Page 22 - bne_newspaper_March_30_2018

Weekly Lists
March 30, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 22
bne:
Infrastructure
Chinese HNA-led consortium wins concession for Bulgaria’s Plovdiv Airport
Germany gives go- ahead for construction of Russia's Nord Stream II gas pipeline
Bulgaria’s government said on March 28 that it has selected a con- sortium of China’s HNA and Dutch-registered Plovdiv Airport Invest BV for the 35-year concession of Plovdiv Airport.
Bulgaria launched a tender for the concession in January 2017. HNA-Plovdiv Airport Invest was one of three bidders along with a local consortium and another consortium led by a company of Swiss investor Urs Meisterhans.
The consortium will have to invest at least €79.1mn within five years after the concession deal is signed, including on repairs, rehabilitation and maintenance of existing infrastructure and new construction.
Plovdiv Airport is a regional airport located 12 km southeast of the country’s second largest city.
The day after Germany expelled four Russian diplomats to show solidarity with the UK over the Skripal spy poisoning, the govern- ment in Berlin voted to grant all necessary permits for the con- struction of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline, ignoring wails of protests from many fellow EU countries.
Germany approved the construction and operation of the Russian-built Nord Stream II gas pipeline that will significantly increase the amount of Russian gas arriving in Germany and allows the Kremlin to almost completely bypass Ukraine in delivering gas to European clients.
The Nord Stream 2 operating company said it expected that four other countries along the route of the undersea gas pipeline – Russia, Fin- land, Sweden and Denmark – will issue permits in the coming months.
Kosovan truck drivers held a protest on March 28 against Albania’s plans to start charging for use of the Durres-Kukes motorway, which links the two countries.
The motorway is set to become the first toll road in Albania starting from April 15, but the plans have angered local communities in
one of the country’s poorest areas as well as truckers and other businesses in Kosovo.
Despite top-level political discussion of deepening economic and business ties between Albania and Kosovo, the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce has complained that various tariff and non-tariff barriers continue to hold back cooperation, and says the new toll road will make the situation even worse.
Kosovan truckers pro- test against Albanian’s first toll road