02/06/2006

Nu Image, the company which won the privatisation tender for Boyana Film Studios, said that Culture Minister Stefan Danailov and Boyana Film executive director Evgeni Mihailov were deliberately slowing down the conclusion of the deal.

Nu Image executive director Avi Lerner said that he believed the Bulgarian government would conclude the privatisation deal within a month.

According to the privatisation contract, Nu Image plans to invest 15 million euro in the Boyana Film centre by constructing seven more filming studios. This would help the studio become one of the leading in Europe, reviving the Bulgarian film industry and providing employment for actors and technicians.

Nu Image is already planning the production of several movies by the end of the autumn. American ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle said that the deal was a sign Bulgaria offered good business environment for foreign investments.

The Association of Bulgarian Filmmakers has launched an appeal (see article) against the sale to a non-European company of the only studios in the country, which have been running for over 40 years.