SOFIA - Bulgaria's competition regulator has rejected appeals against the transport ministry's decision to pick a consortium led by asset manager Meridiam to run and operate Sofia Airport, a posting on its website showed.
Meridiam, which has teamed up with Germany's Munich Airport as operator for Bulgaria's main air transport hub, won the tender in July, offering an annual concession fee of 24.5 million euros and investment of 608 million euros.
The four other bidders for the 35-year concession contested the evaluation of the bids, which allowed Meridiam to win despite offering lower investment compared with the other contenders and the third highest concession fee. A consortium led by France's ADP ADP.PA , Germany's Fraport FRAG.DE , Britain's largest airport operator Manchester Airports Group, and a grouping led by SSB Sauernwein & Schaefer can contest the regulator's ruling in court within 14 days.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Alex Richardson) ((tsvetelia.tsolova@thomsonreuters.com; +359-2-93-99-731;))
