The BSE has not yet decided whether it will participate in the privatization of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange

The representatives of the Bucharest Stock Exchange have not yet decided whether they are going to participate in the privatization of the Sofia Stock Exchange.

According to market sources, the BSE would be interested in buying stock in the Sofia Stock Exchange, but the latter is interested in more powerful investors.

On Tuesday, the BSE reported that it owns 5% of the shares of the newly created Kishinev Stock Exchange.

In last year's budget, the BSE had set aside 5 million Euros for buying shares in other stock exchanges.

Last week, the Bulgarian Finance Minister asked the Agency for the control of privatization to prepare and organize the privatization of the Sofia Stock Exchange and of the Central Depository.

The procedure involves the sale to a strategic investor of a stake of 50.042% of the shares of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange - Sofia AD and of 43.7% of the shares of the Central Depository. Furthermore, the Sofia Stock Exchange owns 6.61% of the shares of the Central Depository. As a result, the buyer will obtain stakes of more than 50% in both companies.

The agency for the control of privatization will begin by appointing a consultant with international experience and will then announce a public call for bids.

The requirements for the potential buyers are: an average monthly turnover of at least 2 billion Euros on the spot market between January 2010 and December 2011, or a monthly average of at least 20 million derivatives contracts on the markets they operate on.

Also, the potential buyer must is not allowed to have a government or any other local or central authority as a shareholder owning more than 50%. Furthermore, the buyers need to fulfill several criteria for the development of the two companies and of the infrastructure of the Bulgarian equity market.

• The BSE supports the Moldovan stock market

Through its technical support granted to the Kishinev Stock Exchange (BVC), the BSE wants to support the development of the stock market in the Republic of Moldova, its officials says.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange has allowed the Kishinev Stock Exchange to use the electronic trading system developed by the former, in exchange for a stake of 5%.

Aside from the BSE, the shareholder structure of the Kishinev Stock Exchange includes six other companies, and 50% of the equity of the exchange is divided between two brokerage firms, according to the management of the Kishinev Stock Exchange.

At the end of February, the National Commission for Financial Markets (CNPF) of the Republic of Moldova awarded the new Kishinev Stock Exchange the operation license for conducting stock market activities on the securities market, as its basic activity, as well as for the related clearing and consulting activities, with a 5 year deadline.

In October 2011, the Kishinev Stock Exchange issued shares worth 1.5 million lei.

The Kishinev Stock Exchange is the second exchange operating in the Republic of Moldova, after the Moldovan Stock Exchange (BVM) which was founded in December 1994 by 34 professional securities market participants.

The first trades on the stock market took place in June 26th, 1995, which was considered the "date of birth" of the Moldovan Stock Exchange.

In its 17 years of operation, 704 million shares were traded on the Moldovan Stock Exchange, wit h the volume of trades amounting to 5,777 million lei, or USD 523 million, according to the local press. The historic high when it comes to the number of shares auctioned off in a year was reached in 2004, when over 87 million shares were traded on the stock exchange, and the highest trading value was reached in 2007 (1,233 million lei).

According to the representatives of the CNPF, the two exchanges will operate in parallel, as the license of the Moldovan Stock Exchange was extended for another five years, on November 14th, last year.