Eleven companies have bought tender documents to bid for a heating power plant in Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Varna, the privatization agency announced last week. Bulgaria is selling its power and heating utilities in an attempt to improve the public services in the country, which hopes to join the European Union next year and liberalize its energy market. France’s Dalkia, a unit of Veolia Environment, along with Austrian EVN, Czech CEZ, Germany’s E.ON and its local unit, and UK-based Ener-G have expressed initial interest in buying the utility. Other prospective bidders include Bulgarian Overgaz, 50-percent controlled by Russia’s Gazprom and local firms Brickel, Bulgarian Energy Group, Pravets Heating Utility and Toploenergo Bulgaria. The bidders will be short-listed by September 25 and will be invited to file offers to buy 100 percent of the utility on October 23, the selloff agency said in a statement.
The Varna heating utility, which uses gas, serves 14,000 households and businesses. It registered capital is 4 million levs ($2.63 million) and its sales last year stood at 7.4 million levs. Bulgaria plans to sell heating utilities in the central town of Plovdiv and the Danube River city of Rousse.