National Company Railways Infrastructure SC – Sofia is indebted with BGN 7.168 mln for VAT, BGN 5.247 for corporate tax and BGN 9 mln to National Social Security Institute GO – Sofia. The greatest drop behind is in the payment of the obligation to the construction companies. National Company Railways Infrastructure SC – Sofia owes BGN 8.5 mln to Transport Constructions and Recovery State Enterprise SC – Sofia, and BGN 4 mln to SK-13 Transstroy JSC – Sofia and Transstroy-Varna JSC – Varna.
Source: Standart (17.06.2004)

The company is registered in Territorial administration Big taxpayers and insurers towards 2009, 04.30
Source: Tax Administration (30.04.2009)

Minister Tsvetanov dismissed the directors of all big state transport enterprises. National Railway Infrastructure Company, Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority and Transport Construction & Rehabilitation have new executives. The financial manager of BDZ was also released. According to Pari daily's information the head of Automobile Administration Executive Agency will be replaced.
Source: Pari (21.10.2009)

Freight transport by state rival The state will create a rival of BDZ-Freight Services, which aims to reduce the cost of future projects for construction of new and repair of old railway lines. This is one of the main goals of the project to change the Law on Railway Transport, prepared by the Transport Ministry. The changes will remove the current ban for Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) to perform transport operations and creates conditions to create a rail carrier. For the first time since January 1, 2002 the same railway company will be able to maintain the railway network and transport by train. BDZ Holding will collapse three months after the sale of BDZ-Freight Services. According to sources the second aim of the change in law is to create conditions to form a new state holding between NRIC, BDZ Passenger Transport and Transport Constructions and Recovery (TCR). Although all three companies will remain separate in accounting within the future holding, the intercompany indebtedness between them will decrease and stabilize BDZ Passenger Transport and TCR.
Source: Standart (09.10.2012)

new fence with Turkey costs more than BGN 48 million Over BGN 48 million without conducting contract will be paid by government for the construction of a fence along the border with Turkey. Selected companies by the governors of Burgas, Yambol and Haskovo will need to build a 82-km fence along with the infrastructure around it. This will cost nearly BGN 600 thousand per kilometer. Most money will sink in Burgas, where the contracts are for BGN 25 million. Regional Governor Valcho Cholakov has appointed three companies with which contracts have been concluded. These are the AB Invest NN and Patstroy Burgas. The third company is Buldeni. Three companies are selected for the construction of the fence in Haskovo. Governor Dobri Belivanov has signed contracts for nearly BGN 11 million with Transport Construction and Rehabilitation, Metallic - Ivan Mihalov ET and Geoplanproekt. Section of fence in Yambol will come close to BGN 13 million. Governor Dimitar Ivanov selected Transport Construction and Rehabilitation and Geostroy Engineering.
Source: Sega (01.10.2015)

NRIC commissioned another contract for over BGN 28 million to Vodstroy 98 National Company Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) commissioned another contract to Vodstroy 98. The latest order is worth BGN 28.5 million with VAT and was assigned to the incorporation ETC Technology composed of construction companies Vodstroy 98, Hydrostroy, Balkantel and Bonety, says the Public Procurement Register. It's about "electrification of the 83rd railway Simeonovgrad - Nova Zagora." With this contract, the amount provided by the state company to ETC Technology from 2013 onwards exceeds BGN 100 million. The other two selected for such activities associations have little commissioned. Until three months ago Vodstroy 98 was linked to MP Delyan Peevski and in 3-4 years it was assigned contracts for over BGN 800 million. In June the company was sold to Hydrostroy with majority owner Veliko Zhelev. In addition to ETC Technology both companies partnered before the merger in the incorporation that built the North speed tangent.
Source: Capital (14.09.2016)

