Bulgaria lists one bidder for shipping line

Bulgaria's privatisation agency said on Friday it had shortlisted only one candidate, a German-led consortium, to bid for state maritime operator Navibulgar in a deal estimated at about 250 million euros.

The consortium, led by Germany's Martrade Shipping & Transport, will be invited to file an initial offer for a 70 percent stake in Navibulgar up to Nov. 8, the executive director of the agency, Todor Nikolov, told a news conference.

He said the other two candidates, India's Essar Shipping & Logistics, which runs Essar Shipping (ESRS.BO: Quote, Profile , Research), and Greece's Chartworld Shipping Corporation, did not meet the requirements for the sale.


"We realise that will make the selected company feel very comfortable," Nikolov said.

"But we will not sell at any price. We will have a deal only if we achieve a price, along with a level of investment and conditions for the workforce, that is good."

Nikolov said he believed it would be better to continue with one bidder and give a chance for a swift privatisation rather than wait and miss the current favourable global trend for maritime assets.

State-owned Navibulgar is one of the leading cargo operators in the Black Sea basin, with a fleet of 71 ships, with combined capacity of some 1.35 million dead weight tonnes.

But its fleet's average age is over 20 years and it needs a strategic investor to upgrade the fleet and keep its leading position in the Black Sea basin.

Navibulgar's assets stood at 953 million levs in the first six months of the year, while its net profit was 22 million, up from 11.2 million a year earlier, on operating revenues of 209 million for the same period.

Nikolov said he hoped the German-led consortium will file a bid and that a deal could be reached earlier than initially planned -- before February next year.

Source: Reuters