The office of the Sofia city prosecutor denied on July 22 the media reports that it had sought an injunction on the stock of the cigarette factory in Plovdiv, following the sale of the former Bulgartabac unit on the local exchange last week.

The prosecutor's office said in an official statement it has instructed the State Agency for National Security to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the transaction. Officials at the Central Depository could not be reached for comment on July 22 regarding the injunction story.

A majority stake in the Plovdiv factory was sold on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange on July 16 to Sigma Consulting for over 30 million leva, with investors showing keen interest in the stock offering.

Dnevnik learned that one investor, Interland Bulgaria, has sent letters to the arbitration court of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, the Financial Supervision Commission and the Central Depository, claiming that the sale of the cigarette maker was the result of manipulative moves. The company claims the seller and the buyer had a prior agreement and has asked for an injunction on the stock.

On July 18, the financial regulator said it was launching an investigation into the technical aspects of the sale transactions for the Plovdiv factory and for Bulgartabac's Stara Zagora subsidiary, the cigarette factory sold on the bourse two days earlier.

Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov, however, told local broadcaster bTV that the deal could not be prevented from going through. He explained the controversy with the recent launch of a new trading platform by the Sofia bourse and the brokers' lack of experience with the new system.