The state's care for Port Dogan has not stopped The past year will be remembered for the constant care of the state for the construction of an attractive port infrastructure in Varna-Beloslav Lake, in the middle of which is the port of Ahmed Dogan. On Wednesday, December 22, the government authorized the implementation of hydraulic engineering activities to deepen the two routes (canals 1 and 2) on which vessels are moving. The activities will be carried out by the state company Transport Construction and Reconstruction SPJSC, and the working period is 510 days. This is another decision of the cabinet to modernize the water corridor. Earlier in the year, excavation activities with different deadlines were allowed three times, and there was another permit - to work on improving one of the quays of Varna-West and restoring the design parameters in front of the walls of the Lesport terminal. It is likely that different types of activities require separate government acts, which is why the ministers have dealt with the case several times. The project for the water corridor through the lake is worth a total of BGN 350 million. It will benefit all surrounding ports, including the state-owned Varna Port. The idea for the deepening is very old, but money was found only after Dogan appeared as the owner in the area at the end of 2018.
Source: Sega (23.12.2020)

The Russian dredgers have abandoned the port in Burgas Surprisingly, the union "EU Build" DZZD, which made headlines with the case of deepening the port of Varna with Russian dredgers, has refused to do the same with the port of Burgas, even though it was determined to be the winner. In the public contract of the state enterprise "Port Infrastructure" (DPPP) for BGN 70 million, six candidates participated, but two remained in the final. Cosmos Van Oord" DZZD. He will carry out the dredging of the "Burgas-West" port at a price close to the announced indicative value of BGN 70 million without VAT. The difference is only BGN 16,220. This is clear from the published documents in the public procurement register. The deepening of the port of Burgas is part of the large project of the Domuschievi brothers to expand the port of Burgas for BGN 120 million, which is financed with European money under the "Connected Europe" mechanism. The goal is to be able to handle the world's largest container ships at the port. This order is being monitored by the European Commission. The reason is that Bulgaria has proposed that the project for the deepening of the port of Burgas be implemented with European funds. It was entered as a reserve in order to save the funds from the operational program "Transport" 2014 - 2020 from loss. By the middle of the year, 178 million euros were at risk under the program, the financial implementation of which ends at the end of the year. It is not clear whether Brussels will approve the project, but certainly the European Commission does not look kindly when there is no competition in the tender. State Enterprise "Port Infrastructure" announced the public order for capital dredging - pool maneuvering area to T2A and port terminal "Burgas - West" during the interim government of Galab Donev - on May 17, 2023. The proposals were opened on June 22. Six candidates submitted bids. "EU Build" DZZD with participants "SEM Remont" and "EIS construction company"; "Consortium Kosmos Van Oord" DZZD, which includes "Kosmos Shipping" from Varna and "Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors BV" (Netherlands), the proposal was submitted by "Kosmos Shipping"; "Boskalis", Romania; A merger between TIS Hidrotechnika, Ukraine and United Marine Dredging (United Arab Emirates), the offer was submitted by lawyer Sevdalin Stamov; Jan De Nul nv, Belgium; "Dredging International NV", Belgium, and the proposal was submitted by Oleg Temnikov; After reviewing the documents, the appointed committee finds deficiencies, incompleteness, factual errors or non-compliance with the requirements for the selection criteria in the documents submitted by the participants. They have been notified of this and given a deadline to correct the errors. After checking the additionally submitted documents, the commission found that the offers of three candidates did not meet the set selection criteria. These are the Romanian "Boskalis", the union between the Ukrainian "TIS-Hydrotechnika" and United Marine Dredging (UAE) and Belgium's Jan De Nul nv. The remaining participants - "EU Build" DZZD, "Dredging International NV" and "Consortium Cosmos Van Oord" DZZD have been allowed to consider