Bulgarian parliament oks national flag-carrier sell-off strategy
2007-09-19 10:00:00
The Bulgarian parliament approved on Thursday the strategy for the privatisation of a 99.9% stake in national flag-carrier Bulgaria Air. The two-stage competitive procedure is open to strategic and financial investors but not consortia thereof. The Bulgarian state will retain a golden share and will ensure post-privatisation control options in a bid to prevent a repeat of the privatisation flop with Bulgaria Air's predecessor Balkan Airlines. Eligible candidates will be strategic investors domiciled in Bulgaria wherein at least 51% are held by Bulgarian individuals or corporate entities or individuals or corporate entities from the EU or the member states of the European Free Trade Association. The strategic investors will be required to certify annual proceeds of at least 100 mln euro for each of the past two years and traffic of at least 750,000 passengers Eligible financial investors should certify 250 mln euro in assets or 150 mln euro in equity. The investor will be expected to raise the carrier's capital from 13 mln to 30.1 mln levs.

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