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Bulgaria eyes privatisation of rail freight operator
Published: Fri, 2014-11-21 10:30-
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Rail freight operator to be privatised
Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski has unveiled plans to relaunch the privatisation of the state-owned rail freight operator, a unit of the Bulgarian State Railways. Privatising BDZ Freight Services will allow to make the state-run passenger carrier, BDZ Passenger Services, a “stable and normal company,” according to the minister.
Moskovski said that BDZ Passenger Services were in need of a major technical upgrade, and that there were several financing options available to carry out the planned reforms. These include providing funds from the state budget, funding through investment loans, as well as acquiring funds from an operational programme established by the European Union, the minister said.
“BDZ Passenger Services can be moved to a holding company [which would include] the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), [allowing to boost] its financial indicators and enabling it to receive funding under the Transport Operational Programme,” Moskovski said, as reported by local news agency Novinite.
The Bulgarian government sees the planned privatisation as a remedy to the financial woes of the troubled railway company. In the past year, BDZ Freight Services increased its operational debt from some BGN 3m ($1.9m) to BGN 14.5m ($9.2m).
The latest announcement follows a recent change at the helm of Bulgaria’s railway company. Vladimir Vladimirov, who served as the chairman of the board of BDZ in the years 2009 to 2013, was appointed by the government to head the company again earlier this month.
Av Jaroslaw Adamowski
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