Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2024-12-17
Buyer: Ministry of Transport
Country: MK
Region: MK008
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 60400000: Air transport services | 60410000: Scheduled air transport services
Estimated value: 3500000 EUR
Submission deadline: 2027-12-31

Technical requirements: 1.	The Ministry of Transport informs all interested air carriers that it is implementing a procedure for granting financial support to domestic and foreign air carriers for the launching of new destinations.
2.	Provider of the financial support is the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, which enacted Program for determining the funds required for granting financial support to domestic and foreign carriers for the promotion and development of the air transport in the Republic of North Macedonia for the period 2025-2027 ("Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia" No. 182/24) and it is implemented through the Ministry of Transport.
3.	As a new destination shall be considered an airport that have not been served by scheduled air transport in the past two IATA seasons from/to the Skopje International Airport and the Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport.
4.	Financial support is granted for the period from January 1, 2025, and ending on December 31, 2027.
5.	The financial support for each new destination is set at the amount of:
- 9 euros per arriving passenger in Denar equivalent at the middle exchange rate of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia on the day of invoicing, for passengers transported to the Skopje International Airport, and
- 12 euros per arriving passenger in Denar equivalent at the middle exchange rate of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia on the day of invoicing, for passengers transported to to the Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport. 
        6.     The funds remaining after the first call for financial support, which are determined by year and are not transferred, are in the amount of:
- 81.613.245,00 denars (1,327,045 euros) for 2025 year,
- 62.144.371,00  denars (1,010,478 euros) за 2026 year and
- 63.255.968,00  denars (1,028,552  euros) за 2027 year.  
7.	Deadline for submitting the Request for financial support:   
- interested air carriers may submit requests during the entire period for which the financial support is granted specified in point 4 of this public call.
        8.     The applicant for financial support submits a Request that should contain the following documentation:
        -    	general information about the air carrier,
-	а document from a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that the applicant has not been sentenced for corruption, fraud or money laundering;
-	а document from a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that no bankruptcy proceeding and liquidation has been initiated;
-	а document from a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that all taxes, contributions and other public duties have been paid;
-	а statement of confirmation issued by a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that the applicant has not been effectively sentenced for a criminal or a misdemeanor offense by a ban on performing a profession, activity or duty;
-	a document for registered activity by a competent authority in the country where it is registered, i.e. has its headquarters; 
-	evidence of possessing a valid certificate for meeting the safety requirements for performing public air transportation (AOC - Air Operator Certificate);	
-      An operational plan that must include: airport of the new destination, period for the requested financial support, date from which the air carrier will start operating at the new destination, number of fights on a weekly basis, number of planned arriving and departing passengers carried by the airline, number of seats offered, amount of the requested financial support shown by years which should be realistic with real numbers and will be an integral part of the financial support agreement;
-	income statement for the previous year;
-	excerpt from the annual report for scheduled air transportation of at least 5,000,000 (five million) carried passengers realized in the previous year;
-	a statement for generated profit of at least 10,000,000 EUR in the previous year;
- 	a statement on the existence/non-existence of a conflict or potential conflict of interest arising from a previous or existing contract or other relationship that may materially affect our ability to meet our obligations under the Financial Support Agreement, and
-	initialed draft Financial Support Agreement, available on the website of the Ministry of Transport.
The request and required documentation can be submitted in Macedonian and/or English language.
If the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices does not issue the documents of sub-items 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, the applicant is obliged to submit a notarized statement, stating that, in the last five years: it has not been sentenced for corruption, fraud or money laundering; no bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated against it; no liquidation procedure has been initiated against it; it has paid all taxes, contributions and other duties to the state; and that it has not been effectively sentenced for a criminal or a misdemeanor offense by a ban on performing a profession, activity or duty.
On the website of the Ministry of Transport you can find non-mandatory forms that can help you when preparing the request.
1.	The Ministry of Transport informs all interested air carriers that it is implementing a procedure for granting financial support to domestic and foreign air carriers for the launching of new destinations.
2.	Provider of the financial support is the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, which enacted Program for determining the funds required for granting financial support to domestic and foreign carriers for the promotion and development of the air transport in the Republic of North Macedonia for the period 2025-2027 ("Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia" No. 182/24) and it is implemented through the Ministry of Transport.
3.	As a new destination shall be considered an airport that have not been served by scheduled air transport in the past two IATA seasons from/to the Skopje International Airport and the Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport.
4.	Financial support is granted for the period from January 1, 2025, and ending on December 31, 2027.
5.	The financial support for each new destination is set at the amount of:
- 9 euros per arriving passenger in Denar equivalent at the middle exchange rate of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia on the day of invoicing, for passengers transported to the Skopje International Airport, and
- 12 euros per arriving passenger in Denar equivalent at the middle exchange rate of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia on the day of invoicing, for passengers transported to to the Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport. 
