[Intl-tobacco] Bulgaria: BAT Interested in Bulgurtabac

[Robert Weissman]

British-American Tobacco Confirms Interest in Bulgaria's Bulgartabac - Sofia
Morning News (Novinite)
October 16, 2003

World tobacco mastodon British-American Tobacco has confirmed its
interest in the
privatisation of tobacco giant Bulgartabac, it emerged at the meeting of Deputy
Economy Minister Dimitar Ivanovski and Bulgartabac Holding Executive
Director Iliya
Kaloferov with representatives of the international tobacco group. The
new strategy
for Bulgartabac privatisation, which the government okayed at the
beginning of
October, has also been discussed at the meeting. It envisages the
piecemeal sale of
the cigarette production companies and tobacco processing subsidiaries.

Last week British-American Tobacco, together with Phillip Morris and Gallagher,
sent a letter of interest in Bulgartabac to the government in Sofia. Agriculture
Minister Dikme commented that there is a possibility for one or two of
Bulgartabac's subsidiaries to be traded till end-2003. Bulgartabac
includes twelve
processing factories and nine cigarette factories. It also runs five cigarette
factories in Russia and one each in Ukraine, Romania and Yugoslavia.