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...
Gazprom will start construction of the South Stream gas pipeline to pump natural gas to Europe along the bed of the Black Sea with two parallel legs, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Monday.
"We plan to build two pipeline legs with a capacity of 15.5 billion cubic meters each; they will be built in parallel," Miller said, as cited by RIA Novosti.
The South Stream pipeline is intended to transport up to 63 billion cubic meters of natural gas to central and southern Europe, diversifying...
The Bulgarian Parliament has adopted the country's much-anticipated Energy Strategy by 2020, which emphasizes energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.
The document was approved with 79 votes in favor and 27 votes against, without any abstentions, with only 106 out of 240 MPs in attendance despite its importance.
The document lists the following priorities: guaranteeing the security of energy supplies, the introduction of new and the development of existing mechanisms for boosting...
Bulgarian state cigarette producer Bulgartabac registered a net profit of BGN 2.17 M for the first quarter of 2011.
For the same period in 2010, Bulgartabac had a net loss of BGN 2.3 M. The main reason behind the better performance this year is a 64% growth of revenue from cigarette sales, as well as 41% growth of revenue from export.
Beginning of May the Bulgarian government announced a privatization bid for Bulgartabac, having stated it is looking for a strategic investor. This comes...
Bulgaria has no intention to give up nuclear energy, stated Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov Monday.
Traikov was commenting the decision of the German government announced today to phase out all nuclear reactors by 2022 and to discontinue the production of electricity from fission.
"Bulgaria will give up nuclear energy only when it gets populated by Germans," ironically commented the Bulgarian minister.
Traikov mentioned that Bulgaria is committed to building a...
The news that US company Chevron hopes to find major shale gas deposits in northeastern Bulgaria have raised the doubts of some experts and the concerns of environmentalists.
Saturday it was announced that Chevron has landed a Bulgarian shale gas exploration concession with a whopping offer of EUR 30 M.
According to the estimates of the bidders, the deposit near Novi Pazar contains between 300 billion and 1 trillion cubic meters of shale gas.
The deal was strongly welcomed by Bulgarian...
Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, announced the country is to, most likely, present to Russia a new project for contract for the Nuclear Power Plant, NPP, in the Danube town of Belene.
"After consultants examined the current contract, they said that this is not an agreement for an NPP supposed to function based on market rules. This is a contract between two countries that have agreed they will build an NPP with secured financing, and it is obvious money will flow...
Austrian company EVN is expected to purchase a 70% stake in the Bulgarian hydro power plant project "Gorna Arda" from Turkish company Ceylan "within days", according to Bulgarian Economy Minister Traicho Traikov.
Traikov spoke Saturday at a news conference in Sofia dedicated to the energy policy of Borisov Cabinet.
In December 2010, there were reports that the much anticipated deal with the vastly troubled Bulgarian hydro power project on the Arda river in the south would be sealed in the...
Any privatization of Bulgaria's National Palace of Culture (NDK), a giant cultural and congress center in downtown Sofia, will be abolished, the country's Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov said Friday.
Djankov told the Bulgarian Parliament Friday that he has come up with a proposal on banning NDK's potential privatization, which is included in the new amendments to the country's privatization law.
The center's functions will not be changed, he added. Instead, it will be modernized and made...
Bulgaria is the cheapest summer holiday destination according to a survey of the German automotive union ADAC.
The survey covers 50 resorts in 10 European countries and includes various costs, such as sun protection creams (a price range of EUR 4.80- EUR 25 at the French Atlantic coast), beach chaise longues (EUR 2 in Croatia, EUR 20 in Italian resort Cesenatico), etc.
According to ADAC data, Bulgaria charges the cheapest for a consumer basket of 34 products and services for a family with...
The EU will not set unjustified restrictions regarding the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, which is supposed to transit Russian gas to Europe, Gunther Oettinger, EU Energy Commissioner, stated Wednesday.
The EU will not create either bureaucratic barriers or unreasonable limits, Oettinger said during a presentation on the project, RIA Novosti reports.
Russia and EU will be equal partners in the project, The EU Commissioner declared.
On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of...
