Aerodrom Maribor will get to operate Edvard Rusjan Maribor Airport for 15 years for EUR 95,000 a month (VAT excluded) with the option of a five-year extension.

The Infrastructure Ministry published the call for bids for a new leasee on 16 November, but Aerodrom was the only one to apply before the call expired on 30 January.

At the time, the ministry said that it would have wanted more bids, considering the call had been published also in foreign media.

Today the ministry said that Aerodrom's bid met all formal criteria from the call, whereas the offered monthly concession fee exceeded the minimum one set in the call by EUR 3,000.

It added that the contract on the lease could be signed within 15 days.

Since last December, Aerodrom Maribor has been owned by SHS Aviation, a company registered in Slovenia but controlled by Chinese capital.

Besides offering the 95,000 euros in the monthly rent, Aerodrom's new owners committed to generate 1.54 million passengers and 82,000 tonnes of cargo transport in the next five years.

They moreover committed to invest around EUR 139m into the airport in the same period. However, pundits believe their plans are too optimistic.