Monday, October 4, 2010

Bulgaria to restructure state railways ahead of partial sell-off

Bulgaia will restructure the freight unit of state railways BDZ before selling a stake in the company, according to plans drafted by the Transport Ministry. Ministry officials have said at the weekend that the restructuring should be completed by the end of 2011.

At the moment, the cargo subsidiary cannot be sold because its assets are owned by its parent company, BDZ. No investor would be willing to buy just the operations and the company's debts, the ministry said.
Under the ministry's plan, the state railways' assets would be transferred to its passenger and cargo divisions, leaving the parent company responsible only for strategic planning and financial oversight. But before that, the ministry needs to persuade BDZ’s creditor banks to consent to the transfer of BDZ's debts to its subsidiaries. BDZ board chairperson Vladimir Vladimirov said that the Bulgarian railways transport sector had already sparked the interest of German and Austrian companies.

















News source: The Sofia Echo link: article

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