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...
Bulgaria's anti-trust commission has fined two fuel distributors over their failure to cooperate in a probe into an alleged fuel price cartel that was launched amidst drivers' protests last month.
Litex AD has been slapped a fine of BGN 12 343 and Petrol AD - BGN 12 000.
The sanctions represent a percentage of the total turnover of the companies for 2009, the Bulgarian Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) said.
Litex AD and Petrol AD were required to supply information to the...
Bulgaria's state budget made almost BGN 16.8 M from the concessions of port and airport terminals in 2009, according to final reports of Bulgarian institutions, the government announced Wednesday.
The final 2009 figures confirm earlier statistics; in February, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry revealed preliminary figures showing that the government got BGN 16.7 M from port and airport concessions in 2010, a slight decrease year-on-year.
The facilities on concession in 2009 were the...
The Eltrade Company has wired to the Bulgarian Bank for Development, BBD, the amount of BGN 284 399 500 for the purchase of the bankrupt Kremikovtzi steel mill, located near the Bulgarian capital.
The news was reported Thursday evening by the Bulgarian news agency BTA, citing the mill's receiver, Tsvetan Bankov.
The transfer had a deadline of April 18. It is the full price of Kremikovtzi, which was sold for BGN 316 M, because the company had deducted the deposit of BGN 31 600 500, made to...
The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and the Areva company signed a cooperation memorandum covering crucial spheres of the country's energy sector on Wednesday.
Bulgaria may cooperate with the French company on the production and installment of wind turbines in the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, it was also made clear.
"Areva possesses great expert knowledge on wind turbines and just this type of wind turbines which are installed in the sea," Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister Traicho...
The Bulgarian government has signed a consulting contract with UK-based company HSBC for the financial analysis for the project for the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant.
Bulgaria's Cabinet and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in particular have made it clear that the results from HSBC's financial appraisal of the Belene project, i.e. whether it is economically feasible, will be decisive with respect to the government's final decision on whether to go ahead with the project whose...
Bulgaria's exports to the rest of the EU increased by 71,4% year on year in January 2011 reaching the amount of BGN 1,8 B.
The data was released by the National Statistics Institute Monday.
The country's main trade partners were Germany, Italy, Greece, Romania and France that formed 68.0% of the total exports to the EU Member states. The most significant growths were observed in the exports to Portugal, Luxembourg and Estonia. The most notable falls were registered in the exports to...
In the period January - February 2011, Bulgaria's exports to non-EU countries increased by 65.5% year on year and amounted to BGN 2.4 B.
The data was released by the National Statistics Institute Monday.
Bulgaria's main trade partners outside the EU in this period were Turkey, Russia, Serbia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, South Africa and China, that formed 54.5% of the total exports to non-EU countries.
The exports to South Africa, India, Croatia and Turkey increased...
Bulgaria's working day adjusted Industrial Production Index rose by 15.2% year on year February 2011, according to preliminary data by the country National Statistical Institute.
On a monthly basis, the Industrial Production Index, seasonally adjusted, decreased by 1.4 in February 2011 as compared to January 2011.
In February 2011, the Bulgarian year on year Industrial Production Index, calculated from working day adjusted data in the manufacturing grew by 22.3%, in the electricity, gas,...
French international hypermarket chain Carrefour has announced plans to open a sixth hypermarket in Bulgaria - in the southern city of Stara Zagora.
Carrefour's first Bulgarian hypermarket was opened in Burgas in 2009, when the brand entered the Bulgarian market for the first time, followed by its stores in Plovdiv, Varna, Sofia, and Ruse in 2010.
The sixth Carrefour store in Bulgaria will be opened in the fall of 2011. It will be located on an area of 5 000 square meters on Nikola Petkov...
The Maritza Iztok Mine in southern Bulgaria has scored 2011 its greatest yield for the first quarter of the year since 1997.
For March 2011 miners at Maritza Iztok excavated some 2.5 M tonnes of coal, while for Q1 the amount is close to 7.5 M tonnes.
The mine is reporting that it is fulfilling its plans for ground excavation, with close to 24 M cubic meters of earth dug up for the first quarter.
The Maritza Iztok Mine, the largest coal mine in Bulgaria, is built upon a deposit of...
Chimimport AD, a Bulgarian holding with over 50 subsidiaries, has registered a record profit for entire history.
