BULGARIA. The government has moved to make a significant adjustment to its 35-year concession deal for Sofia Airport with a Meridiam-led consortium. It will defer annual fee payments for ten years to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on air traffic.
Meridiam, the Paris-based asset manager, has partnered with Germany’s Munich Airport in its bid to operate the airport. Bulgaria Transport Minister Rosen Zheliazkov said the consortium will pay 660 million levs (US$401.26 million) up front later this month before taking over Bulgaria’s biggest travel hub.
According to Reuters, the consortium has committed to annual concession fees of 32% of revenues but not less than €24.5 million (US$29.12 million) per year under the revisions, and will start paying the deferred fees from the 25th year onward.
Zheliazkov said the state will be able to review the concession annually and fee payments may resume earlier if air traffic recovers faster and the airport returns to profit.
