Sofia Seeks Chinese Partner for Debt-Ridden Heating Utility

Business » ENERGY | September 15, 2010, Wednesday // 19:42
Bulgaria: Sofia Seeks Chinese Partner for Debt-Ridden Heating Utility Toplofikatsiya-Sofia, which has been in the news for more than three years after it was found drained to the brink of bankruptcy, provides heating to about 400,000 households in the capital Sofia. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Sofia deputy mayor has briefed the Governor of the Chinese province of Guangdong Wang Yang about the opportunities for Chinese investments in a cogeneration facility in the heating utility Toplofikatsiya Sofia.

"This is how we can make the operations of the company more efficient," Minko Gerdzhikov told the Chinese delegation.

Mr. Wang Yang is on an official visit to Bulgaria to discuss possible Chinese investments in the country. The southern Guangdong province is China's most populous and, once rural and underdeveloped, now boasts the highest GDP of the People's Republic for 2009, totaling USD 572 B.

"We will seriously consider you offer. When we are back to our country, we will try to brief companies about the opportunities, which Bulgaria offers. We can encourage companies to invest here, but we can't' take the decisions instead of them," Mr. Wang Yang said.

Sofia municipality council decided at the end of July that heating utility Toplofikatsiya Sofia will be transferred back to the municipality along with its debts, exceeding BGN 510 M.

Toplofikatsiya Sofia, which has been in the news for more than three years after it was found drained to the brink of bankruptcy, provides heating to about 400,000 households in the capital Sofia.

Until 2008 Sofia municipality was a majority owner of the plant, while the economy ministry held a 42% stake.

Toplofikatsiya Sofia returned to the government in 2008 when Bulgaria's largest municipality transferred a 58.2% stake in a bid to curb debts.

Plans for its sale, considered to be one of the country's last big energy privatisation deals, have all collapsed.

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Tags: Toplofikatsiya Sofia, Sofia Municipality, Economy Ministry, government

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