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VTB to Buy Bulgartabac

Bulgaria signed a contract with Austrian-registered BT Invest, a unit of VTB, to sell an 80 percent stake in state-owned tobacco company Bulgartabac Holding for 100.1 million euros ($136.6 million).

The buyer must continue producing tobacco and cigarettes and avoid insolvency during the next 10 years, the asset-selling agency in Sofia said Tuesday. VTB was the sole bidder in the tender, which ended Aug. 29.

VTB also committed to maintaining the number of employees at the current 2,400 for the next three years and offered to invest an additional 2 million lev ($1.39 million) in the first year of operation and a further 5 million lev in the second year.


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