Bulgaria's finance minister, who was initially targeting rapid accession to the euro zone, has confirmed the country is in no hurry to adopt the single currency.
"We will not make any move toward the switchover in the next two years," Simeon Djankov told reporters in Vienna on Thursday.
The statement is in line with the opinion of local analysts, who have tried to tone down the cabinet's enthusiasm for adopting rapidly the common European currency, saying it makes more sense for the...
Bulgaria's Currency Board Is Super Stable
(Sofia, Jan 12) - "The currency board functioning in Bulgaria is super-stable," the monthly analysis of Raiffeissen Bank Bulgaria reads.
The experts have calculated that at the end of November 2012 the currency board's reserves amount to 15.1 billion euro, which is an increase by 2.2 million euro from a month ago.
The board's reserves have increased by 1.9 billion euro (14.4%) year-on-year, which is a surplus of about 89% to the minimum...
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has revised upwards its forecast for Bulgaria's economic growth in 2013 from 1.7% to 1.9%.
The bank cut its forecast for economic growth in October last year from 2.5% in the previous report published in May to 1.7%, citing slumping exports.
"Recovery is expected to continue to be modest in Bulgaria into 2012, due mainly to sluggish export demand. Growth in 2012 is likely to have ended up at around 1% only, with a modest forecast...
A total of 21% of the eligible voters cast their votes in Bulgaria's nuclear energy referendum on Sunday, according to data from the 100% completed parallel vote count by polling agency Alpha Research.
The agency said this meant about 1.4 million voters cast their votes in Bulgaria on Sunday; of those, 61% voted in favor of the construction of a second nuclear power plant, and 39% voted against.
The Bulgarian citizens were supposed to answer "yes" or "no" to the following question:...
PES and Bulgarian Socialist Party chair Sergey Stanishev should resign over the outcome of Sunday's referendum on nuclear energy in Bulgaria, stated Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov.
As results from exit polls come in, political leaders have engaged in a heated battle of interpretations on the outcome.
Some 60% of ballots cast answered positively to the referendum question - whether Bulgaria needs a new NPP - the position supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
The turnout is...
The Bulgarian government should impose a moratorium on the Belene NPP project until an overall energy strategy is drafted, according to Meglena Kuneva, former EU Commissioner and leader of the Bulgaria for Citizens party.
She says that the fact that the center-right ruling party GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) have reached consensus on the matter raises suspicion.
Kuneva suggests that the actual goal of the referendum is to tie the next government down to a...
The right-wing Blue Coalition has requested from Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, to ask the Constitutional Court to elaborate on the upcoming referendum on the fate of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant project.
The Blues insist the Court must have a say in explaining the law before the Parliament passes the decision, the Bulgarian online news agency Dnevnik reports.
According to the law, the Constitutional Court must act on the request of at least...
The upcoming referendum on the fate of Bulgaria's Belene Nuclear Power project is a provocation made by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), according to the right-wing Blue Coalition.
"In our opinion, the referendum is a deliberate provocation made by BSP," Blue Coalition co-chair Martin Dimitrov told reporters on Friday. According to Dimitrov, the left wingers are fully aware that the question they have posed for the referendum is anti-constitutional.
As the Blue Coalition has pointed...
Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev is holding Friday political consultations for the upcoming referendum on the fate of the project to build a second Nuclear Power Plant in the Danube town of Belene.
Plevneliev is convinced that the referendum is a test for democracy and must be held.
The consultations will include parliamentary represented political parties in an attempt to reach consensus on the wording of the question to be asked.
They will be held in the Presidential building,...
The upcoming referendum on the fate of Bulgaria's Belene nuclear power plant will prove that the project is pointless, according to Interior Minister Tsvetan Tstevatov.
On Friday, Tsvetanov reiterated that the former socialist-led three-way coalition would have fulfilled the project if it was favorable for Bulgaria.
"They had the executive power, they had the legislative power, they had the presidential power...but they knew what the dangers were," he told reporters, referring to the...
The vote in the January 27, 2013, national referendum on development of atomic energy in Bulgaria will be organized in the same manner as any election.
The spokesperson of the Central Electoral Commission, CEC, Bisser Troyanov, explained at a press conference that the referendum will be held in adherence to the Election Code since the Act for Direct Participation of Citizens in the Rule of the State and in Local Rule was too "scarce" without any detailed regulations.
The voters will...
Bulgaria will "logically" go for building a seventh reactor at its existing NPP in Kozloduy, Bulgarian Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev commented Sunday on the results of the nation's referendum on the construction of a second nuclear plant.
