Bulgaria launched on Monday [28-08-2006] a tender for the sale of 100% of the capital of the steam-heating plant in the city of Sliven, the government's Privatisation Agency said.

Eligible bidders for the 4,966,419 shares in the plant located in the eastern Bulgarian city would be those dealing in generation or distribution of electricity or heating energy, the Privatisation Agency said in a statement. The candidates would also have to provide a sales record of minimum 600,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity or 300,000 MWh of heating power for the last three fiscal years and revenues of no less than 45 million levs ($29.3 million/22.9 million euro) from their core activity for the same period, the statement read. In addition, the bidders should have a long-term credit rating not lower than BB+ of Standard and Poor's, Ba1 of Moody's or BB+ of Fitch Ratings.

Coal suppliers, which have delivered at least 270,000 tonnes of coal for the last three fiscal years, are also eligible to take part in the tender. Consortia led by a strategic investor, which responds to the privatisation agency's qualification criteria, and other investors could also bid for the Sliven plant. No offshore companies would be allowed to place bids.

Tender documents would be available within 20 days after the publication of the tender announcement in the State Gazette. Bidders should place their offers within 80 days after the publication. The government launched the sale of its steam-heating plants in the cities of Plovdiv and Varna last month. Earlier this month it offered for sale the heating plant in the city of Ruse.

Bulgaria hopes to have a plan for the sale of its largest steam-heating plant, Toplofikatsia Sofia, by August. The privatisation should be completed by the end of 2007.