Russia's consortium Rosbulgartabac and Austria's Tobacco Holding GmbH, two of the bidders who lost the initial bid for 80% stake in Bulgaria's tobacco giant Bulgartabac, have been asked to confirm the validity of their bids, the Privatisation Agency announced January 15. The validity of the bids expires on January 19; they are to be extended for ninety days. In the middle of December a five-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) upheld the cancellation of a deal to sell Bulgartabac to Tobacco Capital Partners (TCP). The first reading of SAC ruling defines it as a violation of the law for the Privatisation Agency to let named by the agency buyer, Deutsche Bank-backed Tobacco Capital Partners, to continue its participation in the privatisation procedure, the Privatisation Agency claims. The Privatisation Agency has not been officially informed about Deutsche Bank acquisition of 100 percent of the capital of Tobacco Capital Partners, PA spokeswoman told novinite.com. Local press reported about the acquisition a day earlier, quoting a spokesman of the London headquarters. The deal is considered critical for Bulgaria. A previous attempt to sell Bulgartabac failed in 2000, when it did not attract any bids at all.

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