Bulgarian Deputy PM Confident On `00 Privatizations (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

November 6, 1999
Dow Jones Newswires
Bulgarian Deputy PM Confident On `00 Privatizations
PRAGUE -- The Bulgarian government expects a robust series of privatizations
in 2000, with possible sales in the energy, tobacco and banking sector,
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksander Bozhkov said Saturday.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Bozhkov said it is hard to
quantify exactly how much money could be raised from state asset sales,
despite a prediction Nov. 3 by the country's head of privatization that 2000
sales could reap $297 million.
"I'm not sure I can say now," Bozhkov said, speaking here on the sidelines
of a meeting of heads of state from Central and Eastern Europe. "It will
depend very much on the start of sales in the energy sector," he said.
The Bulgarian government expects to sell its energy companies in many
different ways, including direct tender sales and joint-ventures, he said.
"(From these sales) revenues cannot be seen immediately, especially when you
have a joint venture...there are not direct revenues coming into the state
budget," he said. "It also depends on whether we will be able to launch
privatization of the regional energy distribution companies," he said.
But whether sales take place soon is a matter of setting up proper
regulatory bodies which will convince foreign investors that they will be
able to make money in Bulgaria's energy sector, he said. The creation of a
regulatory framework could take delay sales into 2001, he said.
"The important transaction in the first half of 2000 will be in the tobacco
industry," he said. The government recently announced plans to sell 51% of
Bulgartabak Holding to a foreign strategic investor, with about 35% being
given immediately and the remaining 16% being placed in an escrow account
for the investor to take after one year upon fufilling certain requirements.
An additional portion of state held shares in Bulgartabak will be added to
already trading shares on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, he said.
Bozhkov said he cannot estimate how much money will be raised from
Bulgatabak's sale.
According to the most recent estimates from the governement, the state is
expecting to receive about $533.8 million from privatizations in 1999, with
a large portion of the revenue coming from the sale of a stake in the
country's monopoly telephone company.
-By Douglas Lytle; 4202-2108-5273; dlytle@ap.org; djprague@hotmail.com

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