The Bulgarian government is seeking possible buyers for the state-owned 3.5 floppy disk manufacturer Magnetic Media, based in Pazardjik. According to a report by accountant Deloitte & Touche, which is advising the Bulgarian Ministry of Industry on the privatisation of 110 Bulgarian high-tech firms under a scheme funded by the USAid aid agency, Magnetic Media is currently working three shifts a day, seven days a week manufacturing 2.5m floppy disks a month. The floppy disks are sold exclusively on the western markets. The company is understood to have $20m outstanding debt on the construction of a 5.25 floppy disk production line constructed in 1988 which has since been mothballed. At the time of Deloitte & Touche’s visit to the firm last year, Magnetic Media’s management was seeking to expand production to 3m floppy disks a month and hopes to invest in vacuum sputtering technology. Lexmark International Inc is one of the western companies that has evaluated floppies from the firm according to local consultants.
