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 contract with Russia's Atomstroyexport, commissioned to build the planned 2,000 megawatt Belene nuclear plant on the Danube River, which has stalled over lack of funding, will be extended by six months, reports say.
Negotiations between Bulgaria's National Electricity Company NEK and Russia's Atomstroyexport are underway, but no agreement has been signed yet, local Standart daily reported.
The talks will yield their first results next week, according to the report.
The...
Bulgaria's export to non EU states has shown a substantial growth of 50% up to BGN 8.6 B in the first eight months of 2010, according to the National Statistical Institute.
The main trade partners of Bulgaria were Turkey, Serbia, Russia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Singapore, China,and the USA that formed over 54% of the total export to non EU countries.
The exports to China increased by 256.4% and those to Turkey by 65.2%. The exports to Serbia and Russia reported growth...
Bulgaria's export to the other EU member states registered a substantial growth in the first eight months of 2010.
In January-August, it grew by 23.7% compared to the same period of 2009, reaching BGN 11.7 B. At the same time, Bulgaria's import from the EU was BGN 13.5 B, an increase of 5.4%.
In August, the export was up 48.5% compared to August 2009 and reached BGN 1.8 B.
Bulgaria's major EU trading partners remain Italy, Germany, Romania and Greece, which form about 61.3% of its...
Bulgaria's Black Sea Port Varna has seen its revenues almost triple in the first nine months of 2010, year-on-year.
In January-September, Port Varna processed a total of 5.958 million tonnes of goods and materials, which is 1.112 million tonnes more than in the same period of 2009. About 1.5 million tonnes of these come for the exports of grain.
The greatest increase comes from the transport of grain, ores, coal, fertilizers, non-metalliferous minerals, and container goods, the Transport...
After the 2009 collapse, Bulgaria's metallurgical industry has started to make a comeback with growth of 3.7% in the first nine months of 2010 year-on-year.
Thus, in January-September 2010, the Bulgarian metallurgical plants produced a total of 562 100 tonnes of steel. The production of non-ferrous metals has also started to grow, though by an even smaller share.
This becomes clear from data of the Bulgarian Association of the Metallurgical Industry (BAMI) released Friday, November 5,...
One of Bulgaria's top winter resorts – Borovets in the Rila Mountain – expects a 10% increase of the holidaymakers for the winter season.
According to Neli Sandalska, head of the Board of Borosport AD, the owner of Borovets, the resort is seeing a tangible increase in bookings, especially from Russia and the Balkan countries.
The bookings by British tourists are expected to go up 5%, as is the number of Bulgarians who will spend their winter vacations in Borovets.
The Borovets...
The new container terminals at the country's two key Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas will be granted on concession, officials have announced.
"We plan to hold contests to grant the two terminals on concession once construction works are launched. In this way the state can avoid paying back the loan from the Japanese banks, which the previous government negotiated," Deputy Transport Minister Kamen Kichev told journalists on Saturday.
The current center-right government and the...
Bulgaria has won a bid to sell large quantities of the "Arsenal" automatic gun to India, Deputy Defense Minister, Valentin Radev, informs.
Radev spoke Friday at the Zmeevo training grounds during the official ceremony dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the military facility.
The automatic gun is the Bulgarian modification of the Russian Kalashnikov, deemed better in comparison by many weapons experts. It is manufactured by the "Arsenal' company in the town of...
Bulgaria's Customs Agency said it raised 101.2% of the revenues that it planed to collect in September 2010.
The Agency brought a total of BGN 619 M to the state budget, which is BGN 52 M, or 9%, more than in September 2009.
The income from VAT on imports was BGN 236 M, 23% up (BGN 45 M) year-on-year; from customs duties – BGN 15 M, 21% increase compared with September 2009; from excise taxes – BGN 368 M, an increase of 1%.
In September 2010, the Customs registered the largest...
Bulgaria and Slovakia signed an economic cooperation agreement in Sofia Friday.
The document deals with the bilateral ties in trade, investments, energy, IT, telecommunications, small and medium-sized enterprises, consumer protection, agriculture, and food industry.
The economic cooperation agreement concluded the first ever session of the Bulgarian-Slovak Consultative Commission for Economic Cooperation, which lasted two days.
