Bulgaria Plans to Complete Privatisation of Freight Services

The Bulgarian Government is planning to complete the privatisation of the Freight Services unit of state railway operator BDZ Holding within six months.

The privatisation plan is to reform the troubled state railway company, which has been advised by the World Bank (WB) to divest BDZ passenger services from BDZ freight services.
The privatisation of the freight railway services will be carried out by the privatisation agency, while negotiations with the World Bank have been completed and all documents have been submitted to the World Bank.
Following the privatisation, the Bulgarian Government is expecting to secure a loan of BGN 460m ($338m) for BDZ, together with a loan of BGN 160m ($117m) for the National Company Railway Infrastructure, from the World Bank for needed reforms since December 2010.