Transport Minister Joe Mizzi this morning expressed himself satisfied with the ongoing negotiations with the preferred bidder selected to operate the bus service.

Although he would no go into details, Mr Mizzi said that talks with Spanish company Autobuses de Leon were at an advanced stage and he would be in a position to give more details in the coming weeks.

He said that the government was currently reviewing the legal aspects of the bid but, he added, the Spanish company's offer was much better than the bid submitted by the competing Maltese consortium.

Mr Mizzi was replying to questions from the press at the end of a meeting with ministers from Greece and Cyrus, on maritime affairs.

Asked to reveal the annual government subsidy which the Spanish company had asked for, he said that this was much lower than the €45 million requested by Arriva prior to its decision to quit its 10-year concession by mutual consent.

On the other hand he acknowledged that the subsidy would have to increase from what it was in Arriva's last year. Arriva used to be given €10 million a year in subsidies, he said.

Times of Malta revealed some weeks ago that the Spanish company was likely to settle for a subsidy between €25 and €29 million a year.

Mr Mizzi insisted that the service would be affordable, but would not commit himself when asked whether the fares were set to increase. He said that the current running costs of the bus service were still lower than those of previous operator Arriva.