November 10 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria aims to sell its tobacco group Bulgartabac Holding in the first quarter of next year, state-run BTA news agency reported on Tuesday.
“The Economy, Energy and Tourism Ministry aims to privatize Bulgartabac as soon as possible”, BTA quoted Economy Minister Traycho Traykov as telling reporters.
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Bulgartabac is 80% state-owned.
“We are working to change the procedure for Bulgartabac's privatization, we will hire a consultant to work with the Privatization Agency on the issue. A deal is likely to be be reached in the first quarter of 2010”, Traykov said.
The privatization of the tobacco group has been delayed for years by political wrangling. It got a boost in late 2008 when parliament took the holding group off the list of key state-owned assets banned for sale without prior endorsement by the legislature. In compliance with the government's previous privatisation strategy for Bugartabac adopted in 2003, which called for the selection of a strategic investor, the company had restructured its operations and sold most of its loss-making units.
Bulgartabac has been faced with tough competition from international majors like British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Karelia Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International, Imperial Tobacco since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007.
The group's market share in Bulgaria has decreased by 10 percentage points to some 50% in the year to May, local media reported earlier this year.
Shares of Bulgartabac, part of the broader BG40 index of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, rose 2.44% to 21 levs in a volume of 20 shares on Tuesday.