Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), the holding company set up to run state-owned energy assets, or its subsidiaries will be floated on the stock market by the end of 2010 at the earliest, once the holding's restructuring procedure is completed, Deputy Economy Minister Maya Hristova said.

BEH was set up in 2008 as the parent company of Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant Kozloduy, gas monopoly Bulgargaz, gas grid operator Bulgartransgaz, telecommunications operator Bulgartel, electricity utility NEK and its power grid operator subsidiary ESO, coal-fired power plant Maritsa Iztok 2 and the Maritsa Iztok coal mines.

Plans to list BEH or its subsidiaries have been mooted for months but the Government is yet to decide on how to do the listing. According to Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov, the move will bring more transparency to the holding company.

Initially, the Government planned to change the legal status of the subsidiaries and sell between 10 and 15 per cent of their shares on the stock exchange.

Hristova said, however, that before shares in some companies, like the Maritsa Iztok coal mines and NEK, could be sold on the stock market, the performance of both companies needed to be improved. Both Maritza Iztok and NEK posted a loss for the first nine months of the year.

The restructuring is needed to spin off Bulgartransgaz and ESO, in line with European requirements to split grid operators from suppliers of utility services. NEK, which is active in both power generation and supply, could also be restructured.

Economy minister Traicho Traikov is said to back the option of listing BEH on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE). Investment bankers, however, reckon that debuting on a foreign market could ensure that free capital is attracted more easily, but Bulgarian analysts have said that institutional investors on BSE had at least 500 million to 600 million leva in free resources available for investment.

Source: Dnevnik