Turkey's cell-phone operator Turkcell is the likely winner in the competition for the sale of 94% of Bulgaria's telecom operator BTC, Capital daily reported, citing industry sources familiar with the talks. Creditors are expected to begin exclusive talks with the operator, which has around 90% chance of success as opposed to the other three bidders, the daily informs. In the beginning of March, Turkcell submitted a binding offer to acquire BTC, traded as Vivacom. Turkcell was also the only strategic investor interested in the operator. Three financial investors have also participated in the bidding. These are Russia's VTB Bank in partnership with local businessman Tsvetan Vasilev, CEO of country's seventh largest in terms of assets lender, Corporate Commercial Bank, a company related to Iceland's billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson, who sold majority stake in BTC to AIG Capital Partners in 2007, and a company from the Pamplona Group. The offer of the Russians reportedly amounts to EUR 800-900mn. Last year, the creditors of BTC asked Morgan Stanley to raise bids for BTC by end-March 2012. BTC is owned by Cayman Island-based Bridge Partners after the company's previous owner, insurer AIG, agreed to sell parts of its asset management and investment advisory business to Bridge Partners in December 2009.