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 privatization deal for Bulgaria's state cigarette-maker Bulgartabac will be completed in 3 weeks, according to a senior government official.
Emil Karanikolov, head of Bulgaria's Agency for Privatization and Post-Privatization Control told the Bulgarian National Radio Wednesday that the deal is close to being finalized.
"We can't say that the main thing in this privatization deal will be the price. If that was the case, I think that Bulgartabac would have been privatized a long time...
Bulgaria's Environment Ministry has given the Trans-Balkan Pipeline company two more months to complete its report on the environmental impact of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline.
The environmental impact report of the propose Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline was tabled to the Bulgarian government in late February, and the Cabinet was supposed to make a decision on whether the pipeline will be built or not by March 31.
Speaking on Wednesday, however, Bulgarian Environment...
Bulgaria's hunting tourism is enjoying growing local and international interest, according to participants in the 17th annual "Nature, Hunting, Fishing" Expo in the city of Plovdiv.
A total of 3 992 foreign nationals and 3 761 Bulgarians had hunting tourism trips in Bulgaria in 2010, according to data of the State Forestry Agency, as cited by BTA.
The group hunt of wild pigs is the most sought after hunting tourism attraction in Bulgaria, the data indicates.
The foreign nationals who...
The supermarket chains "Piccadilly" and "Lidl" have opened new stores in the country, the companies announce.
The German "Lidl" entered for the first time the Black Sea city of Burgas by opening three stores at once and replacing the facilities of the "Plus" chain, which were purchased by Lidl.
Piccadilly opened its 5th supermarket in Sofia, replacing the "Elemag" store on "Kozyak" street. The company also has 10 smaller stores in the capital known as "Piccadilly Express."
"Lidl" now...
Bulgaria's government is going to sell its 7.58% share of the Kempinski Hotel Zografski, one of the five-star hotels in Sofia.
The state has already included its minority stake in the Zografski AD firm, which owns the Kempinski hotel in Sofia, in the State Consolidation Company created in 2010 to handle the privatization of state minority shares in various businesses, according to a report of the 24 Chasa daily.
The total of 125 315 shares have a nominal value of BGN 1, and are owned by...
Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, is leaving Friday on an official visit to Jordan.
The visit will conclude on March 29 and is on the invitation of the Jordanian Agriculture Ministry.
Naydenov and the Bulgarian delegation will participate in a forum of Jordanian and Bulgarian companies from the farming, forestry, hunting, food manufacturing, and wood industries. The Minister will meet representatives of the Association of the Growers and Exporters of Vegetables and will...
Within a month Bulgaria will start exporting chicken meat to Jordan, said Yordan Voynov, head of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency.
He is part of the official Bulgarian delegation to Jordan, led by Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov.
"The export will initially start with about 100 tons per month," Voynov said.
According to Naydenov, the import of fruits and vegetables from Jordan will continue, but their quality will have to be proven through laboratory tests.
His statement was...
The international airport in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Varna will serve 19 regular routes in the summer season of 2011.
The summer schedule of Varna Airport enters into force as of March 27, 2011; the first foreign tourists for the nearby Black Sea resorts are expected to arrive on Monday, March 28.
The new destinations that Varna will have direct flights to Cologne, Germany; Katowice, Poland; Samara and Kazan, Russia. The destinations with the highest frequency of outbound Varna...
Bulgaria's center-right GERB party Cabinet plans to raise BGN 450 M from privatization of fully or partly state-owned companies in 2011, according to Emil Karanikolov, head of the Privatization Agency.
The companies on the table include a couple of "giants" – cigarette-maker Bulgartabac, Bulgaria's largest military plant VMZ Sopot, and construction company Technoexportstroy – as well as some smaller companies and state minority stakes in power utilities.
The government will most...
Bulgaria and Turkmenistan signed an agreement on cooperation in the Agricultural sector on Thursday.
The document was inked by Bulgaria's deputy Agriculture Minister Tsvetan Dimitrov and his Turkmeni counterpart Muradgylych Atayev. Both Ministers exchanged information about the potential sectors of cooperation, such as plant growing and plant protection, veterinary practices, food safety and others.