        6.     The funds remaining after the first call for financial support, which are determined by year and are not transferred, are in the amount of:
- 81.613.245,00 denars (1,327,045 euros) for 2025 year,
- 62.144.371,00  denars (1,010,478 euros) за 2026 year and
- 63.255.968,00  denars (1,028,552  euros) за 2027 year.  
7.	Deadline for submitting the Request for financial support:   
- interested air carriers may submit requests during the entire period for which the financial support is granted specified in point 4 of this public call.
        8.     The applicant for financial support submits a Request that should contain the following documentation:
        -    	general information about the air carrier,
-	а document from a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that the applicant has not been sentenced for corruption, fraud or money laundering;
-	а document from a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that no bankruptcy proceeding and liquidation has been initiated;
-	а document from a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that all taxes, contributions and other public duties have been paid;
-	а statement of confirmation issued by a competent authority in the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices, confirming that the applicant has not been effectively sentenced for a criminal or a misdemeanor offense by a ban on performing a profession, activity or duty;
-	a document for registered activity by a competent authority in the country where it is registered, i.e. has its headquarters; 
-	evidence of possessing a valid certificate for meeting the safety requirements for performing public air transportation (AOC - Air Operator Certificate);	
-      An operational plan that must include: airport of the new destination, period for the requested financial support, date from which the air carrier will start operating at the new destination, number of fights on a weekly basis, number of planned arriving and departing passengers carried by the airline, number of seats offered, amount of the requested financial support shown by years which should be realistic with real numbers and will be an integral part of the financial support agreement;
-	income statement for the previous year;
-	excerpt from the annual report for scheduled air transportation of at least 5,000,000 (five million) carried passengers realized in the previous year;
-	a statement for generated profit of at least 10,000,000 EUR in the previous year;
- 	a statement on the existence/non-existence of a conflict or potential conflict of interest arising from a previous or existing contract or other relationship that may materially affect our ability to meet our obligations under the Financial Support Agreement, and
-	initialed draft Financial Support Agreement, available on the website of the Ministry of Transport.
The request and required documentation can be submitted in Macedonian and/or English language.
If the country of the applicant’s registration or registered offices does not issue the documents of sub-items 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, the applicant is obliged to submit a notarized statement, stating that, in the last five years: it has not been sentenced for corruption, fraud or money laundering; no bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated against it; no liquidation procedure has been initiated against it; it has paid all taxes, contributions and other duties to the state; and that it has not been effectively sentenced for a criminal or a misdemeanor offense by a ban on performing a profession, activity or duty.
On the website of the Ministry of Transport you can find non-mandatory forms that can help you when preparing the request.
9.	The submitted requests will be reviewed by the Commission for implementation of the procedure for granting financial support. The Commission provides clarifications and submits additional information and documents upon request from interested air carriers and publishes them only in the form of an answer on the website of the Ministry.
10. In order to be able to approve the request for financial support, the applicant must meet the following conditions::        
        - to have carried i.e., served at least five million passengers in the previous year,
        - to have made a profit of at least 10,000,000 (ten million) euros in the previous year аnd
        - possessing a valid certificate for meeting the safety requirements for performing public air transportation (AOC - Air Operator Certificate).	
11. 	The air carrier whose request for financial support will be approved shall each new awarded route launched from/to the Skopje International Airport and the Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport operate at least twice a week, on a predetermined time table for the period for which the financial support is granted, in line with the request submitted, except for the week in which the New Year and the religious holidays of Catholic and Orthodox Christmas take place.
12. 	The Commission for implementation of the procedure for granting financial support, during the review of the request, may request the applicant to supplement the submitted documentation and/or provide clarification on the submitted documentation, for which the applicant is responsible no later than 15 days from the receipt of the request for supplementation or clarification.
If the applicant fails to act, the Commission shall notify him within 8 days that the request will not be considered due to incompleteness.
13. 	Requests are reviewed and approved on a first-come, first-served principle until the funds determined in the Government Program are exhausted.
14. 	The Commission has 30 days from the submission of a complete request for financial support to prepare a report, which it submits to the minister of transport.
            15.   The beneficiary of financial support who has concluded an agreement for financial support can submit a request for an increase in the period of operation of the introduced destination until its expiration. Along with the request, the beneficiary of financial support shall submit an operational plan that in particular contains: the period for which the increase in operations at the new destination is requested, number of fights on a weekly basis, number of planned arriving and departing passengers carried by the airline, number of seats offered and amount of the requested financial support shown by years which should be realistic with real numbers. The period for which the agreement will be amended can only be within the period from January 1, 2025, and ending with December 31, 2027.
Address for submitting a Request for Financial Support:
Ministry of Transport,
Plostad Crvena Skopska Opstina No. 4, 1000 Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
Website: www.mtc.gov.mk
Communication address:
E-mail: mtcfinancial.support@mtc.gov.mk
Веб страна: www.mtc.gov.mk
Phone: +389 2 3145 592


Winner: Publications Office of the European Union