Bulgaria's tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac will go bankrupt in two or three years if its privatisation fails, Agriculture Minister Mehmed Dikme said. In his opinion the company is no longer as competitive as other private companies. The minister said he expected a discussion of different variants and not a final decision on Bulgartabac privatisation during the meeting of Simeon II National Movement and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms on January 21.

The minister's comment comes a day after members of Bulgaria's Cabinet and the leaderships of ruling Simeon II National Movement and its junior coalition partner the Movement for Rights and Freedoms failed to reach a definitive stand on the privatisation of Bulgartabac. In a separate development 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, confirmed the validity of their bids January 20. The validity of the bids was extended by ninety days.

The third candidate, Tobacco Capital Partners, was not asked by PA to confirm the validity of their EUR 110 M bid, a move that could be interpreted as effectively disqualifying the provisional winner in the tobacco sale from the process, heeding a judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court.

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