Two companies submitted preliminary bids for the purchase of 99.99% of the Bulgarian flag carrier, Bulgaria Air, the Privatisation Agency announced. The bidding term expired yesterday at 2pm. One of the bidders is the Bulgarian company Balkan Hemus Group, that is reportedly a part of the Varna based business group TIM and controls a local private airline, Hemus Air. The other contender is Air One – Bulgaria that is a subsidiary of the Italian airlines Air One. The third candidate buyer that had been admitted to the stage of preliminary bids, the Greek Aegian Airlines, has decided to withdraw from the tender. The privatisation agency will now assess the offers and decide whether to admit the two bidders to the final stage of binding bids. Bulgaria Air currently services 30 regular international lines and carries out charter flights to 34 cities, too. Its regular lines bring in 74% of total revenue, while the rest is raised from charter flights. The company owns 9 Boeing 737 planes. Bulgaria Air ended the first six months of the year with a net loss of BGN 12mn (about EUR 6.1mn).