Bulgaria's referendum, which had a voter turnout of only 22%, with 61% voting in favor of the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Bulgaria, while 39% voted against, implicitly referred to the project for the construction of the 2000-MW Belene...
Valentin Nikolov, CEO of the Kozloduy NPP, has said that a seventh unit at the plant could be functional by 2020 or 2022.
In a Monday interview for Nova TV, he suggested that the project for building a seventh unit at the nuclear power plant in Kozloduy had already attracted serious investor interest but he did not disclose details.
He suggested that there was already investor interest in the project but did not disclose details.
"In 20 years' time, when the exploitation deadline of...
Bulgaria's Education Minister, Sergey Ignatov, has resigned from the post.
Ignatov has submitted his resignation on the request of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, the Cabinet's press office informs Monday.
The news broke just hours after the resignation of the manager of Bulgaria's embattled and scandal-ridden Scientific Research Fund, Hristo Petrov.
Petrov's resignation was also immediately accepted by Borisov.
The manager deposited his resignation after it emerged that a probe of...
Bulgaria's new Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov will make his first visit to Brussels accompanied by Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva.
Tsatsarov will meet with EC Secretary-General Catherine Day and OLAF Director General Giovanni Kessler on January 29, according to the press office of Bulgaria's prosecuting authority.
Meanwhile, Tsvetanov will take part in a high-level international conference on countering violent extremism organized by Home...
Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, is proposing to the Cabinet to dismiss from the post the Chairman of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, DKEVR, Angel Semerdzhiev.
The proposal is connected with the delay and lack of a number of administrative acts from the Electricity and Gas Directives, requested by the European Commission.
It was reported last Thursday that EC is referring Bulgaria, Estonia and the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union...
Valentin Nikolov, CEO of the Kozloduy NPP, has said that a seventh unit at the plant could be functional by 2020 or 2022.
In a Monday interview for Nova TV, he suggested that the project for building a seventh unit at the nuclear power plant in Kozloduy had already attracted serious investor interest but he did not disclose details.
He suggested that there was already investor interest in the project but did not disclose details.
"In 20 years' time, when the exploitation deadline of...
A controversial referendum on whether to build a new nuclear power plant in Bulgaria appears to have been invalidated by low turnout.
An exit poll put turnout at around 20% - far below the 60% required for the poll, which was called on the basis of an opposition petition.
The opposition Socialists want the centre-right government to reverse its decision not to build the plant.
The poll has been seen as a barometer for elections later this year.
It was also important as a measure of...
Bulgaria's next referendum should be on an important environmental topic, according to Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.
In a Monday interview for Nova TV, he suggested that the next referendum could involve the statute of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
Djankov informed that he had abstained from voting at the January 27 nuclear referendum because the issue required expert knowledge and could not be sold through a plebiscite.
He claimed that the only good thing about Sunday's referendum...
Bulgaria's Parliament has adopted at first reading amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act.
The amendments initiated by the government were passed Friday with 79 votes in favor, 3 against, and 14 abstainees, according to reports of the Focus news agency.
The amendments envisage drafting a national plan for increasing the number of nearly zero-energy buildings and the introduction of energy performance certificates of buildings and building components.
During the discussion of the bill,...
Another euro-pegged government defending an overvalued exchange rate bites the dust, a reminder that the underlying economic and social disaster across the Europe's Arc of Depression is still getting worse.
Bulgarian prime minister Boiko Borisov resigned Wednesday morning after days of mass protests against austerity across the country.
"I will not participate in a government under which police are beating people. Every drop of blood is a shame for us," he said. "Our power was handed to...
Around 500 members of the Anti-mafia civic association are protesting in front of the President's Office in Sofia, prior to the anticipated official statement of Rosen Plevneliev on the situation in the country in the aftermath of the collective resignation of the government.
According to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), the people are voicing their discontent with the judiciary, saying that the head of state is currently the only guarantor of statehood in the...
The European Union's Agriculture Ministers have gathered in Brussels for talks that are focused on the growing horsemeat scandal in Europe.
Authorities across Europe have started doing random DNA checks after traces of horse meat recently turned up in frozen supermarket meals such as burgers and lasagna.
The scandal erupted last month when horsemeat was found in some beef meals and burgers in the UK and Ireland.
Since then, supermarkets across Europe have had to withdraw affected...
The Bulgarian Parliament will hold an emergency sitting Tuesday to decide on the fate of the project to build a second Nuclear Power Plant in the Danube town of Belene.
