Airport duty-free tender
annulled after being awarded

To be relaunched with pricing in dollar

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport said it has decided to cancel the public auction through which Phoenicia Aer Rianta Co. (PAC-Duty Free) was temporarily awarded a deal to operate the duty free market at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport.

The ministry said it has taken this decision, which is in line with the public procurement law, because a huge difference in the exchange rate of the US dollar to the lira had occurred from the time when the opening price was determined and the time of awarding the contract. It said that in the new auction, the opening price will be revised and will be in dollars.

The contract temporarily awarded to PAC-Duty Free comprised a fixed amount of LL1.12 trillion ($30 million, at an exchange rate of LL37,500) and a fee denominated in dollars at the rate of $3.5 per passenger.

Jean Ellieh, Director General of the Department of Tenders, said at the time of the deal award that it is ideally preferable that government deals are entirely denominated in dollars but in light of the current circumstances and uncertainty about the future, it is necessary to charge at least part of the deal in lira in order to attract bidders.

PAC-Duty Free is owned and chaired by Mohamed Zeidan.