EUROFIMA lends €8.1m to BDZ for used German intercity coaches

Lire en français : Eurofima prête 8,1 M€ à BDZ pour des voitures Intercity d'occasion

EUROFIMA, the Basel-based supranational rolling stock lender, disbursed a first tranche of €8.1m on 1 April 2026 to BDZ Passenger Transport (BDZ-PP), Bulgaria's state-owned passenger operator. The money is drawn under a framework agreement worth up to €22m and pays for second-hand intercity coaches bought from DB Fernverkehr, an interim fix for a fleet that is too small for current demand while new EU-funded electric multiple units are still on order.

A €22m framework drawn in tranches

According to procurement documents published by BDZ-PP and reported by Economic.bg, the loan agreement entered into force on 17 March 2026. It is structured as a ten-year hire purchase agreement running to 2036. The first tranche carries an interest rate of three-month Euribor plus 0.45%; terms for later tranches are set at each drawdown.

On 18 March, BDZ-PP signed the supply contract with DB Fernverkehr for 91 coaches at €21.82m excluding VAT, putting the unit price between €210,000 and €250,000. EUROFIMA said the first tranche covers 35 coaches; the public procurement file refers to 36.

Refurbished German stock

As Rail Journal reported, each coach seats up to 80 passengers. The vehicles are air-conditioned and have been through several DB modernisation programmes, including fully renewed interiors and external passenger information displays. For BDZ, the appeal lies in a very low unit cost and fast introduction into service, with none of the design and approval lead times of new-build stock.

This is not BDZ's first purchase of this kind. In 2024 the operator agreed to buy 76 modernised used coaches from DB for €15.4m, making second-hand German rolling stock a recurring element of Bulgaria's intercity fleet strategy.

What EUROFIMA is

EUROFIMA was set up on 20 November 1956 by an international treaty between sovereign states. It is a not-for-profit supranational body with no link to the European Union, owned by 26 shareholders from 25 European countries; Germany and France each hold 22.6%. BDZ Holding owns 0.20%, which gives the Bulgarian operator access to the institution's lending.

Rated AA by S&P and Fitch and Aa2 by Moody's, EUROFIMA borrows on the capital markets on favourable terms and on-lends the proceeds to its shareholder railways to renew and modernise their fleets. Its relationship with BDZ goes back years: a 40 million leva loan taken out at the end of 2008 for refurbished rolling stock was fully repaid in July 2017, according to the Bulgarian news agency BTA. Similar deals elsewhere in Europe are covered in our financing and economics section.

Bridging the gap to new trains

The coach purchase sits alongside a much larger fleet renewal programme funded mainly through the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Railway Gazette reported that Bulgaria's recovery plan earmarked €559m for rolling stock, with an original spending deadline of August 2026.

The flagship order is the contract signed on 25 April 2025 with the BULEMU consortium of Alstom and RVP Invest for 35 Coradia Stream interregional EMUs, worth €720m including 15 years of maintenance. According to Alstom, the six-car, fully low-floor units will offer more than 320 seats, run at up to 160 km/h and be fitted with ERTMS Level 2. The award followed a troubled tender in which Stadler and then Pesa dropped out.

Stadler nonetheless has a foothold in the country. In April 2024 it won its first Bulgarian order, for seven four-car KISS double-deck EMUs for the 25 kV 50 Hz network, including 15 years of maintenance. The Swiss manufacturer is also active elsewhere in the Balkans, where its EuroDual locomotive has been approved on Corridor X. More rail news from the region is on our Europe page.

An expert's view

Hauled coaches carry no signalling equipment of their own, so they can enter service behind BDZ's existing locomotives, including the Siemens Smartron units fitted with ETCS Level 2. Integration is mainly a matter of vehicle authorisation and compatibility with BDZ traction and depot facilities. The stock is not young, however, and maintenance cost over the ten-year loan period will be the figure to watch.

Update (October 2026)

In July 2026, Railway News reported that EUROFIMA approved a second tranche of €4.5m under the same framework, covering 18 more intercity coaches over ten years. The first two tranches therefore total €12.6m for 53 of the 91 coaches.

Key figures

• EUROFIMA framework: up to €22m over ten years
• First tranche: €8.1m, disbursed 1 April 2026
• Second tranche: €4.5m (July 2026), 18 coaches
• DB Fernverkehr contract: 91 coaches, €21.82m excluding VAT
• Capacity: up to 80 seats per coach

Sources: Economic.bg, 21 April 2026; Rail Journal, 8 April 2026; Railway News, 16 July 2026; Alstom, 25 April 2025; Railway Gazette, April 2025; Railvolution, 26 April 2024; BTA, 11 July 2017.

Photo: NAC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons