New Board of Directors after Bulgaria's Sofiyska Voda Sale to French Veolia

A new board of directors has been appointed after France's Veolia Water wrapped up the acquisition of a majority stake in Sofiyska Voda, the company announced in a statement.

The French utility took at the beginning of November a 77.1% stake in Sofiyska Voda, the company operating water supply and treatment services for the capital city of Sofia in Bulgaria, which serves 1.3 million inhabitants. The acquired stake includes the share of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The representatives of United Utilities and the EBRD in the Board of Directors have been replaced by representatives of Veolia Water - Etienne Petit, Gyorgy Palko, Bruno Roche and Ferenc Szucs.

Veolia, the world's biggest listed water company, unveiled the deal, with an enterprise value of about EUR 199 M in June. United Utilities sale of non-regulated businesses included subsidiary United Utilities Australia and investments in the UK, the Philippines, Bulgaria and Poland.

More than twenty years after the fall of the communist regime, Bulgaria's water sector remains one of the least reformed systems in the country.

Except for Sofia municipal water supply, which has been granted on concession to a foreign investor, all other units in the sector are either owned by the state or the municipalities.

The company in Sofia however has been harshly criticized for shortage of investments in the upgrade and maintenance of the system.

An average 60% of water pumped in the pipes never reaches Sofia consumers, while in some regions losses account for up to 90 %.

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