The tender was repeated at the beginning of the year after the operator of the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport received six bids in the first one, including a joint bid from GIC Gradnje from Rogaška Slatina and Elcom from Ljubljana.

According to Monday's announcement, the two had submitted the lowest bid in the repeated tender and the decision to select them had been made only recently, although GIC Gradnje already said unofficially in April they had been selected.

The losing five bidders have eight days to file complaints against the selection published on the web portal for public procurement, and demand it be reviewed.

The announcement says that the lead partner GIC Gradnje and Elcom had filed the most economically favourable while still permissible bid in the tender published on 11 February and running until 8 March.

All six bidders entered negotiations with Fraport Slovenija after the deadline, with the selected bidders saying they would carry out the job for EUR 17.27 million.

GIC Gradnje has carried out more than a thousand projects in almost 30 years of its existence, with the list of its projects indicating that the extension of the terminal would be one of its largest ever.

Construction work is expected to start immediately after the selection becomes final, as the German-owned operator wants to conclude it before Slovenia takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of 2021.

Valued at around EUR 20m, the extension will cover 10,000 m2 and will house departures and security check facilities, while additional retail and restaurant facilities are planned as well.

The new facility will be connected to the existing terminal, which was built in 1973 and expanded in 2007, but it will be a separate unit.