President Plevneliev's Veto Survives Parliament Vote
(Sofia, Jan 12) - Bulgarian MPs supported President Rossen Plevneliev's veto on the Investments Encouragement Act and returned it for further discussion.
Only three MPs supported the Act, 24 voted against it and 95 abstained from voting.
President Plevneliev vetoed the new law because, as he made it a point, the new regulations for residence of foreign investors in Bulgaria create many obstacles for their business activities....
Bulgaria to Start Nabucco in June 2013
(Sofia, Jan 11) - The construction of the Bulgarian section of the Nabucco pipeline will start in June 2013, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov informed at the first ministerial meeting of the project in 2013 in Sofia.
As the current head of the rotating presidency of the project, Bulgaria is calling for fix deadlines, the PM said. By June Bulgaria will have all the construction permits and mining companies from the "Shah Deniz-2" field will decide...
Construction of NPP Kozloduy's Seventh Reactor to Start in 2016
(Sofia, Jan 12) - "The first sod of NPP Kozloduy's seventh reactor will be turned in 2016," Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Ministry Delyan Dobrev said.
His statement was also supported by Sergey Tsochev, chairman of Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulatory Agency.
"The preparation of the necessary analyses and documents regarding the selection of a site for NPP Kozloduy's seventh reactor is to be completed in the second half of...
Bulgaria has secured a one-year extension to repay the 250 million euro bridge loan arranged by BNP Paribas to fund preliminary work on the planned Belene nuclear power plant on the Danube River, Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev said on May 7, as quoted by Focus news agency.
The option to postpone the due date was contingent on securing 55 million euro for immediate repayment of the amounts loaned by Belgium's Dexia and Japanese bank Mizuho. The funds will be provided to state electricity...
Sun Edison this week sold Bulgaria's largest solar park to a consortium of investors for Ј142m. The 60.4-megawatt Karadzhalovo solar park in southern Bulgaria began operating in March and cost Ј144m, according to the International Finance Corporation, which helped fund the project....
An enormous new vacation complex is to be build on Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea coast, announced Atanas Stoilov, Mayor of the Municipality of Aksakovo near Varna.
Stoilov told reporters Tuesday, as cited by Darik Radio, that the new resort will be built between the village of General Kantardzhievo and the Albena resort complex on a plot of 300 decares.
In his words, the project first started several years ago when it was initiated by French investors. After one of the investor's...
Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, DKEVR, has already adopted one of the Electricity and Gas Directives, requested by the European Commission.
The statement was made Friday by the DKEVR Chairman, Angel Semerdzhiev.
It was reported Thursday that EC is referring Bulgaria, Estonia and the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully apply the EU internal energy market rules.
According to the EC's press office, to date...
Italian companies may be attracted in privatization projects, including for tourist sites, as well as concessions agreements and modernization schemes for airports, and construction and reconstruction of road and railway infrastructure in Bulgaria, according to Minister Bozhidar Lukarski.
Speaking Tuesday at the opening of an economic forum titled “Bulgaria and Italy: Together for Achieving Growth”, Lukarski pointed out that the trade and economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Italy...
12 July 12, 2017, Sofia. Miss Hosting (one of the largest Scandinavian hosting providers) announced that it has chosen Sofia as it global center of operations. The company plans to hire up to 100 people in the next 2 years to support its global growth as well as its entry into the Bulgarian hosting market.
The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden with offices in Miami, USA, Nashik, India and local presence in Norway,...
The Bulgarian Cabinet has approved a procedure for offering on concession the currently inactive passenger airport of Gorna Oryahovitsa located in the very center of Northern Bulgaria.
The goal of the government is to find a concessionaire that would help attract passenger and freight traffic and will invest in the infrastructure and modernization of the airport.
The development of the Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport is one of the goals of the Transport Ministry, and is included in the Strategy...
UK oil and gas group Melrose Resources Plc has reported an increase of its 2010 revenues as a result of its development of Bulgarian natural gas fields.