Chimimport's 2010 profit amounted to BGN 91.8 M, a 1.5% increase year-on-year, according to company data.
Chimimport, which manages numerous finance, manufacturing, and transport companies – including Bulgaria Air, Central Cooperative Bank, Armeetz insurance company, grain trader Zarneni Hrani – saw its total 2010 revenues at BGN 141.6 M, a 15.6% growth year-on-year.
The...
Bulgaria's production of natural gas in December 2010 compared to November 2010 increased by 48.1% to 40 million cubic meters, according to the country's National Statistical Institute.
The Bulgarian production of electricity grew by 18.7% to 4 650 GWh in the same period, the institute also revealed.
However, the country's production of solid fuels decreased by 15.5% to 2 752 thousand tonnes, liquefied petroleum gases by 35.7% to 9 thousand tonnes, unleaded motor gasoline by 14.9% to 131...
Candidates applying to buy VMZ Sopot, Bulgaria's largest but troubled military plant, will be eligible to bid for it if they demonstrate they have enough funds to cover its mounting debts.
The evidence of the bidders' assets can be accounting documentation and bank account statements.
Another provision outlined in the strategy for the privatization of VMZ Sopot published Friday in Bulgaria's State Gazette is that the future owner of the plant will not be allowed to lay off workers in the...
Bulgaria's only operational nuclear power units in the Kozloduy plant have registered their largest quarterly production of electricity in their history in January-March 2011.
Thus, in the first quarter of 2011, 1000-MW units 5 and 6 produced a total of 4,506,941 MWh of electricity, while obeying all safety rules, the Kozloduy NPP announced.
The 2011 Q1 production is a record for the two units since they were launched in 1988-1993.
Compared with the first quarter of 2010, units 5 and 6...
Bulgaria's capital Sofia will replace 100% of its electric buses (trolley buses) within a year, according to Deputy Mayor in charge of transport Lyubomir Hristov.
This means that the Sofia Municipality will buy 50 new electric buses by 2012, after it already replaced about 1/3 of the trolley buses in use with brand-new ones in the past year.
What is more, Hristov has announced that the municipality is going to build a new tram line going from the downtown to the Darvenitsa Quarter in the...
Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) has decided to increase the natural gas price for the second quarter of 2011 by 4.47%.
DKEVR's final decision coincides with its earlier proposal that the marginal cost for Q2 should be BGN 532.14 per 1000 cubic meters value-added tax (VAT) excluded.
According to the watchdog's head, Angel Semerdzhiev, the lack of other reserves made it impossible to have a smaller increase. He added that the hike will not affect the...
Bulgarian and Russian state companies have rushed for a last-ditch effort in the negotiations for the fate of the Belene nuclear power project on March 31, the day when their previous agreement expires.
Representatives of Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom held talks behind closed doors, the NEK press service announced Thursday.
The last-minute negotiations continue late into the night on Thursday. They are expected to hammer out a new...
US energy giant AES is going to launch its Bulgarian thermal power plant AES Galabovo by the end of April, after a delay of several months, but only with a part of its total capacity.
AES Galabovo, formerly Bulgaria's state-owned Maritsa East 1 TPP, is a 670-MW thermal plant in which AES has invested some EUR 1.3 B. AES Galabovo is of strategic importance for the Bulgarian economy; it is the first major power plant to be built in Bulgaria in the past 20 years.
Only 420 MW of the total...
Bulgaria can expects hundreds of thousands more Russian tourists than it welcomed in 2010 as the unrest in top Mediterranean destinations such as Tunisia and Egypt will redirect their summer holidays.
This is the forecast of RATA News, the daily online paper of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry in an article entitled "Bulgaria Awaited Its Moment in the Sun".
The paper cites Bulgarian tour operators as saying that the Russian tourists should not expect much in terms of special offers...
Sofia Municipality intends to start talks with Bulgaria's Economy Ministry in order to acquire the state minority stake in CEZ Electrorazpredelenie, the power utility supplying electricity to Sofia and Western Bulgaria.
The talks will be part of Sofia Municipality's latest brainchild to form a holding for communal services, announced Thursday Andrey Ivanov, chair of the Sofia City Council.
The potential Sofia Municipality communal holding would include the government 34% stake in CEZ as...
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