Balkancar Holdings, Bulgaria's cash-strapped forklift maker, owes EUR90,000 (USD110,350) in wages to its 512 employees.

The Bulgarian News Digest reported the company's Sofia employees, who have not been paid since November 2003, staged protests on September 13, pledging to continue protesting until Balkancar pays up.

Balkancar Holdings' 14 subsidiaries are expected to manufacture 300 forklifts this year, compared to the company's 90,000-unit output of the early 1990s.

In the late 1980s, the government-owned company was, per capita, the world's biggest forklift producer, employing almost 60,000 people at its peak in the late 1980s.

After several failed privatisation attempts, Balkancar was declared insolvent in September 2002 with outstanding debts of more than EUR71.5 million (87.7 milion). The company's largest creditors are Roseximbank, Yorset Holding and Biochim Bank.