After the failure of airport concessions Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry is doing everything possible to gloss over the situation giving sea and river ports in the hands of private owners. Although most of the attracted investors hardly fit into the concept of strategic ones, procedures continue to pop up one after another. No one questions the fact that such concessions may pose a threat not only to the economy but also to the national security.
Several days ago the Cabinet approved Port Invest Ltd for concession holder of Lom port terminal. According to the Commercial Register it is owned by Bulgarian River Shipping Company, which is part of Chimimport group. In the records of Minister Ivailo Moscovski goes the port terminal Ruse-West. It was given to a consortium of two of local companies – Fanti-G and Ship Invest (equally owned by Aflik Bulgaria and Vives), which is the majority owner of the Rousse Shipyard.
Port of Nessebar was concessioned to the consortium Vidmar. Its members are companies that have little or no experience in the operation of ports. Sliven Vodstroj 98 is in the field of agriculture, construction and maintenance of water facilities. Another participant is Markovamp;Son of Burgas – a small company for organizing and conducting sea services, representation, cargo, passengers and luggage handling by sea. It is owned by MVM Consulting, which is a joint company of Magdalena Traykova.
Shortly before Christmas the Cabinet gave the port terminal Vidin-South to concession to TPP Sviloza where. A year earlier Navigation Maritime Bulgare was named by the Government as concessionaire of Terminal 2A Port of Bourgas, which was modernized during the government of Simeon Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha through a loan from the Japan Development Bank. The company owned by Kiril Domuschiev undertook to manage the facility for 35 years and make investments of BGN100.3 million for the entire period of the concession period plus repayment of 80% of the loan to Japan totaling 268 million levs.
Apart from that, Lukoil Neftochim received at the beginning of 2011 the oil terminal Rosenets.
So far, the interest is primarily from the Bulgarian business. Foreign investors did not turn up. Analysis shows that concessions for ports are successful, unlike those for airports because investments that are required there are significantly less. In addition, water transport is the cheapest one and in crisis part of the cargoes by air are directed precisely to this type of transportation, commented Minister of Transport Ivailo Moscovski. It seems, however, that despite the studies carried out by his ministry, officials have forgotten some of the basic principles of public – private partnerships and in particular that an object should not be concessioned by its largest user, because there is a huge risk that this move may lead lead to monopoly. This way officials allowed Navigation Maritime Bulgare to take over the bulk cargo terminal 2A and Neftochim – the Rosenets terminal.
The BANKER