Melrose Resources reported a pre-tax profit of USD 30 M for the year to December, down from the previous USD 31 M, on revenue up 7% to USD 24 M from USD 224 M, Stock Market Wire reported.
The rise in revenue reflected increased production volumes from Bulgaria as new gas fields came on stream, the report says.
Chairman Robert Adair is...
German company Wintershall has signed with Gazprom a preliminary agreement to acquire 15% of the South Stream pipeline.
This development gives a significant boost to the project, ahead of Russian PM Vladimir Putin's visit to Serbia and Slovenia to negotiate on it.
Over the previous months, there have been repeated reports that the German company, the largest producer of oil and gas in Germany, and owned by BASF, will be joining.
Russian PM Vladimir Putin expressed strong satisfaction...
There is a "huge" interest among investors for the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, which launched the sale of its shares in January, according to Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.
Djankov declared in Sofia Tuesday that by the end of 2011 Bulgaria will have found a strategic investor for its stock exchange.
He further said that the Finance Ministry does not take part in the sale, which is handled by the Board of Directors of the BSE.
Interestingly, last Thursday, Assen Yagodin, president of...
Sopharma Business Towers, an office development in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, has completed its eco facade, the Sopharma Properties company has announced.
The hi-tech eco facade of Sopharma Business Towars is a revolutionary technology in the construction of sustainable and energy efficient Class A office buildings; it is a combination of solar panels, glass and cladding panels allowing the buildings to use the energy from the sun and the natural environment.
"We are very glad that the...
In the latest swirl of statements in his typical style, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has declared that the government will certainly build the second Bulgarian nuclear power plant in Belene.
"Of course, we are going to build Belene, why wouldn't we!" Borisov told the bTV channel Sunday night even though he has stated numerous times that the troubled project for the Belene nuke is not a sure thing.
The past week has indicated that the Bulgarian government and the state National Electric...
Dutch company Infinity Energy Holding AG will invest EUR 50 M in a solar power installation near the Bulgarian town of Devnya, near the Black Sea city of Varna.
The announcement was made Friday by the Chair of the Management Board of the company, Tjalling Halbertsma, after a meeting with the governor of the Varna district, Dancho Simeonov.
At present, the company is building the first part of the installation, which is expected to have a power of 5 MW. It has to be completed by the end of...
Bulgaria's oldest and largest cosmetics producer "Alen Mak" is on sale for about BGN 8-10 M, according to one of its creditors.
The Plovdiv-based Alen Mak ("Scarlet Poppy") factory, in financial trouble for some years, is one of the iconic brands of Bulgaria's communist period.
It was the last state-owned cosmetics factory to be privatized – in 2002 it was sold for USD 5.5 M to the Swiss company Effekten und Finanz.
Daniela Petkova, CEO of Retirement Insurance Fund "Doverie", one of...
Bulgarian and foreign companies are constantly inquiring with the city of Burgas for plots, which is why the Burgas Municipality has moved to set up a new industrial zone, Mayor Dimitar Nikolov announced.
Nikolov declared his hopes for greater investments and more new jobs over the recently announced new industrial and logistics zone to be set up in Bulgaria's Black Sea city and port of Burgas by the local municipality administration and the state-owned "National Company Industrial...
A new industrial and logistics zone will be set up in Bulgaria's Black Sea city and port of Burgas by the local municipality administration and the state-owned "National Company Industrial Zones."
The new industrial zone will be called "Logistics and Industrial Park – Burgas" EAD, and will be located on the territory of Industrial Zone "Burgas-North".
Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov has already tabled to the city council the proposal for the setting up of the joint venture with the...
Japanese corporation Toshiba has declared interest in building two new thermal power facilities in Bulgaria's Maritsa East TPP complex, Economy Minister Traicho Traikov has announced.
Traikov was in the state-owned Maritsa East 2 plant on Monday with Japanese Ambassador to Bulgaria Makoto Ito where the two of them opened the rehabilitated unit 8 of the TPP, whose repairs were completed by Toshiba 32 days ahead of schedule. The life of the unit has been extended by 25 years.
The Economy...
The check for BGN 1 M is being presented to the Kardzhali City Hall Friday for the Thracian rock sanctuary Perperikon, which ranked second in the Bulgaria's Miracles contest.
The initiative belongs to the Bulgarian daily "Standart."
The funds will be used for the restoration of the Perperikon fortress wall and partial restoration of the 15-meter tall medieval tower.
Another site in the Kardzhali Region - the Thracian sanctuary Tatul is also receiving BGN 1 M.
The Thracian city of...
The Italian company "O.M.S. Saleri" is planning to invest EUR 15 M in building a plant for ball valves manufacturing in the Bulgarian northwestern city of Vratsa.
On Thursday, the mayor of Vratsa, Kostadin Shahov, and the owner of the Italian company, Jacopo Rocca, signed the contract for the land on which the new plant will be built.
The field has an area of 25 000 square meters and has been sold to the prospective investor for BGN 500 000, value-added tax (VAT) excluded.
The new...
Bulgaria's government has signed an economic cooperation memorandum with a second Chinese provice, Jiangsu, after establishing close ties with Zhejiang in 2010.
The document aimed at boosting the trade and investment ties between Bulgaria and one of China's richest and most developed provinces Jiangsu was signed in Sofia on Thursday between Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister Evgeni Angelov and the Director General of the Jiangsu Department of Commerce Zhu Min.
On June 15, 2010, Bulgarian...
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) may provide up to EUR 150 M by 2014 for investments in Bulgaria through its credit lines, according to the Finance Ministry.
Bulgaria's business sector can benefit by getting between EUR 40 M and EUR 50 M in credits from the BSTDB annually in the next three years, the ministry said with respect to a visit of a delegation.
The management of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, which is based in Thessaloniki, Greece, is going to present...
Russian oil company Lukoil wants to build wind and solar energy plants in Bulgaria and Romania, according to company representative Vasily Zoubakine.
The company is interested in both new projects and in acquiring existing ones. The plans for the new energy plants are expected to be ready by the end of 2011 when negotiations with local partners can begin, Zaoubakine told RIA Novosti.
"As Russia did not have a system to support energy alternatives, the Lukoil investments are focused...
Bulgaria will be making between 15% and 20% of the total annual production of ski in the world thanks to the investment in a local factory by Finnish company Amer Sports.
On Monday, world ski producer, Finnish company Amer Sports, received a "Class A" investor status from the Bulgarian government for its project to expand the ski factory in Bulgarian mountain resort Chepelare.
Bulgarian Economy Minister Traicho Traikov presented Stefan Leberbauer, a senior executive of Amer Sports, with...
Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov has urged Spanish entrepreneurs to invest in Bulgaria because of the good conditions it provides.
Borisov is leading the Bulgarian delegation, which is on a three-day visit to Spain.
At a forum on economics and investments, organized by the Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations (CEOE), the prime minister presented different options for development of different businesses in Bulgaria.
"We are very fast and very flexible. Form a large business...
A Spanish consortium has expressed interest in buying "parts" of what used to be Bulgaria's largest steel-maker Kremikovtzi, Bulgarian Economy Minister Traicho Traikov announced in Madrid.
Traikov was in Madrid on Friday as part of a Bulgarian government delegation to Spain led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
The firms from the Spanish consortium SHP-Advisers have declared readiness to apply for EU funding for an EUR 20 M project for "the re-cultivation of the terrain" on which...
The British company Zero Carbon 2020 plans to begin, during the second quarter of 2011, putting together electric cars in a plant in Bulgaria's southern city of Stara Zagora.
The information is reported Saturday by the Economy News site, citing Jamie Robertson, the company's director, and comes on the heels of the "Electric Cars – Challenges to New Mobility" conference held Thursday and Friday in Sofia.
The initial investment is estimated at BGN 6.5 M, and if the market reacts well, it...
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