Riga airport halts auction after bidder complains

Tina Milton

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Riga International airport has suspended the open bidding process for 186sq m (2,001sq ft) of new retail space

Riga International airport has suspended the open bidding process for 186sq m (2,001sq ft) of duty-free retail space following a complaint by local company Mono. The firm, one of four companies to submit proposals in the initial tender alongside BTV, Aelia and Inflight Service Latvia, protested that the tender process had failed to produce a winner. Instead Riga decided to hold an auction for the contract after the technical aspects of the bids were deemed to be “more or less the same”. The contract is for five years and covers all product categories and the winning bidder will be expected to contribute a percentage of sales plus a fixed rent.

Riga marketing manager rents and concessions Arturs Saveljevs said: “Mono registered a complaint about the previous tender, which was issued at the end of 2006 but ended without a result. We are now examining the complaint and have suspended the open auction until the Department of Transport and the airport’s supervisory board have reached a decision.”

Riga hopes the process will resume in the next couple of weeks once a decision on how to proceed has been made.