The document was signed by the Bulgarian Deputy Economy...
Romania could export more electricity to Bulgaria, according to Adrian Baiscusi, general manager of Romanian power grid operator Transelectrica (TEL).
Baicusi has stated, as cited by Act Media, that as a result of Turkey joining the European electricity network (UCTE) in September, Romania should have opportunities to export energy to the south.
"For the period to come, the exchange with the neighbors will be intensified, as Turkey got into the syncronisation with UCTE and will import...
Bulgaria's seasonally adjusted gross domestic product marked an increase of 0.5% in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year thanks to a rise in exports, pulling the country out of recession, the prime minister announced on Thursday.
Boyko Borisov spoke at the 96th Conference of the heads of statistical offices of the European Union Member States, which the Bulgarian capital hosts. The official data he cited is based on the revised methods for GDP under the EU...
Representatives of Bulgaria and Morocco have signed a bilateral sea trade agreement that has been hailed an important step by the government in Sofia.
The deal was signed in Rabat by Bulgaria's Deputy Transport Minister Kamen Kichev and Ahmed Reda Chami, Morocco's Minister of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies.
The agreement was approved within the 9th session of the Bulgarian-Moroccan Joint Economic Commission.
It allows maritime traders and ship companies from Bulgaria and...
Bulgaria will advertise its culture and historical heritage with video clips and films, will start issuing licenses to tour guides while the cabinet will invest in the infrastructure of the tourist sites.
Bulgarian ministers, archeologists, businessmen and tour operators joined around these ideas Sunday, during a national debate on the culture tourism, organized by the Bulgarian daily "Standart," held in the Arena di Serdika hotel in downtown Sofia.
Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov,...
The International Technology Fair opens Monday in Bulgaria's second largest city of Plovdiv with participants from over 41 countries.
The number of companies with displays is estimated at 1 600. The car showroom includes 29 importers with over 40 automobile brands.
The Intermin Expo dedicated to the mining industry is a first for the Fair.
The conference and debate titled "Stable Development of the Mining Industry in Central and eastern Europe" is held Monday in the Bulgaria Hall at...
Bulgaria's industrial export is the key factor for the recovery of the economy but its structure is nonetheless a matter of concern, according to a report of the Sofia-based Center for Economic Development.
Experts from the CED presented Thursday in Sofia their quarterly report for the condition of the Bulgarian economy.
They say that Bulgaria's economy grew by 1% in the third quarter of 2010 year-on-year, and will register a near zero-growth in 2010 altogether. The economy started...
Russia's state power trader Inter RAO wants to acquire not only the majority stake of Italian energy giant Enel in Maritsa East 3, a Bulgarian coal-fired plant, but also its wind parks near the Black Sea coast, according to reports.
"We will offer in exchange the Russian government's stake in Russian power producer OGK-5, controlled by Italy's Enel," Boris Kovalchuk, Chairman of Management Board at Inter RAO UES, said, as cited by Moscow-based Komersant newspaper.
Italian energy major...
Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov said that Bulgaria is eager to start building its new Belene NPP during talks with US energy envoy for Eurasia Richard Morningstar.
The two met on Borisov's official trip to the USA to participate in the Millenium Goals discussion at the UN and discussed Bulgaria's participation in strategic energy projects.
Morningstar expressed satisfaction at the level of strategic cooperation and friendly partnership between the USA and Bulgaria.
The two discussed matters...
A cross-border project to improve and popularize tourist opportunities in north-east Bulgaria / south-east Romania is starting, reported local authorities at General Toshevo.
The project is worth EUR 1.5 M and is joint between General Toshevo in Bulgaria and Negru Voda in Romania. Both towns are in comparatively remote areas of the neighboring countries in the historic Dobrudzha region.
The project aims at developing a joint tourist potential for the two municipalities in improving...
Nine commercial banks will participate in a scheme for refinancing of credits for the purchase of agricultural machinery, which will begin operating from September 20, the Bulgarian Agriculture Fund announced.
The Agriculture Fund has signed contracts with DSK Bank, United Bulgarian Bank, First Investment Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, MKB Unionbank, Tokuda Bank, UniCredit Bulbank, Central Cooperative Bank and Teximbank.
The fund has envisioned BGN 40 M for farmers who have applied for free...
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