St-Petersburg's officials have announced the tender for a $1.28 billion contract to overhaul and operate for 30 years Pulkovo airport, which is the main airport in the city. Among the key bidders are Basic Element owned by a Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, the Frankfurt Airport operator, Fraport, which is bidding with a London-based investment unit of VTB Group together, and Flughafen Vienna. St-Petersburg is trying to position Pulkovo as a regional hub and compete with destinations in the Baltics and Scandinavia. Due to the economic downturn, the city has delayed the implementation of $13 billion on infrastructure projects due to be allocated earlier this year.