SOFIA, March 11 (Reuters) - Bulgaria extended on Monday the deadline for the sale of part of the state railway network, as public pressure mounts to halt the transaction and review the privatisation programme of a country mired in political crisis.
The deadline for offers for the cargo unit of debt-laden rail operator BDZ was extended from Tuesday to March 28 following requests for more time from two of four prospective bidders, the privatisation agency said in a statement.
The delay comes after hundreds of protesters in Sofia and the Black Sea city of Varna blocked rail tracks on Sunday. They fear the sale, which is expected to raise about 100 million levs (${esc.dollar}66 million), will not be conducted transparently and will lead to mass layoffs.
Outgoing Transport Minister Ivailo Moskovski has said the rail cargo operator, which has 4,500 ageing railcars and employs 3,900 people, can be stabilised only by being privatised.
Street demonstrations brought down the centre-right government of Boiko Borisov last month. They have continued since on a weekly basis, though the turnout was smaller on Sunday.
With average monthly salaries of just 400 euros (${esc.dollar}520), Bulgarians have the lowest living standards in the European Union. They blame consecutive governments for doing too little to improve their lives and fight rampant crime and corruption.
Since the fall of communism in 1989, the state has sold power distributors and telecoms operator BTC and many factories and plants, in deals that critics say have been against the public interest.
Six years after joining the EU, governance in Bulgaria remains deeply dysfunctional. It is the bloc's second most corrupt state, according to the most recent index from global anti-graft agency Transparency International.
The Balkan country is headed towards elections on May 12 with Borisov's party and the Socialists neck-and-neck in opinion polls, making it likely that forming a government will be difficult and the political uncertainty will continue.
Proceeds from the cargo unit sale are intended to ease BDZ's debts of about 800 million levs, allowing it to tap a World Bank loan.
Last month, the Sofia City Court ordered a freeze of 100 percent of the assets of the unit following a request from Dublin-based creditor Depfa Bank.
(${esc.dollar}1 = 1.5066 Bulgarian levs) (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by John Stonestreet)
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