Bulgaria Backtracks on Plan to Sell Arms Firms VMZ, Kintex in 2018-2019

Bulgarian arms  manufacturer VMZ-Sopot and arms trader Kintex will remain state-owned, it emerged on Wednesday after a weekly cabinet meeting.

According to a transcript of the meeting released by the government press office, the ministers of finance and economy, Vladislav Goranov and Bozhidar Lukarski, have proposed to return the two companies to a list of state assets banned for sale.

The possibility of offering the two companies for sale emerged last week when the Finance Ministry unveiled its  2017-2019 budget forecast. The forecast provided for launching the privatisation procedure for VMZ in 2018 and for Kintex in 2019.

On Wednesday, Goranov told the cabinet that the government's Privatisation Agency had acted in compliance with a standard procedure requiring it to include in the medium-term budget forecast all state assets not banned for sale as potential source of revenue for the state.

Opposition Socialists said earlier on Wednesday that they were submitting a motion for making amendments to the Privatization Act that would ban the sale of VMZ, Kintex and Kazanlak-based NITI.