The prospects of the summer tourist season are still unclear due to the global financial crisis, according to Albena Resort CEO Krassimir Stanev, BTA reported.

"We expect a reduced number of tourists from the European market, however if the decrease is between 2 and 15% compared to the last season, it would not be a catastrophe, Stanev said. He added that there is good interest in bookings for Albena at the current tourist exchange in Stuttgart, Germany. Many Romanian tourists have also booked Easter holidays in the resort.

According to Stanev, the big issue is how the Russian market would react under the conditions of a global financial crisis. In 2008, the Russian tourist share reached 18%. Russian tourist operators, which are Albena's counterparts, report a depression, even outflow of tourists from Bulgaria's winter destinations.

There is a risk that part of the Albena hotels, offering a total of 15,000 beds, might remain closed. Stanev said that the resort will be happy to maintain last season's results, when 160,000 tourists spent vacations there.

An extraordinary general meeting of Albena AD on Sunday decided to buy 99.99% of the capital of Intersky company for the total price of 22.577 million leva. Intersky, which owns an airport at the Lesnovo village near Sofia, is part of Albena Holding AD.

The meeting adopted also a proposal of the Directors' Board of Albena AD to sell 47.83 per cent of the capital of Albena Invest Holding for 26,700.701 leva at a share price of 10.15 leva. Buyer of the shares will be Albena Holding AD.

By these two transactions the management structure of the companies will be simplified and a better opportunity for concentration of capitals will be created, Stanev explained. According to him, the transactions will be finalized for a period between three months and one year.

The Lesnovo Airport runway is to be enlarged to enable landings and taking-offs of aircraft of over 5,700 kg. Night landing equipment will be installed as well. A park for owners and users of light and superlight aircraft will be constructed on the free 23 ha within the airport infrastructure, the Board of Directors said.