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 Customs Agency is checking whether Lukoil Neftochim is being siphoned off by its subsidiary Litasco, which controls volumes entering and exiting the oil refinery.
The announcement was made Sunday by Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov in interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).
He explained that Litasco was an intermediary company registered in Switzerland.
As Litasco had been tasked with determining both crude oil prices and prices of exported end-products, Tanov...
The Bulgarian government has granted Trans-Balkan Pipeline, a Bulgarian-Greek-Russian project company, another extension on the environmental assessment of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project.
Bulgaria's Environment Ministry is granting TBP until September 30, 2011, to submit anew its environment assessment impact study on the troubled oil pipeline project.
The new extension means that the deadline for the final decision of the Bulgarian Environment Ministry and the Cabinet as...
Lukoil Bulgaria has been chronically failing to adequately pay its taxes, according to Bulgarian Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov.
Recently a controversy developed in Bulgaria, after Tanov ordered a retraction of operation licenses of Lukoil Neftochim - the country's largest refinery - on the grounds it did not adequately disclose the amounts of fuel it is selling.
Lukoil appealed and the courts gave it back the right to operate, on the grounds that if it stopped that would cause a...
Bulgaria's Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Rosen Plevneliev, is attending Friday the opening of the public tender bids for Lot 4 of the Struma Highway.
The news was reported by the TV channel bTV.
Lot 4 runs between the southern town of Sandanski and Kulata on the Greek border and is 15 km-long. The investment amount is estimated at EUR 53 M, and it is financed by the EU operational program Transport.
The Struma Highway starts at the Daskalovo road junction to the...
A total of 15 Bulgarian and foreign companies have applied in the tender to build Lot 4 of Bulgaria's southwestern Struma Highway, the Road Infrastructure Agency announced upon opening the bids.
The applicants are from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Turkey, Bulgaia's Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev announced. Their number is the second highest number of bidders for a highway section in Bulgaria after earlier this year 17 companies competed for one of...
Bulgaria's troubled state railway company BDZ has managed to increase its revenues from ticket sales by boosting its travel inspections and policing.
In January-July 2011, BDZ's revenues from the sale of tickets on board of trains grew by almost 11% compared with the same period of 2010, while in July alone, the respective revenues rose by 14%, the company announced Friday.
"As a result of the constant measures that the BDZ EAD Holding is implementing in order to reduce to the minimum the...
Bulgaria must seek new markets for its products, and the countries in Southern Africa such as Zambia offer big opportunities, according to officials from the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).
The business opportunities in Zambia have been surveyed by Raycho Iliev, BCCI representative for Southern Africa, who has informed about them BCCI Chair Tsvetan Simeonov in a letter, the Chamber's press service announced.
Iliev has informed that Zambia has been included in EU's trade...
Bulgarian Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski will attend Friday the signing of a contract for the preliminary design and construction of a new control tower at Sofia Airport.
The document will be signed by the Director General of the Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA) Diyan Dinev, Glavbolgarstroy Chief Executive Officer Pavel Kalistratov and Nina Stoyanova, Executive Director and member of the Managing Board of Glavbolgarstroy.
The new air traffic control tower is...
The sales of wine on the local market in Bulgaria are up 40% in the first half of 2011, compared to the same period of last year.
The data was released Wednesday by the Bulgarian Executive Vine and Wine Agency.
The 40% mean Bulgarians drank 11.5 millions more liters of wine in the first six months this year, compared to 2010.
Meanwhile, wine exports are up by only 1%, with half of the exported quantities going to the Russian market. There is a slight increase in exports to Romania, the...
The trolleybus park in the Bulgarian capital Sofia will be replaced nearly 100% in the next year to year and a half.
Thirty new trolleys have been purchased with EU funding in 2010, which is about 30% of the existing trolley park in the capital. 50 new trolleys are to be purchased as part of a project for integrated public transportation.
Lyubomir Hristov, Deputy Mayor for Transportation at the Sofia City Hall, has informed that the above said project is already in Brussels, at an...
Qatar's national carrier has confirmed it is about to launch flights to and from Sofia in the middle of September and tickets are already on sale.
The flights will be launched on September 14 and will be served four times a week via Bucharest on board Airbus A320 aircraft.
