Ms. Bistra Ilkova is the new Director of the Export Insurance Agency. Members of the Board of Directors are Mr. Docho Karadochev and Mr. Kalin Zhelev. The Management was approved by the Financial Supervision Commission.
Source: Standard 

Wine-cellar Liaskovetz 1934 JSC opens a trade representation in Denmark that will service the Scandinavian countries. In the end of last week the company signed a 5-year contract for export of 200 000 bottles per year to Denmark, announced the Executive Director Mr. Ivan Vulchev. During the last year was reached a growth in the manufacture. The wine from the wine-cellar are exported to Germany, Poland, Japan. 78 per cent from the capital of the third by size wine plant in Bulgaria were bought in 1997 by a MEBO for USD 5.5 million.
Source: Pari 

30 per cent of the shares of Bulgarian River Navigation – Ruse will be lauched on the stock exchange. The initial price per share is BGN 87 in restitution instruments. The offered shares are 268 621 and is expected to be spent for them BGN 29 million in restitution instruments. If there are not candidates at the first tender, it is quite possible the price to be reduced. At the moment the compensatory vouchers and bonds amout to BGN 970 million.
Source: Standard 

By initiative of Haskovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chairman of Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Bojidar Bojinov invited diplomats from Turkey, Czech Republic and Ukraine to the wine holiday in the cellar of the village of Stambolovo. The new owners of Vinprom Haskovo JSC and Wine Cellar – Stambolovo – New Industrial Company, presented the production and its investment intentions. 60 per cent of the production is exported, the new owners are planning to regain the company’s positions on the Western markets.
Source: Pari

Two consortiums are ready to supply equipment and to participate in the construction of NPS Belene, announced the Minister of Energetics Mr. Milko Kovachev at a meeting with members of the Bulgarian Intentional Business Association. The first consortium was established by the Russian company Atomenergostroy, the German Siemens and the American Westinghouse. The other applicant is the consortium between the Canadian company Atomic Energy of Canada, the Japanese company Hitachi and the Italian company Ansaldo.
Source: Monitor 

PA and the buyer of 65 per cent of the capital of BTC – Viva Ventures holding are negotiating about the State and investor to give up their dividend and the annual profit of the telecom for 2003 to remain in the company. The privatization contract is expected to be signed during this week, by February 20. It is not known now whether the State will also take its share from Mobikom, where BTC holds 39 per cent.
Source: Monitor 

USA
SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., parents of Cingular Wireless LLC, plan a higher bid for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. as they compete with Vodafone Group Plc for control of the third-biggest U.S. mobile phone company, people familiar with the matter said.   Both Cingular and Vodafone made new offers for Redmond, Washington-based AT&T Wireless, that each may be as high as USD 38 billion, compared with initial bids of USD 35 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site, citing people close to the situation.   AT&T Wireless wants to sell itself after suffering a higher rate of customer defections than rivals such as Verizon Wireless last quarter. SBC and BellSouth want to merge AT&T Wireless with Cingular to form the biggest U.S. mobile carrier and remove a competitor from the market, reducing the pressure to give away minutes or slash phone prices to woo customers.   ``It's imperative that Cingular does a deal with AT&T Wireless,'' said John Krause, an analyst at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, which owns shares of SBC and BellSouth. ``It would give them a better network than with T-Mobile, which would be a second choice.''   An offer of USD 38 billion would equate to about USD 14 a share, or 18 percent more than AT&T Wireless's close Friday of USD 11.82. The stock rose 6.5 percent last week in anticipation that bids would exceed USD 11 a share.
Source: Bloomberg