ECONOMY MINISTER: VARNA SHIPYARD’S PRICE WILL BE FIXED BY THE BUYER

Views on BG | January 11, 2002, Friday // 00:00

It is the fourth successive year that Bulgaria’s biggest shipyard ‘s operations have been stopped operating and is covered with snow, while several thousand employees lost their jobs, Deputy Prime Minister Nikolay Vassilev said during the parliamentary control session. He said that the bad situation was due to the inefficient judicial system.

According to Minister Vassilev should the shipyard’s creditors appeal against the court’s decision once again, a meeting with them will be arranged and the insolvency of the company will be pointed out. It is too early to talk about what will attract the investors to the shipyard, Vassilev said. The working group with the Cabinet has already had meetings with ten potential investors from different countries, but it is still not clear which ones will participate in the tender.

Since the state is the company’s main creditor, it would be in its interest to receive a high price. Several days earlier Price Waterhouse Coopers, which was selected in December to conduct the audit of Varna shipyard, assessed its assets at USD 18 M. The tender is expected to be opened in February after the evaluation is approved. In December the general shareholders meeting decided that the shipyard will be sold as a whole entity.

Despite expected corrections, the final price will be at least USD 16 M. According to economists this is normal, since the liquidation procedure downs the price by 30%. The plant's liabilities total BGN 165 M due to interests on credits.

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