The state will most probably participate in the second tender for the bankrupt fertilizer plant Chimco AD, also known as Himko AD, in the northwestern Bulgarian city of Vratsa.

Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev commented on the case of Chimco AD during a sitting of the parliamentary energy committee.

The first sealed bid tender for the assets of the bankrupt chemical plant on March 19 collapsed due to the lack of bidders, despite previous reports of investor interest.

Stoynev, as cited by money.bg, explained Thursday that the state had not participated in the first tender because the price had been too high, at BGN 28 552 458, VAT excluded.

He said that the goal of achieving reindustrialization was not an end in itself.

Stoynev noted that investors had expressed interest in the bankrupt fertilizer plant but they wanted to buy it from the state.

He explained that the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) would wait to see the terms of the second tender in order to decide on participating in it.

Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister said that auction would be conducted at a 20% lower price tag, or down by around BGN 6 M.

In February 2014, BEH registered a new company, Energy Investment Company EAD, for the purpose of buying troubled companies, stabilizing them and reselling them to investors.

Apart from Chimco AD, the program of Bulgaria's socialist-led government included the troubled machine-building plant Remotex-Radnevo, but the talks on purchasing it stalled.

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