their technical proposals. The commission found that the technical offer of the Belgian company "Dredging International NV" did not meet the requirements of the contracting authority and removed it from the competition. Thus, until the opening of the price proposals on August 30, only two participants were admitted. These are "EU Build" DZZD and "Consortium Cosmos Van Oord" DZZD. The evaluation of the candidates is based on the "economically most advantageous price" criterion, in which the technical proposal has 60% weight, and the price - 40%. Of the two candidates, "EU Build" DZZD gives a lower price - BGN 68,806,680.27 excluding VAT and receives the maximum 40 points. Their technical proposal was also rated higher by the committee compared to the other candidate (46.97 points). They promise to fulfill the order in 450 calendar days. With a total of 86.97 points, "EU Build" won the contract. The commission ranked "Consortium Cosmos Van Oord" DZZD in second place with a price of BGN 69,983,779.01 excluding VAT - slightly lower than the estimated value. Their technical proposal was evaluated with 39.33 points and they collected a total of 84.33 points. The association promises to do the dredging of the port in 204 calendar days. Surprisingly, on September 8, the manager of "EU Build" Vasil Vassilev informed the commission that in the event that the association is selected as the contractor, it will not conclude a contract with the contracting authority for the execution of the order. The participant points out that there is no possibility "to perform in the required volume, in the stipulated period of execution, in view of the inflationary processes in the country and the increase in the price of fuels". This means that as of September 8, 2023, its bid is no longer valid, documents published in the public procurement register show. Vasil Vasilev hung up his mobile phone after being asked by Mediapool to comment on why they gave up. It is all too likely that the real reason for EU Build to give up is that it hired the Russian company Gidrostroy as a subcontractor for the dredging. At least that's what he did with the deepening of the "Varna" port, which began during the third GERB government. Then the state-owned enterprise "Port Infrastructure" with an internal award gave BGN 435 million to the state-owned company "Transport Construction and Reconstruction" (TSV EAD). It, in turn, provided BGN 393 million to "EU Build" DZZD, which is dredging the port of Varna, which reaches the gate of the honorary chairman of DPS Ahmed Dogan. The association "EU Build" includes the Varna "SEM Remont" of Vasil Vasilev and "EIS construction company" of the brothers Evgeni and Veselin Ognyanovi, who have business relations with "BMF Port Burgas" of the Domuschievi brothers. An additional reason for the refusal of "EU Build" could be suspicions of document fraud for hundreds of millions through Russian diggers. The case is being investigated by the prosecutor's office following a report by the State Financial Inspection Agency. After the refusal of "EU Build" to fulfill the order for the port of Burgas, the association was removed from the competition. Thus, only the offer of "Consortium Cosmos Van Oord" DZZD with a proposed total final price for the execution of the order - BGN 69,983,779.01 excluding VAT remains in the final. For this reason, the general director of DPPI Petar Seferov announced them as the winner with a decision published on September 13 in the public procurement register. Varna's "Cosmos Shipping" and "Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors BV" (Netherlands) enter "Consortium Cosmos Van Oord" DZZD with equal shares. The association was registered back in 2006, and in 2017 it was registered for VAT. Its managers are Plamen Ivanov Prodanov and Marius Kristiaan Kamsteeg. "Van Oord" is an international company with offices and representatives all over the world. Its main office is in Rotterdam. They do not have a representative office in Bulgaria, and their nearest office is in the Romanian port of Constanta. The company is one of the industry leaders in the construction of ports and dredging of sea lanes. It has participated in a number of international projects, among which the largest are the construction of the second Suez Canal in Egypt and the expansion of the port of Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam. A contract with the selected contractor has not yet been signed. The reason is that the 10-day period for appealing the order has not expired.
Source: mediapool.bg (27.09.2023)

