1.   

On the recommendation of the Evaluation Committee, the Minister (1) will – with the prior agreement of the Hungarian Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (‘SZTFH’) – issue the decision awarding the concession in accordance with Section 5(1)-(1a) of the Concessions Act, on the basis of which the Minister may then conclude the concession contract with the successful bidder.

2.   

The language of the tendering procedure is Hungarian.

3.   

For the purpose of carrying out the activity subject to concession, using its own resources the bidder signing the concession contract (‘the Concession-Holder’) must, within 90 days of the concession contract entering into force, set up a company with its registered office in Hungary (‘the Concession Company’); the Concession-Holder must hold the majority of the shares, business interests and voting rights in the company at the time it is set up and for as long as it is operating, and must, as owner, undertake to enforce the requirements specified in the concession contract within the Concession Company. The Concession Company will enjoy the rights and be subject to the obligations under the concession contract as a mining operator.

4.   

The duration of the concession is 20 years from the entry into force of the concession contract, which may be extended once without a further call for tenders for a maximum of half of its original duration if the Concession-Holder and Concession Company have complied with all their obligations in accordance with the contract and on time.

5.   

The area designated for concession concerns the administrative territories of the municipalities listed in the table below in the counties of Somogy, Veszprém and Zala.

Overburden of area designated for concession: surface and bedrock: 6 000 metres below Baltic Sea level

Areas cleared to make way for a mine site established for hydrocarbon mineral resources are not included in the area designated for concession.

The corner point coordinates delimiting the area designated for concession can be viewed in the Uniform National Projection (‘EOV’) System, while data on the areas cleared to make way for mine sites established for hydrocarbon mineral resources, which are not included in the area designated for concession, can be viewed on the websites of the Hungarian Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (https://sztfh.hu) and the Ministry of Energy (https://kormany.hu/energiaugyi-miniszterium) by clicking on ‘Koncesszió’.

Size of area designated for concession: 820,73 km2.

6.   

The minimum net concession fee is HUF 508 000 000 (five hundred and eight million forint) plus VAT, but a bid for a larger fixed amount may be entered in the tendering procedure. Once the result is published, the successful bidder must pay the concession fee in the amount, in the manner and by the date specified in the concession contract.

7.   

Participation in the concession tendering procedure is subject to payment of a participation fee of HUF 20 000 000 (twenty million forint) plus VAT, which is to be paid in the manner specified in the Tender Document. The participation fee must arrive on the account set out in the Tender Document by 24:00 on the day preceding the deadline for submitting bids.

8.   

In addition to paying the participation fee, for their bid to be valid bidders must pay a tendering security of HUF 100 000 000 (one hundred million forint) by 24:00 on the day preceding the deadline for submitting bids as a guarantee that the bid is binding. The tendering security paid will be forfeited to the Contracting Authority if the bidder withdraws or if the bidder is successful but then fails to conclude the contract or fails to pay the concession fee offered, in the amount, in the manner and by the deadline stipulated in the contract. The tendering security is to be paid in the manner specified in the Tender Document.

9.   

The lowest rate of the mining royalty payable for conventional hydrocarbon production on the basis of the concession contract will be 20 % in accordance with the decision of the Minister. A bid may be entered in the tendering procedure offering to pay a mining royalty larger than the minimum mining royalty, on the proviso that the resulting royalty must be recorded in the concession contract and paid for the duration of the concession. In the cases specified in Section 20(3)(e) and (i) and Section 20(5) of the Mining Act, the contractual mining royalty will be the mining royalty rate specified in the Mining Act applicable on the date the bid is submitted.

10.   

The legal, financial, technical and other conditions and information relating to the tendering procedure can be found in the Tender Document.

11.   

When purchasing the Tender Document, for the purposes of being contacted and receiving communications, the purchaser must also submit a Concession Bidder Identification Sheet, which can be downloaded from the website of the Ministry of Energy (https://kormany.hu/energiaugyi-miniszterium) by clicking on ‘Koncesszió’.

12.   

The purchase price for the Tender Document is HUF 200 000 (two hundred thousand forint) plus VAT, which must be paid by transfer into the Ministry of Energy’s appropriation utilisation framework account No 10032000-00290713-00000000 (IBAN: HU30 1003 2000 0029 0713 0000 0000, SWIFT code: HUSTHUHB, financial institution where the account is held: Hungarian State Treasury). The message accompanying the transfer must state the code BUCHDV and the name of the party purchasing the Tender Document. The purchase price for the Tender Document may not be paid in cash and is not refundable in part or in full. If the Tender Document is not received, the purchase price for the Tender Document will be refunded to the payer within five days of the submission deadline.

13.   

Bids may be submitted only by persons having purchased the Tender Document and having verifiably paid both the participation fee and the tendering security. If a joint bid is submitted, it is sufficient for one of the bidders to purchase the Tender Document.

14.   

Bids must be submitted in person between 10:00 and 12:00 on 15 January 2025 at the headquarters of the Ministry of Energy (Október huszonharmadika utca 18, 1117 Budapest), third floor, office 333, in Hungarian, as specified in the Tender Document.

15.   

The bid becomes binding on the bidder from the time it is submitted and remains binding until the tendering procedure has ended. Bidders may not exclude liability for failure to abide by their bid.

16.   

The Minister reserves the right to withdraw the invitation to tender without providing justification at any point up until the deadline for bids to be submitted.

17.   

The Minister reserves the right to declare the tender procedure unsuccessful without providing justification at any point up until the concession contract is concluded following the deadline for bids to be submitted, and to discontinue the procedure. No claims arising from the tender procedure being declared unsuccessful may be lodged against the Minister, the Hungarian State represented by the Minister, or the Ministry of Energy as the Minister’s place of work.

18.   

If the Minister withdraws the invitation to tender or declares the tender procedure unsuccessful, they will refund the participation fee paid by the bidder within 15 days of the discontinuation of the procedure.

19.   

The successful bidder will acquire the exclusive right for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the area designated for concession for the duration of the concession through the Concession Company mandatorily set up for that purpose. Once the decision establishing the mining site becomes final, the concession right for the prospection area will be restricted to the area of the mining site.

20.   

Each bidder may submit only a single bid.

21.   

Time limit for the adjudication of concession bids: within 90 days following the deadline for bids to be submitted.

22.   

The Contracting Authority will ensure a level playing field and will not apply any preferential criteria.

23.   

24.   

The concession contract is to be concluded within 90 days following the announcement of the result. This time limit may be extended by the Minister once only by a maximum of 60 days.

The successful bidder is entitled to carry out the exclusive state-controlled economic activity (prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons in a delimited area) permitted under the concession for the duration of the concession in accordance with the relevant legislation and the concession contract.

When submitting the bid, bidders must take account of Section 22/A(13) of the Mining Act, which states that in the case of hydrocarbons a mining operator’s prospection right or prospection permit may cover a total of no more than 20 000 km2 of prospection territory. When establishing the prospection territory, account must also be taken of the prospection territory of the mining operator that controls – within the meaning of Act V of 2013 on the Civil Code – the mining operator wishing to obtain the prospection right. In the case of joint bids, each of the bidders must meet this criterion individually.

The draft concession contract is annexed to the Tender Document.

25.   

Information regarding the tendering procedure may be requested exclusively in Hungarian, in writing after the Tender Document has been purchased, in the manner stipulated in the Tender Document. Replies will be made available to all parties by the Ministry of Energy using the e-mail address indicated on the Bidder Identification Sheet submitted when the Tender Document was purchased.