Bulgaria“s Agency for State Receivables is to make a second attempt to sell indebted glass maker Kristal, the company“s receiver, Violeta Manolova, said on 26 February 2004.
The tender was schedule…
Bulgaria“s Agency for State Receivables is to make a second attempt to sell indebted glass maker Kristal, the company“s receiver, Violeta Manolova, said on 26 February 2004. The tender was scheduled for 12 March 2004 at an initial bidding price of BGL 599,000 (USD 386,776/EUR 309,594). This will be the second attempt by the agency to sell Kristal, headquartered in Pernik, western Bulgaria, after the failure of the previous tender held on 11 January 2004. The lack of investor interest on that occasion was blamed on the high reserve price of BGL 1.198 million (USD 774,000/619,000 EUR), Manolova added. If the second sell-off attempt should also prove unsuccessful, the agency plans to sell the firm“s assets off individually, Manolova said. Kristal was declared insolvent in June 1998 by the Pernik district court.. Kristal is the oldest glass plant in the country and is still the sole Bulgarian producer of reinforced glass. The company almost ceased operation in the mid-1990s after Bulgargas suspended gas supplies to Kristal because of the company“s BGL 5.0 million (USD 3.2 million/EUR 2.6 million) outstanding debts. Kristal later on resumed production processing imported flat glass. Kristal owes some BGL 2.0 million (USD 1.3 million/EUR 1.03 million) to the regional tax authorities and the National Social Security Institute. The state Privatisation Agency opened tenders to sell Kristal in 1998 and 1999 but both failed due to a lack of potential bidders.