During a hearing at the Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Communications, Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev revealed that his ministry does not accept the results presented in the economic balance analysis for the concession of "Vasil Levski" Airport - Sofia. Dozens of technical and professional questions have been addressed to the financial institution that conducted the assessment, and their responses are awaited before a meeting is held to discuss the various models and forecasts in detail.

One of the main critical points, according to the Minister, is the understated capacity provided for in the document. He emphasized that the traffic forecasts in the analysis are even more pessimistic than those made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since these low figures directly lead to planning insufficient investments in infrastructure, the Ministry of Transport has taken the initiative to develop its own forecasts. Once completed, they will be compared with the data in the analysis and provided to the concessionaire and the World Bank.

Peev explained that the issue of concession payments is only a segment of a larger problem concerning the future development of the airport. He stressed that with more intensive traffic expected over the next 10 years, it is mandatory to ensure the corresponding investments. As specific needs, the Minister pointed to the construction of a second runway and improvements to taxiways, which would allow for more expedited runway clearance after landing. Additionally, there is a requirement to ensure terminal capacity and the appropriate quality of service as passenger traffic grows.

At the moment, according to preliminary data, the economic balance has not been reached, and a specific sum has been proposed that could be owed by the concessionaire. However, the Minister insists that before any actions are taken, it must be clarified exactly how this balance was calculated and what real-world data the underlying forecasts are based on.