Qatar Airways announced its plans for regular flights to Sofia airport a few months ago, saying the move is part of the company's expansion in Europe.
The flights will give customers the opportunity to transfer to...
Bulgaria's government is selling "Industrial Construction Holding", a state company, to a local private investor for BGN 12.01 M, the Privatization Agency announced.
The selected buyer of Industrial Construction Holding is Vodstroy 98, a Bulgarian-owned company headquartered in the eastern city of Sliven. Vodstroy 98 was the sole bidder for the state owned construction company.
The state-owned Industrial Construction Holding had a profit of BGN 2.5 M in 2008 but registered a loss of BGN 1...
Bulgarian capital Sofia is planning to allot some 38 acres nearby defunct steel plant Kremikovtzi for the creation of a new industrial park, according to a publication by wide-circulation 24 Chasa daily Sunday.
The land is owned by Sofia Municipality and is in the very vicinity of Kremikovtzi, which was up for liquidation after being declared bankrupt, and was bought only at the fourth auction in April by sole bidder Eltrade for EUR 162 M.
According to 24 Chasa, the town of Sofia is ready...
The shipyard in Bulgarian Danube city of Ruse built a sea-faring ship for 3.5 months instead of the usual 12-month period.
Monday the newly built 8,000 tonne deadweight, 128.5 m freight ship will be sail off to Varna for testing.
The ship, called "Frisian Ocean", has been commissioned by Dutch company Boomsma Shipping...
Bulgarian towns are not stimulated enough to build facilities to clean sewage, which is a serious drawback, stated Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov in Varna Sunday.
"For some 20 years almost nothing has been done in the field, and this is a problem especially on the Black Sea coast, as it severely detracts from tourism," commented the PM.
Sunday he was present, together with Varna mayor Kiril Yordanov, at the opening of a new sewage facility in the St. Constantine and Helena resort.
"We need...
Lukoil has reduced retail fuel prices at its filling station chain in Bulgaria.
As of August 12, gasoline A95H costs BGN 2.41 per liter, gasoline A98H sells for BGN 2.57 per liter, diesel trades at BGN 2.40 per liter and LPG has a price tag of BGN 1.27 per liter.
The price update has been posted on the company's website.
On Thursday, Lukoil reduced wholesale prices, with gasoline A95H retreating to BGN 2274 per 1ooo liters, gasoline A98 settling at BGN 2334 per 1ooo liters, diesel...
Bulgaria has registered a 0.0% monthly inflation rate in July 2011, according to the National Statistical Institute (NSI).
The consumer price index (CPI) in July 2011 compared to June 2011 was 100.0%.
The inflation rate since the beginning of the year (July 2011 compared to December 2010) was 1.8% and the annual inflation in July 2011 compared to July 2010 was 4.4%.
The annual average inflation, measured by CPI, in the last 12 months (August 2010 - July 2011) compared to the previous...
Bulgaria's agriculture sector has achieved a higher wheat yield in 2011 than was originally expected, according to Agriculture Ministry data.
As the harvesting campaign around the country is wrapping up, with 99.4% of the plots already harvested, initial data shows that a total of 4.25 million metric tons of wheat have been produced in 2011. The average yield per decare is 409 kg, compared with 360 kg in 2010.
This is an increase compared with 2010 when Bulgaria's wheat output was 4.09...
Russia's Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has offered Bulgaria a new extension of the contract for the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, amidst continuing haggling over the project's price.
Atomstroyexport has sent Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK a draft of a new annex to the November 29, 2006, contract between the two state companies that provides for an extension until December 1, 2011.
If Atomstroyexport's proposal is welcomed...
Dominant fuel seller Lukoil Bulgaria decreased on Thursday petrol and diesel prices by some 2%, turning a blind eye to the much sharper drop in crude oil costs on global markets.
The A-95H, the most widely used and lowest octane gasoline in the country, will see a decrease of 2.72% and its price will be BGN 2 274, 00 per 1,000L.
The A-98H gasoline will be sold at BGN 2 334, 00 per 1,000L. Diesel fuel will cost BGN 2 239,20 per 1,000L.
This is the second time that Lukoil reduces fuel...
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