The reason for the above are the results of the January 27 referendum on the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria through the construction of a new nuclear power plant, which showed that the issue would be conclusively decided by Bulgaria's Parliament.
Under the law, the recent referendum results impose for the Belene...
Clashes with the police marked Sunday the protest rally in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Varna.
Bulgarians across the country staged once again demonstrations against high utility bills, monopolies, poverty, economic stagnation, corruption, and the political model of ruling the country after the fall of the Communist regime in 1989.
The rallies, however, did not bring together as many people as previous weekend marches.
The largest one was once again held in Varna where 2 000 (compared...
The Bulgarian government will within 10 days appoint an international auditor to review the country's energy sector, stated caretaker Minister of Regional Development Ekaterina Zaharieva.
"We need a full financial analysis of everyone in the energy sector. We will work in full cooperation with the European Commissions, so that no doubts be thrown on the final report," said Zaharieva.
The minister added that this would bring full transparency in the sector, something requested by numerous...
The Bulgarian cabinet must speed up the administrative reform in helping the small and medium business, according to the Bulgarian EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva.
Georgieva, who is a former high-ranking World Bank official, said this business must be top priority because it is the most flexible and the fastest in creating new jobs.
"This is the right time for the cabinet to seek ways to help, to alleviate...
Bulgaria's touristic branch expects good results 2011, according to Blagoy Ragin, chair of the country's organization of hotel and restaurant owners.
However, this year's mistakes should be seriously analyzed, he told Darik radio, referring to the several fatal accidents which happened in Bulgarian seaside resorts in the peak of the season.
Most recently, a 13-year-old German girl died in Bulgaria's Black Sea resort Golden Sands after she was sucked in by the pump of a hotel swimming...
Bulgaria's Customs Agency is starting an all-out inspection campaign on fuel excise facilities after it has detected violations at the Lukoil Neftohim refinery in Burgas.
The move, which also features inspections on gasoline trucks by mobile groups, is supposed to crack down on a black market of fuel. The campaign will last 3 months, Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov told BNT.
Customs inspectors have found that Lukoil Neftohim, Bulgaria's major oil refinery, which is also the largest in the...
The Bulgarian government has approved a contribution to the Bulgarian state company for the construction of the vastly troubled Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, which is at the bare minimum for keeping the project alive.
With its decision Wednesday, the Borisov Cabinet has agreed to increase the capital of the state-owned Project Company "Burgas-Alexandroupolis Oil Pipeline" BG EAD by issuing bonds worth BGN 150 000 that will be acquired by the Finance Ministry.
The sum is the minimum...
Bulgarian and Turkish companies aim at reaching annual bilateral trade worth USD 10 B, stated the head of the Turkish-Bulgarian Business Council Yalcin Egemen at a business forum organized during the visit of Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Bulgaria.
At the forum, which attracted over 50 Turkish companies, the President of the Turkish-Bulgarian Business Council, Yalcin Egemen said there is real potential for the trade between the two countries to grow tremendously.
Egemen pointed out...
The border Strandzha Mountain should become a joint Bulgarian-Turkish project for non-material cultural heritage that should seek UNESCO status, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has proposed upon welcoming his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.
"Both countries are tourist destinations, especially Turkey. We need to try to diversify the tourism opportunities. Spa tourism has a very good potential but I would add cultural tourism, which leads to dialogue between civilizations," Bulgarian...
The Plovdiv Appellate Court has overturned the ruling of the Plovdiv Regional Court to annul the two increases of the capital of the International Plovdiv Fair company and to return the majority stake in the Fair to the State.
The latest development came after the Fair's owner, Georgi Gergov, appealed the decision of the Regional Court.
According to the Appellate Court in Bulgaria's second largest city, the two increases of the capital, making Gergov's company "Puldin Tourinvest" owner of...
Bulgaria will hold auctions for a total of six shale gas exploration blocks, said Kristalina Stoykova from the Geological Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS).
Stoykova heads a scientific group in charge of shale gas research in Bulgaria.
In her words, four of the blocks that will be auctioned off are located in North-East Bulgaria and two other in North-Central Bulgaria.
At this stage, US oil and gas giant Chevron has won a contract to carry out shale gas exploration...
Bulgaria's industrial production increased by 7.8% in May 2011 year-on-year, according to fresh data from the National Statistical Institute.
Bulgaria's extraction industry grew by 20.8% in May 2011 compared with May of last year, while the energy sector grew by 12.7%, and the processing industry (manufacturing) – by 5.9%.
