The two consortia still in the bidding process for a 10-year public transport contract made subsidy claims of €117 million and €78 million respectively as the process re-started after another bidder's appeal was turned down.

A statement by the Transport Ministry yesterday said the Public Contracts Appeals Board turned down the appeal of a third bidder that failed to qualify through the technical stage.

The decision opened the way for the process to proceed to the next stage where Transport Malta opened the financial envelopes of the two remaining bidders, which included their claims for the subsidy they expected to be paid by the government over the whole 10-year contract.

Transdev Plus Consortium was quoted as having made a claim of €117.3 million or an average of €11.7 million per year and Arriva Malta Consortium a claim of €75.8 million or an average of €7.6 million per annum.

Under the current subsidy system, the money the government forks out is always on the rise to make up for loss of patronage. However, the new operator will be receiving a fixed subsidy for the whole 10-year period.

"The risk of operation will, for the first time, be totally borne by the operator and not by the Maltese taxpayer," the statement said.

The bids included detailed business plans and financial projections to substantiate the offer made by the bidders.

In comments to The Times, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said in 2008 €6.5 million were paid in subsidies to the Transport Association while the claim for 2009 amounted to €10 million, although this was still being negotiated.

He refrained from commenting on the bidding process, insisting "it was not correct or ethical to express an opinion about any of the bids made while the adjudicating process is ongoing".

"We do not want to disturb this process in any way except to state that final negotiations are a part of this process," Dr Gatt said.

The financial envelopes will be assessed by the Core Evaluation Committee assisted by external financial consultants. A report will then be passed on to the adjudication committee that will establish the most advantageous tender in line with the established evaluation criteria.

The adjudication committee will eventually make recommendations to the Transport Malta board on the selection of the preferred bidder and once this is chosen the government will set up a negotiating team to enter into talks for the final contract.

The ministry is hoping the contract will be in place before the end of September.