BULGARIA’S Transport Ministry signed a contract for the modernisation of Black Sea port Bourgas with Japan’s Penta Ocean Construction Company and Mitsubishi Corp (Penta/Mitsubishi) on Tuesday.
The project carries a price tag of $114 million, according to the Ministry of Transport. The Japanese joint venture would start construction this April and expects it to be completed by April 2005. The project includes the building of a new bulk terminal and a new 1,196m long breakwater.
Japan’s Overseas Co-operation Fund (JOCF) will provide funding for the project. The Bulgarian government is securing the loan. According to Transport Ministry sources quoted by Reuters, the terms of the JOCF loan were favourable. The 30-year loan would have a 10-year grace period and the interest rate would be 2.7 per cent.
The tender procedure for the Bourgas port project closed with complaints by some of the bidders. Of five offers, the tender commission decided to review only two – Penta/Mitsubishi’s and one from the joint venture Kajima Engineering & Construction and Enka Construction & Industry Co. Inc.
The decision to reject three of the bidders was based on the financial terms of their offers. The tender commission had set a point-based evaluation system. Offers had to accumulate at least 80 points to be successful. According to a piece in the Kapital weekly newspaper, a source from the commission revealed that the third bidder, Taisei Corp had actually accumulated 81.6 points.
The current project for modernisation of the Bourgas port will not put an end to investment there. In 1992, the administration of the port started work on a master plan for the development of the facility. Under this plan, which was approved by the Transport Ministry in 1997, a total of $450 million would be injected into the port by 2015.
Situated in the centre of Bourgas Bay, Bourgas port is the first large seaport for vessels entering the Black Sea. The facility is mainly used for importing goods to Bulgaria and the countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Of the total volume of goods processed at the port, 71 per cent are imports and 29 per cent exports. Key imports include crude oil, coal, metals, ores and concentrates. Key exports include metals, fertilisers and ores.
The project carries a price tag of $114 million, according to the Ministry of Transport. The Japanese joint venture would start construction this April and expects it to be completed by April 2005. The project includes the building of a new bulk terminal and a new 1,196m long breakwater.
Japan’s Overseas Co-operation Fund (JOCF) will provide funding for the project. The Bulgarian government is securing the loan. According to Transport Ministry sources quoted by Reuters, the terms of the JOCF loan were favourable. The 30-year loan would have a 10-year grace period and the interest rate would be 2.7 per cent.
The tender procedure for the Bourgas port project closed with complaints by some of the bidders. Of five offers, the tender commission decided to review only two – Penta/Mitsubishi’s and one from the joint venture Kajima Engineering & Construction and Enka Construction & Industry Co. Inc.
The decision to reject three of the bidders was based on the financial terms of their offers. The tender commission had set a point-based evaluation system. Offers had to accumulate at least 80 points to be successful. According to a piece in the Kapital weekly newspaper, a source from the commission revealed that the third bidder, Taisei Corp had actually accumulated 81.6 points.
The current project for modernisation of the Bourgas port will not put an end to investment there. In 1992, the administration of the port started work on a master plan for the development of the facility. Under this plan, which was approved by the Transport Ministry in 1997, a total of $450 million would be injected into the port by 2015.
Situated in the centre of Bourgas Bay, Bourgas port is the first large seaport for vessels entering the Black Sea. The facility is mainly used for importing goods to Bulgaria and the countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Of the total volume of goods processed at the port, 71 per cent are imports and 29 per cent exports. Key imports include crude oil, coal, metals, ores and concentrates. Key exports include metals, fertilisers and ores.