Compared with April 2011, the industrial production in Bulgaria is down 0.5%. The decrease, however, is primarily due to a decline in the energy output by 6%, while...
Bulgaria is making definite steps to achieve a fourfold reduction in the amount of natural gas it is buying from Russia, according to an extensive publication by Russian paper Kommersant.
Looking at boosting its own gas production, but also at diversifying imports, Bulgaria hopes to achieve a reduction from the 2 B cubic meters of gas it buys from Russia per annum, to some 500 M cub.m in 2-3 years.
Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy has already declared Bulgaria's intention to give...
No final decision has been taken for the privatization of the postal service state-owned company "Bulgarian Posts EAD", the transport minister has said amid vehement protests from employees, trade unions and opposition leaders.
"The company will be taken off the list of firms, whose privatization is banned, just so that we can have that option available as well," Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said.
The amendments to the privatization law were tabled and adopted on the last day of June by the...
The newly-appointed CEO of the vastly-troubled Bulgarian State Railways BDZ Yordan Nedev has declared his intention to break even in 2012, not in 2014, as his predecessor intended.
Nedev, a financier who was appointed to replace Pencho Popov as CEO of the state-owned BDZ Holding in a surprise move by new Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski, spoke for the first time in public at a round table on the reforms in BDZ in Sofia on Wednesday.
"I feel as if I am at war," Nedev stated. "We are...
Bulgaria's Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) has fined three companies which participated in the construction of desulphurization installations at the state-owned thermal power plant Maritsa East 2.
Consortium Idreco-Insigma, Zhejiang Zheda Insigma Group Co., Ltd, and Idreco Invest have been fined with BGN 50 000 each, according to CPC's announcement.
Consortium Idreco-Insigma won the public procuirement contract for building the desulphurisation equipment with financing from...
The average incomes of Bulgarians will surpass those of Romanians in two years, Bulgaria's Finance Minister Simeon Djankov vowed on Tuesday.
Djankov announced his ambitious plan speaking before the private bTV channel. He pointed out the Bulgarian GDP per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards is 43% of the EU average, while Romania's is just 2% higher, according to Eurostat.
In 2009, Bulgaria's GDP per capita expressed in PPS was a mere 37% of the EU average.
According to the...
A newly-discovered natural gas deposit near Lovech in Northern Bulgaria contains 10 billion cubic meters of gas, Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism announced.
Traikov said that Bulgaria will soon be able to extract about 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, or about one-third of its annual consumption.
He spoke Tuesday night without providing details about the deposit near Lovech but he apparently referred to an area around the village of Deventsi in central...
Bulgarian trade unions have reacted harshly against recent indications on part of the government that it plans to privatize, fully or partially, Bulgarian Posts EAD, Bulgaria's state postal operator.
After on last week, the Economy Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament approved a bill providing that Bulgaria's postal service state-owned company "Bulgarian Posts EAD" will be taken off the list of companies banned from being privatized, together with three other companies, on Monday,...
Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK and Russia's Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Rosatom, have signed an annex extending by 3 months their contract for the construction of the Belene NPP, which should become the second Bulgarian nuclear power plant.
The new "Annex No. 13" to the 2006 contract between the two state companies was inked late Friday night, the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism announced Saturday.
The newly-signed document effectively provides the two...
The Black Sea could turn in a worldwide attraction for underwater tourism if countries cash on the story that the Biblical Deluge happened in the area, according to Bulgarian archaeologist Petko Dimitrov.
According to Prof. Dimitrov, who is the director of the Underwater Archaeology unit of the Oceanology Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, there are enough findings in the Black Sea's aquatorium to make it an attractive destination for that kind of tourism.
"If the hypothesis...
The privatization of the Bulgarian state-owned cigarette produce Bulgartabac will be successful thanks to the privatization criteria, according to Economy Minister Traicho Traikov.
Answering MPs' questions in Parliament Friday, Traikov defended the way the government is going about the sale of Bulgartabac Holding in spite of criticism by the opposition Socialists that it is unclear who will be responsible for the tobacco-growing and cigarette-making sector in Bulgaria once the state-owned...
The Bulgarian government is no longer trying to make the future gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Turkey a section of the EU-sponsored gas transit pipeline Nabucco, Economy Minister Traikov announced.
The gas pipeline connecting the natural gas networks of Bulgaria and Turkey could be ready by 2014, and through which Bulgaria could be receiving up to 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Traicho Traikov told the Members of...
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