SOF Connect, the operator of Vasil Levski Sofia Airport, has secured €450m (US$523m) in financing from international capital markets to fund the construction of a new terminal and modernization of existing infrastructure.
The financing carries a 22-year tenor and is structured through a combination of bank financing and a bond issuance – said to be the first project finance bond from a Bulgarian public-private partnership to be listed on a regulated market, Euronext Dublin. Investors include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and UniCredit Group.
Construction of Terminal 3 is scheduled to begin in the autumn of 2026. The investment is intended to meet capacity requirements and support the airport’s growth over the next 30 years.
“This landmark financing is a powerful illustration of what can be achieved through a successful public-private partnership,” said Jesus Caballero, CEO of SOF Connect. “By investing with a long-term vision, we are strengthening Bulgaria’s connectivity, expanding economic opportunity and contributing meaningfully to the country’s sustainable development for decades to come.”
The financing is being framed by SOF Connect as a signal of investor confidence in Bulgaria following the country’s recent entry into the eurozone. The involvement of a diversified group of international institutional and private investors is seen as an endorsement of both the airport’s growth potential and Bulgaria’s broader appeal as a destination for long-term infrastructure investment.
SOF Connect says the transaction was made possible by the transformation of the airport under its stewardship, carried out with support from Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.
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