President Plevneliev's Veto Survives Parliament Vote
(Sofia, Jan 12) - Bulgarian MPs supported President Rossen Plevneliev's veto on the Investments Encouragement Act and returned it for further discussion.
Only three MPs supported the Act, 24 voted against it and 95 abstained from voting.
President Plevneliev vetoed the new law because, as he made it a point, the new regulations for residence of foreign investors in Bulgaria create many obstacles for their business activities....
Bulgaria to Start Nabucco in June 2013
(Sofia, Jan 11) - The construction of the Bulgarian section of the Nabucco pipeline will start in June 2013, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov informed at the first ministerial meeting of the project in 2013 in Sofia.
As the current head of the rotating presidency of the project, Bulgaria is calling for fix deadlines, the PM said. By June Bulgaria will have all the construction permits and mining companies from the "Shah Deniz-2" field will decide...
Construction of NPP Kozloduy's Seventh Reactor to Start in 2016
(Sofia, Jan 12) - "The first sod of NPP Kozloduy's seventh reactor will be turned in 2016," Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Ministry Delyan Dobrev said.
His statement was also supported by Sergey Tsochev, chairman of Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulatory Agency.
"The preparation of the necessary analyses and documents regarding the selection of a site for NPP Kozloduy's seventh reactor is to be completed in the second half of...
Bulgaria has secured a one-year extension to repay the 250 million euro bridge loan arranged by BNP Paribas to fund preliminary work on the planned Belene nuclear power plant on the Danube River, Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev said on May 7, as quoted by Focus news agency.
The option to postpone the due date was contingent on securing 55 million euro for immediate repayment of the amounts loaned by Belgium's Dexia and Japanese bank Mizuho. The funds will be provided to state electricity...
Sun Edison this week sold Bulgaria's largest solar park to a consortium of investors for Ј142m. The 60.4-megawatt Karadzhalovo solar park in southern Bulgaria began operating in March and cost Ј144m, according to the International Finance Corporation, which helped fund the project....
An enormous new vacation complex is to be build on Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea coast, announced Atanas Stoilov, Mayor of the Municipality of Aksakovo near Varna.
Stoilov told reporters Tuesday, as cited by Darik Radio, that the new resort will be built between the village of General Kantardzhievo and the Albena resort complex on a plot of 300 decares.
In his words, the project first started several years ago when it was initiated by French investors. After one of the investor's...
Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, DKEVR, has already adopted one of the Electricity and Gas Directives, requested by the European Commission.
The statement was made Friday by the DKEVR Chairman, Angel Semerdzhiev.
It was reported Thursday that EC is referring Bulgaria, Estonia and the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully apply the EU internal energy market rules.
According to the EC's press office, to date...
Italian companies may be attracted in privatization projects, including for tourist sites, as well as concessions agreements and modernization schemes for airports, and construction and reconstruction of road and railway infrastructure in Bulgaria, according to Minister Bozhidar Lukarski.
Speaking Tuesday at the opening of an economic forum titled “Bulgaria and Italy: Together for Achieving Growth”, Lukarski pointed out that the trade and economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Italy...
12 July 12, 2017, Sofia. Miss Hosting (one of the largest Scandinavian hosting providers) announced that it has chosen Sofia as it global center of operations. The company plans to hire up to 100 people in the next 2 years to support its global growth as well as its entry into the Bulgarian hosting market.
The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden with offices in Miami, USA, Nashik, India and local presence in Norway,...
Tishman International Companies and GE Real Estate have introduced new sustainability standards for commercial space in Bulgaria through their major Bulgarian project, Sofia Airport Center (SAC).
Tishman International and GE Real Estate presented Sofia Airport Center at the BalREc conference in Sofia dedicated to real estate and construction investments and sustainable development. Nikola Ignatov, "Properties Management" executive at Tishman International, presented SAC "green advantage" in...
Korean companies are preparing to invest in Bulgaria's energy sector, including in renewable energy, South Korea's Ambassador to Bulgaria Chun Bi-ho, said in a public lecture in Sofia.
His Excellency did not reveal details but said a large Korean company wanted to acquire a Bulgarian energy firm, which is to be privatized.
In addition, another company from South Korea has interest in taking part in the modernization of Bulgaria's electricity network.
At the same time, there is also...
Bulgarian Economy Minister Traikov will head a delegation to Austria for talks with leading Austrian companies and participation in the 7th edition of the Vienna Economic Forum.
In Vienna, Traikov will accompanied by the head of the InvestBulgaria Agency Borislav Stefanov and other senior officials, the Bulgarian Economy Ministry announced.
The 7th edition of the Vienna Economic Forum will take place on November 7-8 in the Austrian capital, and will bring together participants such as the...
Bulgarian will for sure build its second nuclear power plant at Belene, Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva has declared.
After Bulgaria's government of the center-right GERB party has been going back and forth for months on whether the Belene Nuclear Power Plant will be constructed, in the past couple of days both Prime Minister Borisov and Economy Minister Traikov made hints in favor of the nuke.
On Sunday, however, Parliament Chair Tsacheva made more definitive statements.
"After the...
The 2010 investments of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Bulgaria will reach the record annual figure of EUR 500 M, announced Stefka Slavova, an EBRD director.
A delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors completed Friday its four-day visit to Bulgaria organized to get up-to-date information on developments in one of the bank's countries of operation.
"In 2010 to date we have signed investment contracts in Bulgaria for EUR 341 M - these are mostly loans to financial...
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has invested over EUR 2 B in various sectors of the country's economy since the beginning of its operations in Bulgaria, mobilising additional investment in excess of EUR 5 B.
A delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors is expected to present on Friday the results of its four-day visit to Bulgaria, during which it obtained up-to-date information on developments in one of the bank's countries of operation.
During the visit members of the...
Economy Minister Traikov has invited German car-maker BMW and the European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company (EADS) to consider investment options in Bulgaria.
Traikov met with representatives of BMW and EADS in Munich on Thursday, on his second day from his visit to Germany's Free State of Bavaria. He was accompanied by the Bavarian Minister of Economy, Infrastructure, Transport, and Technology Martin Zeil.
"Bulgaria is creating favorable opportunities, and is encouraging investment...
The Slovenian company Mercator is going to invest EUR 80 M in a store chain in Bulgaria by 2012.
Mercator-B EOOD, which is Mercator's local subsidiary, announced Wednesday that it has put EUR 4 M into the opening of the first "Roda" megamarket in Bulgaria.
The Roda store in Sofia is scheduled to open next week on an area of 4000 square meters; it will employ 100 people, announced Branko Micic, manager in Mercator-B EOOD.
By the end of 2010, the Slovenian company plans a total...
The Czech-owned electric power utility CEZ, servicing western Bulgaria, announces BGN 2.9 M in new investments in their network.
The money is slated for repairs and improvements of the network and preparation for the winter tourist season.
The largest investment project, to be launched in October, is planned for the resort village of Ribaritsa where nearly BGN 900 000 would be used for network reconstruction.
The company's management point out the resort has many hotels while the...
Foreign direct investments by Italian companies in Bulgaria will amount to EUR 1-3 B in the next ten years, according to estimates of Confindustria Bulgaria, the Italian business association in Bulgaria.
This figure was revealed Wednesday by Massimo Bartocci, the head of Confindustria Bulgaria, at a special news conference, which announced that the General Assembly of Confindustria Balcani, the union of Italian business associations in the Balkan countries, will take place in Sofia on...
Bulgaria's construction sector will have about BGN 5 B (EUR 2,5 M) from the state on public procurement projects during 2011, according to Minister of Regional Development Rosen Plevneliev.
This is the combined amount of funds from the Ministries of Transport, of Environment, of Regional Development, as well as from local authorities and EU operative programmes, stated Plevneliev at the opening of the new acaemic year in the University of Architecture in Sofia.
Plevneliev once again...
Defense Minister Anyu Angelov has expressed strong support for his colleague, Economy Minister Traikov, who invited US companies to consider investments in Bulgarian military plants.
Earlier on Sunday, it was announced that Traikov, who is in the US, had invited Boeing to study the opportunities for the privatization of the ailing Bulgarian military industrial giant VMZ Sopot. He also invited Motorola to establish a partnership with the Bulgarian government in the field of...
The increase of the Bulgarian government's share in the country's only stock exchange will lead to the sale of its majority stake to an industry investor, the bourse's executive director has admitted, confirming recent speculations.
Bulgaria raised the state's stake in the Balkan country's stock exchange as it prepares to sell its majority to an industry investor and offer the rest to the public, said Ivan Takev, the bourse's executive director, said in an interview for Bloomberg...
Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov is on official visit to Canada, where he took part in the 21st World Energy Congress in Montreal.
Traikov met both Canadian senior state officials and high-ranking business representatives in the fields of energy, engineering and electronic industry, and transport from a number of countries.
Among the top topics discussed was the Belene NPP project, which was discussed among others with Areva Group's CEO Anne Lauveregeon.
Talks...
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and the Governor of the Chinese province of Guangdong Wang Yang discussed opportunities for Chinese investment in Bulgarian nuclear energy.
Mr. Wang Yang is on an official visit to Bulgaria to discuss possible Chinese investment in the country. The southern Guangdong province is China's most populous and, once rural and underdeveloped, now boasts the highest GDP of the People's Republic for 2009, totaling USD 572 B.
Last week the Guangdong city of...
The Bulgarian and Chinese parties have reached an agreement to create a joint company to operate the future business zone to be built in Bozhurishte nearby Sofia.
Bulgaria is expected to send documents on the creation of the company to China by beginning of October.
This agreement was made during the official visit of Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy Evgeni Angelov to China and was signed by him and Zhejiang Province governor Lu Zushan.
Deputy minister Angelov also met deputy...
UK investment fund Quorus Ventures will open Bulgaria's first factory for electric cars by the end of 2010.
This has been announced by Encho Enev, a Bulgarian consultant to the British investor, as cited by Darik Radio.
The plant will be opened in the southern Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora. The precise sum of the investment has not been specified but it is expected to be at least several million euro plus funding from EU programs.
The intention of Quorus Ventures to build an electric...
The International Investment Bank, formed as an initiative of the Soviet Union in 1970, has started to actively invest in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, including Bulgaria.
The Russian RBC Daily has reported that the International Investment Bank, together with the International Bank for Economic Cooperation, is planning to invest up to EUR 500 M in different projects.
About EUR 9 M have already been invested in construction of commercial properties in Slovakia. Bulgaria and...
Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov have foramlly inaugurated a resort complex on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast owned by the Russian capital.
The Raduga complex, which is part of the Kamchiya resort, was built in 12 months, with an investment of about EUR 40 M.
The complex is owned by the city of Moscow, which invested in it in order to turn it into a recreational facility for Russian kids and pensioners.
The "Children's Health Camp Raduga", as it is...
The Russian company Transneft, which is the majority shareholder in the Burgas-Alexandroupolis project, has offered to take on the entire funding for the construction of the oil pipeline, sources told Klassa. The proposal was made in Moscow during a presentation of the financing for the project’s implementation attended by the shareholders in the project, the Finance Ministry confirmed. The Russian oil operator suggested their investment in the construction of the oil conduit to be paid back...
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