BDZ - Passenger Services SPLTD will invest BGN 1.2 billion in new trains by 2014. 30 new sleeping carriages, 50 passenger and 20 electric truck will be bought next year. A delivery of 5 new electric locomotives is also expected. By 2014 the railway will have a total of 50 new bedrooms wagons, 170 passenger, 50 electric truck and the 20 new electric locomotives. These investments are reflected in the realistic scenario for the development of BDZ. As a result of the financial rescue plan, a profit of BGN 5 million will be formed by the end of 2014. Capital of the company will be increased by BGN 500 million and over 100 measures to reduce costs and increase revenue will be implemented. In the pessimistic scenario, the shortage of funds will reach BGN 905 million, BDZ - Freight Services SPLTD will be sold and BDZ Passenger Services will be subsidized by the state.
Source: Standart (16.08.2010)

Bulgaria to shake up BDZ ahead of partial sell-off BDZ Tovarni Prevozi, the freight arm of the country’s national railway carrier BDZ, will be restructured and then partially or fully privatised, according to plans by the Ministry of Transport. Ministry officials told reports over the weekend that the shake-up should be completed by the end of 2011. At the moment, the sell-off cannot be implemented as its assets are owned by its parent company. No investor will be willing to buy just the operations while inheriting its debts, the ministry explained. Therefore the assets of BDZ Tovarni Prevozi and the carrier’s passenger transportation arm BDZ Patnicheski Prevozi will be transferred into separate companies. Thus, BDZ will be only responsible for strategic planning and financial oversight. But before that the ministry needs to persuade BDZ’s creditor banks to transfer its debts to its subsidiaries. BDZ board chairman Vladimir Vladimirov said the Bulgarian railway transport sector has already sparked interest by the German and Austrian market players. Meanwhile, transport minister Aleksandar Tsvetkov announced that BDZ narrowed its loss in end-August to BGN 24 million from BGN 40 million for the year-ago period. He attributed the improvement to the restructuring plan implemented in the company. The shake-up plan is a key argument in negotiations between BDZ, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a BGN 460 million loan for the carrier to be used as debt refinancing and for ongoing needs. The financing needs the approval of the European Commission (EC), which has already received an inquiry but has not yet come up with a decision.
Source: Dnevnik (04.10.2010)