Bulgaria Extends Deadline For Rousse Airport Concession Bids 15/04/2008
Bulgaria's Transport Ministry extended the deadline for bids in the tender to pick a concessionaire for the Rousse airport to May 7, weekly Stroitelstvo Gradut reported on April 14. Bids would be opened no later than May 21, according to Bulgaria's regulations on public tenders. The concession covers 1.82 million sq m of land, as well as any infrastructure and buildings that the concessionaire will build on the grounds, according to the tender notice, quoted by the weekly. The tender guarantee is set at 200 000 euro. The concession can be amended to include additional plots necessary to expand the existing runway, subject to re-zoning approval. The company that wins the tender will also have to upgrade and repair the existing airport facilities. According to the website of... more

Bulgarian Investors Eye Properties In The Us 01/04/2008
The financial crunch and a feeble dollar are not such bad news for the United States property market, Pari daily reported. The classic business maxim that one should buy at times of falling prices is about to attract large-scale real estate investment from all over Europe and a number of Arab countries. Bulgarian property companies, working with American partners, have already observed increased demand from Bulgarians for houses and holiday properties in the US, Pari said. “We can't talk of a massive interest in the US property market, but we've been receiving enquiries for several months now,” RE/MAX Chance group manager Simeon Mitev told Pari daily. Several locations have been turned into lucrative property investments following price slumps. Enquiries from Bulgarian... more

Credit Squeeze Wrecks Trakia Highway Deal 15/03/2008
The global credit crunch may yet spoil the Trakia highway transaction, Standart daily reports. The Bulgarian-Portugal consortium, Trakia Highway Jsc, which was named as the highway concessionaire by the previous government, has experienced difficulty in securing finance for the infrastructure project. "I will ask concessionaries whether they have negotiated the loan necessary to bankroll the project within two weeks," said the regional development minister Assen Gagauzov, who signed a second annex to the highway contract on January 16, giving the consortium a 120-day period to find the resources for finishing the Sofia-Bourgas thoroughfare. Rumoured possible lenders include the Portuguese bank Espirito Santo, Switzerland-based Credit Suisse First Boston bank or the Swiss UBS. more