The government of Bulgaria has awarded the Gorna Oryahovitsa airport concession to the Civilian Airport Gorna Oryahovitsa consortium. The winning team was the only bidder in the tender process for the project. 

The concession to operate the airport will have a period of 35 years. Commercial closure is set to be achieved during the next two month.

According to local sources, the selected team is led by a company affiliated to businessman Rumen Gaytanski with a 95% stake, as a state-owned company controls the remaining 5%.

Under the terms of the concession the selected team will have to invest BNG31.1 million (US$17.2 million), of which BNG22.4 million (US$12.4 million) have to be invested during the first four years. Additionally, the concessionaire will have to pay 10% of the annual net revenues or BGN70,000, whichever amounts to a bigger sum.

Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport, an international airport near Veliko Tarnovo, is used predominately for cargo, as the last regular passenger flights to Sofia were terminated in the end of the last decade.

The airport is believed to have very good prospective, because of its situation in the center of the country, the lack of big airports nearby, and the huge number of tourists in the area coming from abroad.