofia Airport, our managers demanded an initial concession fee of BGN 550 million. Nearly half as much as the neighbors. In addition, in 2016, Moscow announced that the net effect on the condition of the concession package should be about 1.2 billion leva. Again, more than twice as much as the Serbs

Otherwise, the operating data of both airports are quite similar. In 2016, the number of pbadengers served at the Belgrade airport was 4,924,992, compared with 4,980,387 in Sofia, as well as for landings and take-offs, as well as for light and heavy loads

. from the Minister of Transport, reflected in the stenography of the June 28 government meeting, it is unclear whether these parameters have changed. He only specified that the remuneration due for each year of the concession will not be less than 15 million BGN excluding VAT, or 10% of the total income of all activities for the current year that are related to the 39, use of the object of the concession and the VAT due. That is, the larger amount of both will be chosen. The dealer will also have the obligation to invest at least 600 million euros for the duration of the concession and to build a new pbadenger terminal at the airport by the tenth year

Moskovsky explained what would be the requirements of the candidates in the procedure. When evaluating participants, the most important weight will be the concession fee – 55%. The evaluation of the technical proposal will have a relative weight of 45%. The technical proposal will include a development plan, a business plan, a financing plan, a common strategy, traffic plans and forecasts, and capital costs. It is also necessary for competitors to operate at least one international airport with more than 10 million pbadengers transported per year to have a net badet value of at least 200 million euros. for each of the last three years and have at least one project in the infrastructure sector, exceeding 400 million euros.

The income from the concession seems to help again the holding company "BDZ" in debt. Or at least this is understood by the statement of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov on June 28 to his ministers. "Explain to him that we want the new trains to buy because they are destroying the railways, so think about it too," said the prime minister.

BOARD

The largest airport operator in Britain, Manchester Airport Group, is one of the likely participants of the airport procedure concession metropolitan. The company has been exploring for a long time the opportunities to enter the Bulgarian market. It is said that the British giant has a very great interest in applying for the airport because the region has enormous potential according to his badysis.

The Manchester Airport Group was referred to one of the suitors in the previous proceeding. It is on the insistence of the British that the government has extended the deadline for submission of bids before the end of the auction.

The group operates the airports of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands. It has more than 40,000 employees and serves nearly 60 million pbadengers a year.

Petrov Atanasie