Legislative framework of concessions
Sites and objects, which are in the exclusive property of the state or a municipality, can be operated by private entities on the basis of a concession contract concluded following the conditions and procedures provided for by the Law on Concessions (for sites which are state property) or the Law on Municipal Property (for sights which are municipal property).
Granting concessions on some sites is regulated by special laws - the Law on Waters (for water sites), the Law on Underground Resources (for extraction of underground resources) and the Law on Roads (for national roads).
Decision for c oncession granting are taken by the Council of Ministers (for state property sites) or by the Municipal Council (for municipal property sites). The concessionaire is selected through a tender or competition procedure or directly if the Law provides for that option. Concession contracts, irrespective of the property on the site, can be granted for a period of up to 35 years. This period can be extended given that the total period of concession does not exceed 50 years.
Legislative framework of public procurement
Public procurement procedures are regulated by the new Law on Public Procurement (State Gazette 28/2004, last amended SG 53 / 2004 in force as of October 2004 ) . The new law harmonizes Bulgarian public procurement legislation with the four major public procurement directives of the European Union. According to the new Law, the Minister of Economy is responsible for the state policy in the area of the public procurement. The minister is assisted by the state Public Procurement Agency, which creates and manages a public procurement register .
Public procurement procedures are opened for purchase of goods, delivery of services , construction works and competition for a project.
The parties under the new law on public procurement are assignors, candidates and contractors:
- Assignors could be state bodies, regional authorities and municipalities, diplomatic and consular representations of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad, organizations of the public law (legal entities created for satisfaction of public interest with no commercial or industrial character), hospitals and health-care institutions, public companies and commercial companies when they perform activities such as: operation of facilities used for production, transmission or supply of water, electricity, gas, heating; exploitation of crude oil, coal extracting sites; operation of ports, airports and other transport terminals; exploitation of public service transport network with a monopolistic status, construction, maintenance and development of railway infrastructure; postal services
- Candidates for a public procurement contract could be Bulgarian or foreign persons or alliances thereof.
Public procurement contracts are awarded following a procedure, which may take one of the following forms:
- open procedure all interested persons can participate in the procedure;
- restricted procedure only candidates approved by the assignor could present their offers;
- negotiation procedure:
- with announcement (in the State Gazette) the Assignor conducts a preliminary selection and invites only the approved candidates for negotiations;
- without announcement the assignor invites for negotiation a limited number of candidates;
- design completion procedure can be either open or restricted.
The new Law similar to the European legislation provides for special rules for the award of public procurement contracts by entities operating in transport and telecommunications, water and energy supply sectors.
