Sun, Nov 22 2009

Cabinet offers to bail out Toplofikatsiya Sofia utility

Wed, Sep 24 2008 19:07 CET byElitsa Grancharova 233 Views

During a meeting with Sofia's Socialist municipal councillors on September 24, Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov said that the Government was ready to step in and bail out the city's heating utility Toplofikatsiya Sofia if the city hall relinquished control over the company.

Dimitrov's meeting with Socialialist councillors was prompted by last week's ultimatum handed to the utility by state-run gas provider Bulgargaz to clear its outstanding debts or face receiving diminished the gas supplies.

Sofia city hall received full control of the utility in 1994, but had to relinquish a 42 per cent stake back to the state three years later to cover accumulated debts, Dimitrov said, as quoted by Focus news agency.

In exchange for settling the 70 million leva that Toplofikatsiya Sofia owes to Bulgargaz, the ministry wants 17 per cent of the utility's shares, Dimitrov said.

Despite the hot water the utility finds itself in with Bulgargaz, Toplofikatsiya Sofia still plans to switch on the heating on October 1 given the unseasonably cold weather in the Bulgarian capital in September. As always, hospitals, kindergartens and schools would be the first to receive heating.

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