The vote of the Finance Ministry, which holds 44 per cent in the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), proved decisive in defeating a motion put forth by stock brokers to replace the management board of the bourse, Dnevnik daily reported.

The ministry voted against the proposal made by the Bulgarian Association of Licensed Investment Intermediaries (BALII), which pools the country's largest brokerage houses, at the BSE annual shareholders meeting on June 30.

BALII criticised the current board, mainly executive director Bistra Ilkova and board chairperson Viktor Papazov, for its managerial style and methods, disregarding brokers' opinions in the decision-making process and intransparency.

Two more issues raised the brokers' ire - BSE board's decision to keep the value of the contract with Deutsche Boerse for the use of the Xetra trading system and the decision to allocate 2.36 million leva for dividend and bonuses for the bourse's management.

The shareholders did approve one of the points on the agenda put forth by BALII, namely appointing BSE operational director Ivan Takev to the board of directors, replacing Plamen Georgiev.