The local stock exchange has temporarily stopped the trade with Bulgartabac Holding Group and 11 other entities within the holding due to the launch of the restructuring program and release of price moving information approved by the supervisory board of the state-owned company. The trade ban is imposed for today and will be most likely lifted as of tomorrow when all details of the restructuring program will be presented to investors.
The planned reforms in the tobacco industry envisage sales of assets and tobacco processing firms that will expectedly pump up the cash flow of Bulgartabac holding. However, the four major cigarette makers will remain in the structures of the holding but two of them; the plants in Plovdiv and Stara Zagora will integrate production activities and may be merged into a single entity led by Plovdiv BT. The fifth cigarette maker in Pleven will be downsized into a tobacco processing plant and will remain in the structures of the holding. The sale program of Bulgartabac comprises the following points:
· Majority stakes in three tobacco processing plants -- Pazardzhik BT, Asenovgrad BT and Shumen BT will be offered for sale on the stock exchange;
· The processing plant in Dupnitsa will be offered in a public tender where the price will be considered the only selection criterion. If the tender is not successful, the plant will be sold on the stock exchange;
· Public tender will be called for the processing plants in Sandanski, Smolian and Yambol . Selection criteria are not announced yet;
· Assets of the packaging company Jurii Gagarin in Plovdiv , namely repair and filter production units, will be sold to the cigarette makers in Plovdiv and/or Blagoevgrad. The packaging business will be most likely offered for sale, as the Austrian company MM Karton has expressed strong interest in the core production facilities of the enterprise.
