Bulgaria’s Regional Development Ministry is looking for concessionaires to manage 22 beaches for 5-year periods.

Although most of the beaches have not been taken care of for several years, there are a number of attractive offers in the resorts of Sveti Vlas, Elenite, etc, according to reports of Capital Daily.

The initial prices start at around BGN 2000 and reach nearly BGN 500 000 a year for the different tendering procedures.

The submission deadline is March 13, 2015 and the bids are to be opened one week after that.

Among the most expensive offers is the central beach of Sveti Vlas, which has an initial price of slightly over BGN 256 000.

At the same time, the western beach in that resort, which is substantially smaller, has an initial auction price of BGN 33 167, VAT excluded, a year.

The Regional Development Ministry is also looking for concessionaires to manage the beaches Elenite 1 and Elenite 2, with the annual fee for the bigger beach amounting to a minimum of BGN 134 479, VAT excluded, while the minimum fee for the smaller one stands at BGN 4787, VAT excluded.

Among the attractive proposals is the Nestinarka beach in the Tsarevo municipality.

The initial auction price for the Nestinarka beach, which boasts a top location in the southern part of the Black Sea resort, is BGN 227 509, VAT excluded, which makes it one of the most expensive beaches, according to the announcement of the Regional Development Ministry.

Some of the beaches have failed to attract the interest of concessionaires for years, including Kabakum - Central Beach and Kabakum - Biser in Varna and Chaika - North Beach, Chaika – South Beach, Kamchiya - North Beach 2, and Kamchiya - North Beach 3 in Byala.

Out of a total of over 190 beaches in Bulgaria, no less than 1/3 of them usually lack a tenant or concessionaire.

In 2014 over 40% of the beaches, or a total of 83, were not operated by a tenant of concessionaire, with most of them located in the southern part of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.

In 2014 annual revenues from concession fees for beaches stood at BGN 13 M, with half of them transferred to the budget of the respective municipality and 10% to the district administration.