Bulgaria's Varna Port Ready for Concession by 2011

Bulgaria’s Transport Minister, Aleksander Tsvetkov, informs 10 facilities from the country’s transportation network will be offered for concession by the end of 2010. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

The Bulgarian government is conducting a thorough analysis of the possibility to concession the port of the Black Sea capital Varna, Transport Minister, Aleksander Tsvetkov, informs.

Tsvetkov, who visited the city Saturday, pointed out the analysis includes the ferry port and the terminals of Varna-Zapad (West) port.

The report will be ready in the fall, most likely by the end of September, when the concession conditions will become clear while the procedure itself will be launched by the end of the year.

The port’s concession is part of the general concession strategy of the Transport Ministry, which includes several facilities from the country’s transportation network.

A total of 10 such facilities are going to be prepared for concession this year, including 5 of the country’s largest railroad stations – the Central Station and Poduene in the capital Sofia, and the ones in Varna, in the second largest city of Plovdiv, and the other Black Sea city of Burgas.

Tsvetkov says that the idea of his experts is to combine the railroad stations with bus stations where possible.