Hungary has received interest from 14 investors for the sale of loss-making national airline Malev, the privatization agency APV said on Wednesday.

APV last week declared Malev's privatization tender unsuccessful and said it would now seek direct negotiations with investors and gave potential bidders until Wednesday to express interest.

APV will now set the schedule for talks and said it expected negotiations to begin as early as this week, it said in a statement.

Last week's privatization failure was the second in less than six months, and analysts said Malev would be difficult to sell unless it committed to major restructuring and cost cuts.

Recent privatization tenders failed as bidders refused to take over Malev's nearly 35 billion forint (USD$182 million) debt burden and did not offer the necessary equity injection, local media reported.