The Prague Stock Exchange (PSE) announced plans to participate in the privatisation of a 44%-stake in the Bulgarian Stock Exchange – Sofia (BSE-Sofia). The Bulgarian finance ministry is expected to launch a tender this year. Following consultations with its shareholders, PSE has notified the Bulgarian government of its interest. BSE-Sofia traded volume in 2006 reached EUR 1.7bn. The total market capitalisation amounted to EUR 7.8bn. For comparison, PSE trade reached EUR 30.9bn last year on market capitalisation of EUR 57.9bn. The finance ministry is expected to sell out its 44% stake in the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) by the end of the year. The privatisation strategy should be presented to the cabinet by mid-April. The other candidates that have expressed interest so far are: Scandinavia’s OMX, Greece ’s Hellenic Exchanges, Germany ’s Deutsche Boerse, Borsa Italiana , Austria ’s Wiener Borse, the Warsaw stock exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange.