The Bulgarian government approved a new draft Concessions Act on May 25, 2016. The legislation piece has now to be adopted by the Bulgarian parliament. The new document will replace the current Concessions Act in its entirety, and will revoke the existing public private partnership (PPP) Act.

The new draft concessions Act establishes the principles and rules on the actions required for planning and preparing concession awards, for conducting an awarding process and for the implementation of PPP contracts.

The draft Concessions Act aims to improve the supervision over the performance of PPP contracts. Additionally, transparency during the process will be ensured through registration with the National Concession Register.

Few days ago, the Bulgarian government had approved the granting of the 35-year concession for the operation of Sofia airport. However, the concession remains to be announced in the Official Journal of the European Union and the Bulgarian State Gazette, what will formally kick-off the tender process.

The Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski stated that the winner of the concession is expected to provide with an upfront payment that would be used to repay debts of Bulgarian State Railways company (BDZ). The amount could reach €290 million (US$322 million) while BDZ's outstanding debt totaled about €235 million (US$263 million).