Trans-Balkan Pipeline, the company in charge of the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, has offered the Bulgarian government a new technology for unloading oil to address environmental concerns.
Interestingly, the newly adopted approach is the opposite of the one which was initially adopted, and was defended by TBP executives as being safest in environmental terms.
In a statement released Monday, May 23, the TBP company announced that a revised Environmental and...
The Sofia City Hall has applied with the Regional Development Program for EU funding for its "Integrated Project for Public Transportation."
The information was reported Monday by Deputy Mayor, Lyubomir Hristov, who says the total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 61.4 M.
The funds will be used to purchase 50 new trolleys and to build a new tram rail between the Ecclesiastical Seminary through the "G.M. Dimitrov" boulevard to connect with the 18 tram line to the "Darvenitsa"...
Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, a subsidiary of the Bulgarian Energy Holding, will participate in the official signing of an agreement on the Nabucco gas transit pipeline in Turkey on June 6, 2011.
Besides the Bulgarian company, the shareholders which will sign the agreement are OMV (Austria), BOTAS (Turkey), Transgaz (Romania), Mol Natural Gas (Hungary) and RWE (Germany)
Each shareholder holds an equal share of 16.67% of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH. Nabucco is estimated to cost EUR 8...
Bulgaria's Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is among the most scrutinized NPPs in the world, according to the country's Energy and Economy Minister, Traicho Traikov.
Four of the total of six units at Kozloduy were closed due to EU safety requirements, Traikov pointed out during the European Nuclear Forum in Prague, featuring European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger.
The 440-MW Soviet-era Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Kozloduy NPP were shut down in 2002 and 2006 on EU insistence...
Bulgaria's antitrust regulator has given approval to US investment fund Contour Global to acquire the majority stake of Italian energy giant Enel in Maritsa East 3, a Bulgarian coal-fired plant.
Enel reached in the middle of March an agreement to sell a 73% stake in Bulgaria's lignite-fired Maritsa East 3 power plant to Contour Global LP for EUR 230 M. The impact on net debt reduction will be about EUR 450 M.
The deal will be carried out via the fund's unit Contour Global Bulgaria...
A new shareholders' agreement for the South Stream gas transit pipeline will be signed in 2011, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller has announced.
The shareholders are going to come up with a final investment decision for the construction of the Russian-sponsored gas pipeline at the end of 2012, according to Marcel Kramer, CEO of South Stream AG, as cited by RIA Novosti Thursday.
The entire technical and economic assessment of the future pipeline, for which Bulgaria will be a geographic hub, will...
The shale gas resources in Bulgaria could greatly improve the country's energy independence and would create a new alternative for its gas needs, Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, declared.
"As far as shale gas is concerned, the global markets are changing," the Bulgarian Minister pointed out. "It is crucial that the shale gas extraction technologies are environmentally safe."
The Minister also pointed out Bulgaria is putting efforts into diversifying Bulgaria's gas...
UniCredit SpA (UCG), Italy's biggest bank and Vienna-based Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) have bought tender documents to broker Bulgaria's 33% stake sale in an E.ON AG unit, Bloomberg agency reported.
A total of 14 financial companies have purchased tender documents.
Other competitors that will probably submit bids by a May 27 deadline include Greece's second biggest lender EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA (EUROB) and United Bulgarian Bank, a unit of the National Bank of Greece SA,...
A new dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility was officially launched at Bulgaria's Kozloduy NPP by the country's PM, Boyko Borisov, and Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov.
The measure aims at implementing greater nuclear safety.
The German NUKEM Technologies-GNS has been contracted by Bulgaria to build the depot, which will cost EUR 70.5 M. The new facility will accommodate casks with spent fuel from the plant's four closed units, currently stored in wet pools, and will be...
In a highly controversial statement, Bulgaria's economy minister has defended, though half-heartedly, the flourishing gray sector in the country, saying that still it generates growth.
"If we have to choose between gray economy and no economy, Bulgaria is definitely better off having gray economy," Minister Traicho Traikov told the morning broadcast of bTV channel on Wednesday.
"Gray or not gray, these are economic activities, which generate gross domestic product," the minister...