The agreement is a part of the first sitting of the Intergovernmental Bulgarian-Turkmeni...
The property tax campaign in Sofia is still on the table and will be carried out despite the issue with incorrectly calculated dues for part of the capital's residents.
The statement was made Monday in an interview for the private TV channel bTV by the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, saying the new zoning, where the mistakes have been committed, involves only about 20% of the city's residents.
The scandal began when taxes for many of Sofia's residents went up without warning after the...
A total of 243 107 passengers have been registered at the Bulgarian Sofia Airport in February 2011, which is a 10 000 increase year on year.
This increase was due both to constant growth in passenger flow on international scheduled routes and a 25% increase to the number of passengers on domestic routes, the airport's official website states.
The number of flight movements at Bulgaria's largest airport in February was 3,467, a 2% increase in comparison to the same period in 2010.
The...
Large tour operators expect a substantial growth of bookings for vacations in Bulgaria by European tourists.
Representatives of TUI, ITS, and Neckermann have met with Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Traicho Traikov in Berlin, Germany, at the ITB Berlin travel expo, the Economy Ministry announced.
TUI predicts that there will be four times more Russian tourists in Bulgaria in 2011 than there were in 2010, while ITS expects a 28%-30% increase in the number of Germans...
The market of new cars registered a serious increase in the first two months of 2011, according to data from the Association of Car Importers in Bulgaria.
The data showed that 2822 new cars were sold in Bulgaria in January and February 2011, which is a 14% increase, compared to the same period of 2010.
The best sales record for this period was registered for Volkswagen. The dealers from Porsche Holding, which is the distributor company for Volkswagen in Bulgaria, have sold 363 cars from...
March 9 is to be declared the Day of Bulgaria's Miracles, it was announced during the award ceremony for the winners of the Bulgaria's Miracles contest.
The initiative belongs to the Bulgarian daily "Standart." The ceremony was held Wednesday evening at the National History Museum under the patronage of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov. The guests included politicians, intellectuals and journalists.
Each of the 10 awarded miracles received financing in the amount of BGN 1 M while the cabinet...
Bulgaria's government has initiated a formal plan to extend the life of the only two operational nuclear reactors in the country located in the Kozloduy NPP.
"There is a plan for extending the life of Unit 5 and Unit 6 in Kozloduy," announced MP Martin Dimitrov from the rightist opposition Blue Coalition, who is the chair of the Parliamentary Committee on energy.
Dimitrov revealed on Tuesday that the plan for the Kozloduy NPP was handed to him by Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism...
One of every four Bulgarian employers is planning new job openings in the second quarter of 2011, a poll of the Manpower human capital agency reveals.
The study, which included 746 Bulgarian employers, shows that in the second quarter of the year employment rate will improve in a number of sectors such as industry, finance, public and social services, hotels and restaurants, and retail.
Only 10% of those polled have intentions to reduce the number of their workers with the net indicator...
Bulgaria's seasonally adjusted Industrial Production Index increased by 9.3% year on year in January 2010, according to the country's National Statistical Institute.
In January 2011, the working day - adjusted Industrial Production Index rose by 3.2%, as compared to December 2010.
As compared to December 2010, the seasonally adjusted Industrial Production Index in manufacturing in Bulgaria increased by 18.7%, while decreases by 1.5% were registered. in the mining and quarrying industry...
Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, delivered a public lecture Friday evening at The Heritage Foundation in Washington DC.
The Minister, who is on an official trip to the US, also attended the reception at the Bulgarian Embassy on the occasion of the country's national holiday.
Djankov was introduced to The Heritage audience by Bulgarian Ambassador to Washington, Elena Poptodorova, and the Director the Center for International Trade and Economics at The...
US company Westinghouse has showed renewed interested in investments in Bulgaria's only operational nuclear power plant Kozloduy, according to Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Traicho Traikov.
While on a state visit in Spain over the weekend, Traikov met with Jose Gutierrez, CEO and Vice President for Southern Europe of the US energy giant Westinghouse. Traikov was in Madrid as part of a delegation led by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
Westinghouse has declared interest...
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