BULGARTABAC'S FUTURE OWNER NEEDS TO PLEDGE 30M EURO ASSETS TO STATE - REPORT

The future buyer of Bulgaria's tobacco group will need to pledge production assets worth at least 30 million euro as a guarantee that it will purchase Bulgarian tobacco, local mass-circulation daily Trud said on August 15.

The new owner will be obliged to buy tobacco produced in the country a minimum five years after acquiring the company, a requirement that is the major criteria for the privatisation of the Government's 79.83 per cent stake in the company.

Should the new owner fail to fulfill any of the requirements stipulated in the privatisation contract, the state has to right to take the assets back.

If the current tender for Bulgartabac's sale is successful, the company's new owner will become Austria-registered BT Invest, which represents Russian financial group VTB. The other two candidates that bought documents for the tender, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Austria-registered CB Family Office Services, gave up their participation in the transaction.