The parliamentary groups of the ruling party Simeon II National Movement and the predominantly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), junior partner in the ruling coalition, are to hold a meeting today on the privatization of Bulgaria's tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac.

The Privatisation Agency and the cabinet are currently holding negotiations and try to reach an agreement, compatible with the privatization strategy, approved by the Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Vassilev said. It is not known whether data on the negotiations will be presented at today's meeting.

In the words of Minister Vassilev the deal won't be inked at any price.

A day earlier the meeting of the two parliamentary groups on Bulgartabac failed to reach an agreement and it was rescheduled for March 25.

The meeting was to reach political solutions on some of the contentious items in the privatisation contract for Bulgartabac.

In the middle of March Bulgaria's Parliament approved the Cabinet's decision for naming EUR 110 M bid of Deutsche Bank-owned Tobacco Capital Partners a winner for 80% stake in Bulgaria's tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac.

Ahmed Dikme, Agriculture Minister from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, is said to oppose the idea of Deutsche Bank to terminate the practice of fixing minimum purchase prices for the local tobacco crop.

On the other hand Tobacco Capital Partners opposes the demand to refrain from divesting Bulgartabac equity over a period of five years after the deal is signed.

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