Bulgaria will lower the initial price tag of BGN 200 M of the cargo unit of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) company in the second attempt to sell it, according to Plamen Dzhurov head of BDZ' freight arm.

"We hope that the privatization of BDZ Freight Services will be wrapped up by end-2012," he noted, adding that the procedure continued under alleviated financial conditions.

Dzhurov, as cited by mediapool.bg, explained that the company had to have its assets re-evaluated.

He said that the re-assessment was hardly likely to reach the price of BGN 200 M set in 2011 due to the tough conditions in which the company was operating since the beginning of 2012.

"In half a year, BDZ Freight Services registered a loss of around BGN 5 M. We still believe that we shall be able to compensate for the loss in the second half of the year, so that we can at least break-even," Dzhurov noted.

The head of BDZ Freight Services informed that the company was planning to sell off a part of its wagon and locomotive parks.

"You see what the economic situation is. The transport services market is part of the unfavorable economic climate in Bulgaria. We shall most probably not be able to boost our revenues by the end of the year, which is why are directing all our efforts towards cutting expenses. One of the options is to reduce the embezzlement and fuel theft," he pointed out.

Dzhurov attended Thursday a demonstration of a video surveillance system for locomotives aimed at eliminating fuel theft.

The system, which costs BGN 5000, was mounted free of charge by the Security Holding company.

"We want to invest BGN 400 000 in the installation of such systems on 77 locomotives", Dzhurov said, adding that the step would prevent losses of BGN 1 M per year.

He admitted that that the company would sidestep the provisions of the Public Procurement Act and buy Security Holding's cameras, adding that a tender would be held if the management of Holding BDZ approved the investment.

He said that the installation of the video surveillance system was just one of a series of measures for curbing expenses at BDZ Freight Services, the goal being to save around 2 tons of fuel a month.