IMF: State-owned companies in Bulgaria are expensive, inefficient and carry risks for everyone Large companies with state participation in Bulgaria have low profitability and inefficient allocation of resources, and although they are not significant in terms of share, they play a decisive role in the production network, which can negatively affect the productivity and competitiveness of the entire economy. The level of state-guaranteed debt of state-owned enterprises is small - on average only 0.5% of GDP in 2010-21 (the average level in the EU is 9%, and in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe it is 3.5%). And the support with such guarantees due to the COVID-19 pandemic was many times lower - 0.3% of GDP in Bulgaria compared to almost 2% in the EU for 2019-2021. But there is a key point - there is no generalized information on guarantees in Bulgaria, issued by the state-owned enterprises themselves, since their activity does not require the approval or supervision of the Ministry of Finance. Thus, total liabilities averaged around 12% of GDP in 2013-2021, which could be a source of concern. This is stated in the Analysis of the International Monetary Fund "Fiscal risks of state-owned companies". The analysis is based on data from 15 companies in which the authorities at various levels have over 50% share: Energy sector (National Electric Company (NEK), Kozloduy NPP, Bulgargaz, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2, Electricity System Operator, Bulgarian energy holding (BEH), Mini Maritsa Iztok, "Bulgartransgaz"), Transport sector (National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI), BDZ - Passenger Transport Ltd., Air Traffic Control (RVD), Transport Construction and Reconstruction (TSV), BDZ - Cargo Services Ltd., Port of Varna, Bulgarian Port Infrastructure). The total assets and liabilities of these 15 companies represent about 70% of the total for the entire segment with state participation 2015-2021, which covers about 700 companies. The general assessment for them is that the fiscal support is much higher than what they give as revenues to the budget. In 2017-19, they received subsidies, capital investments and capital transfers (direct support) and deferred tax and dividend exemptions (indirect support) of an average of 1.5% of GDP. To this they have responded with a contribution of 0.2%. Net, they absorbed 1.3% of GDP immediately before the pandemic and at the end of the last GERB government. In the first pandemic year (2020), this ratio became 2.5% against 0.1% and is an illustration of how an unexpected shock can lead to large fiscal costs for companies with state participation, the IMF says. These are companies in which 4.1% of all employed work. Their financial stability can affect the fiscal performance of the state, especially when they have incurred potentially significant costs, whether expressly guaranteed or without the authorities making a contractual commitment. In 2023-2024, the state doubled the dividend collected by these companies from 50% to 100% to support the budget, but the price for this is a risk to their investment, productivity and profitability. "Furthermore, the dividend policy lacks predictability and seems to be driven by the needs of the state budget. Such a policy reduces the incentives of companies to invest and thus has a significant adverse effect on economic activity," the authors of the report add. State-owned companies are much, much less profitable than those in the private sector. Return on assets (one of the key measures of profitability) was between minus 1% and 2% for the period 2015-2021, with an average of 10% in private. In 2022, this difference suddenly melted (9% for state-owned, 11% for private), but not because there was better management, but because of three specific companies - NEK, Kozloduy NPP and Maritsa Iztok 2 TPP, and their income from sharply increased energy prices due to Russian aggression against Ukraine. Return on equity (another measure of profitability, measuring a firm's ability to generate profits using its shareholders' capital) for SOEs is on average 20 percentage points lower than that of private firms. Due to the specifics of many state-owned enterprises, profitability is logically lower than that of private ones, but in countries with better management results, the difference between them is 4 percentage points or five times smaller than in Bulgaria, the IMF recalls .Everyone suffers from the bad management of business with state participation. Six state-owned enterprises have been facing short-term challenges in meeting their obligations for years. In the period 2015-2022, without sufficient liquid assets to cover the amounts due to creditors in the next 12 months were National Railway Infrastructure Company, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2, National Electric Company, BDZ - Passenger Transport, BDZ - Freight Transport and Transportation Construction and Reconstruction. Bulgargaz faced a liquidity crisis in mid-2022 due to low collection of receivables and arrears from Toplofikatsia Sofia. Accumulated arrears to suppliers were paid through a (bridging) loan and/or state aid. Another indicator of concern to IMF analysts is the high debt-to-asset ratio (ie, less financial flexibility) of several large state-owned enterprises. These are, for example, "Bulgartransgaz", National Railway Infrastructure, Bulgarian Energy Holding and Electric Power System Operator. It has also seen how debt-to-asset dynamics can change sharply - in the case of Bulgargaz, it jumps from around 45% in 2019 to over 90% in 2022. The combination of high debt and low profitability raises concerns for the ability to service the debt and therefore risks at the fiscal level, the IMF explains.
Source: Dnevnik (18.07.2024)