As expected, the supervisory board of the privatization agency officially announced yesterday the approved deal for selling out 95% of the national filmmaker Boyana Film to the U.S. company Nu Image. The new owner has won the tender with a price offer of BGN12.2 million (€6.2 million) and investment commitments for some BGN30.5 million (€15.6 million) planned over a period of about three years. It will also have to finance local film productions, according to post-privatization clauses of the agreement. Nu Image has shot a large number of films in the studio of Boyana over the past several years.

The draft contract with Nu Image has been signed in August last year but the confirmation of the supervisory board has been delayed for months due to court appeals and various protests by professional organizations and state officials, including culture minister Stefan Danailov, who has been opposing the deal. The deal has triggered interventions by the U.S. embassy.