Cabinet approves sale of 65pct stake in telecoms monopoly BTC

SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s government yesterday approved plans for the sale of up to 65 percent of state telecoms monopoly BTC in a two-stage competition open to both telecoms firms and financial investors. The plan, on which Deutsche Bank advised, sets no minimum bid price for the monopoly’s selloff. There would be an option for the winner to take the country’s third GSM network license, a government press official spokesman said. The strategy document said telecoms firms bidding for BTC would need to have revenue of over 500 million euros ($432.5 million) from main activity in 2000 or over two million subscribers. Financial investors need to manage assets of over 300 million euros, said the plan, which also needs to be passed by Parliament before the sale is launched. On Wednesday, Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Nikolai Nikolov said candidates would be asked to submit two separate indicative offers, one for a BTC stake and one for a GSM license, if they want the option. At the second stage, candidates would present competitive bids only for the BTC stake in order to secure equal treatment for all candidates no matter whether they would use the GSM license option or not, Nikolov said. The strategy also provides for up to 20 percent of BTC to be placed on the local stock exchange, said the official. Government officials have said the sale is expected to be launched in March and completed by mid-year. Bulgaria’s government, which took office in July, has made the BTC sale a top priority. Its privatization is pivotal for its plans to sell many state firms this year to earn much-needed cash to cover foreign debt payments. However, analysts have said the government will find it hard to sell BTC in the current industry climate. A Deutsche Bank source has said the bank had submitted to the Cabinet a list of some 10 companies that might be interested, which included Greek OTE, Hungary’s Matav, Spain’s Telefonica, and financial investors. Transport Minister Plamen Petrov has said he expects only half of the 10 to bid and that some of the candidates might form consortia to meet the preliminary conditionsBTC’s fixed-line monopoly expires in 2003. Its profit in 2001 is seen at some $80 million, a 37 percent rise from 2000. – On Capers, Cobelfret has fixed M/V «Shibumi» 166,058 dwt, built 1984, delivery China beg. March for 4-6 months period at USD 11,000 daily.