UPDATE 1-Romania to float 5 pct more of Transgaz on bourse

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BUCHAREST, June 19 (Reuters) - Romania plans to sell up to 5 percent more of gas pipeline operator Transgaz TGNM.BX on the Bucharest bourse as part of its property restitution scheme, a government member said on Thursday.

Last year Romania floated 10 percent in the state monopoly which is part of a consortium planning to build the Nabucco pipeline to bring Iranian and Caspian gas to central Europe.

"The (new) stake is just under 5 percent," Finance and Economy Minister Varujan Vosganian said during a financial seminar. "A few hundred new investors will be on the bourse at the start of the autumn."

Transgaz is the second state-controlled energy firm to float a minority stake after the listing of power grid operator Transelectrica TSEL.BX last year.

The government had also planned to list a small stake in nuclear power operator Nuclearelectrica this year, but the process has been delayed.

Transelectrica has since upped its stake on the bourse as various Romanians whose properties were seized under communism were compansated with shares in the firm.

The state offers shares in state companies as part of its compensation scheme for properties that were confiscated by the communist regime but cannot be returned to their previous owners.

Analysts have said share listings of state-owned energy firms could breathe new life into the European Union member's tiny bourse with a market capitalisation of just under 34 billion euros.

On Thursday, Transgaz traded at 222.0000 lei per share, down 0.05 percent on the day, compared to a life high of 287.0000 hit in January. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Louise Ireland)