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 £142m. The 60.4-megawatt Karadzhalovo solar park in southern Bulgaria began operating in March and cost £144m, 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...
One of biggest Bulgarian construction companies, Planex, has opened an office in the Romanian capital Bucharest, the company announced.
It said the move is "in line with its development plans", and that is has entered negotiations for a number of projects in Romania due by the end of the year.
ā€˛We have faith in the Bulgarian market, but at the same time, it is our responsibility to expand our opportunities. We are in process of negotiating a number of important projects in neighboring...
LUKERG Renew, a joint venture between Italy's ERG SpA (ERG) and Russia's OAO Lukoil, completed the acquisition of a wind park in Northeastern Bulgaria.
Thus, Lukoil and ERG SpA have paid EUR 52 M for the 40 MW wind farm near the city of Dobrich in Bulgaria, the Moscow- based company said.
LUKERG Renew controls some 10% of the Bulgarian wind market after the buying the wind park, which was built in 2009, it said. Lukoil also owns Bulgaria's biggest refinery Lukoil Neftochim Burgas.
In...
Veselin Peykov, CEO of Sofia Airport, has said that the management of the company will start designing a new terminal at the beginning of 2013.
In a Friday interview for the morning broadcast of the Bulgaria on Air TV station, he specified that the project was very much dependent on the development of the airport and the future concession contract.
Peykov added that it was still unclear whether Sofia Airport would get a third terminal or have a new terminal built in the place of the...
The number of fully Greek-owned companies in Bulgaria increased by 72% year on year in 2011, Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency has revealed.
The same year saw a 50% increase in the number of Romanian companies in the country.
A total of 3781 corporate income tax returns were submitted by Greek company owners in Bulgaria in 2011, as compared to 2199 back in 2010. 1535 of all Greek companies in the country are based in the Southwestern region of Blagoevgrad, while 1381 are in Sofia.
The...
Gazprom-controlled Bulgarian gas company Overgas is commencing the second stage of conventional oil and gas exploration in the Provadia block onshore in eastern Bulgaria in the beginning of July, according to the firm's press office.
Some of the activities involving specialized equipment will take place on the territory of settlements in the region of Targovishte, Shumen, Kaspichan, Veliki Preslav and Provadiya, according to Overgas' press release.
The work schedule is now being...
Bulgarian Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski has cited preliminary estimations indicating that a total of 10 infrastructure sites granted under concession are expected to bring investments amounting to BGN 1 B into the country.
Speaking Monday at a forum on attracting foreign investments in transport, logistics and machine building, he explained that the two airports in the Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas were on the list of sites granted under concession.
Bulgaria's Minister of...
Ivan Kostov, leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party, has argued that a successful concession procedure conducted by the authorities could attract an investor that could bring about a five-fold increase in cargo turnover at the Varna port.
The rightist leader reported Monday the results of the visit of the DSB delegation to China.
"One of the greatest weaknesses of Bulgarian politics in the past few years has been the inability to attract strategic investors that could...
Bulgaria's Cabinet will allocate BGN 5 M (EUR 2.5 M) for international advertising of Bulgarian tourism in the rest of 2012, according to the government's Wednesday meeting's agenda.
According to the government press service, the funding will be used to Bulgaria's participation in over 35 international tourism expos, working meetings, seminars, and journalistic trips.
Up until 2009, Bulgaria's tourism sector was managed by the State Tourism Agency, whose annual budget was about BGN 5 M....
Bulgaria is set to learn from Italy's good practices in order to develop its own equine tourism, according to Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism, Ivo Marinov.
Marinov met Friday in Sofia with Luigi Triossi, Secretary General of the International Federation of Equestrian Tourism (FITE); Alberto Spineli, Preisdent of the Italian Federation of Equestrian Tourism (FITETREC-Ante); and Fausto Faggioli, VP of the Regional Federation of Equestrian Tourism of the Italian region...
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Energy and Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev and Sheila Camerer, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Bulgaria, opened Tuesday a plant for luxury seats and interior for BMW cars in the village of Musachevo.
"I am really pleased to welcome investors who make plants, real production, and open job places," Borisov stated during the ceremony in the southwestern Bulgarian village.
The Prime Minister voiced hopes that the road to Musachevo would be...
South Africa company ALC will open a production facility Tuesday for luxury seats and interior for BMW cars in the village of Musachevo near the town of Elin Pelin, just outside of Bulgaria's capital Sofia.
The invesment made by the company amounts to EUR 4 M, and it has opened 500 jobs, which will build seats for the luxury BMW Series 5 and 7.
South African company Automotive Leather Company (ALC) has a long tradition of working with premier car producers, such as Mercedes, Volkswagen,...
Since the beginning of 2012, Bulgaria has awarded five "Class A" investor certificates for investments of over EUR 225 M, compared to three first-class investor certificates for the entire 2011, according to Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev.
On Wednesday, Dobrev awarded a"Class A" investor certificate to Swiss company Reichle & De-Massari, which is to invest BGN 9.7 M into a new Sofia-based factory specialized in the manufacturing and assembly of fiber-optic components.
The...
The first Bulgarian store of the Swedish furniture giant IKEA aims at attracting over 1.5 million visitors during the first year after its opening.
The information was announced by the Greek Fourlis company, which has the IKEA franchise rights for Bulgaria.
The first IKEA store is located on the capital Sofia's beltway and is scheduled to open on September 29th.
The free furniture catalogue is being distributed starting Friday to households in the city in 750 000 copies. The prices...
Melia Hotels International has signed a contract to manage a new hotel in Bulgaria's top Black Sea resort Nessebar.
The Spanish-owned chain formerly known as Sol Melia is taking over the management of the four-star Marina Palace hotel in Nessebar, which is going to rebranded as Sol Marina Palace as a result.
Melia Hotels International, which is the largest hotel chain in Spain and the third largest in Europe with over 350 hotels, has already been managing a hotel with over 1000 rooms in...
Bulgaria's state authorities are seeking bidders for the concession of the inactive airport in the northwestern city of Vidin, Plamen Stefanov, Vidin District Governor, told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).
In an interview for Novinite.com dedicated to the situation of Bulgaria's Northwestern (Severozapaden) Region, which is the EU's poorest region in terms of per capita GDP, Stefanov announced that his administration and the central government are now prepared to grant the Vidin Airport on...
The Bulgarian Cabinet created Wednesday a limited state company for the management of Balchik Airport, following up on plans to transform the idling military facility into an international airport.
The company, with capital of BGN 0.39 M, will be exclusively owned by the state, with the Minister of Transport (at present, Ivailo Moskovski) exercising the state's ownership.
Balchik is located north of Varna, Bulgaria's largest Black Sea city and the site of the country's two seaside...
Russian authorities have confirmed that the country's second-biggest bank VTB plans the acquisition of a majority stake in Bulgaria's cigarette maker Bulgartabac, local media reported.
The bank will most probably resell the holding after winning the tender, Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper hinted by saying that it is not clear exactly who the bank represents.
Austria-registered BT Invest, behind which stands Russia's second-biggest bank VTB, remained the only bidder for the Bulgarian tobacco...
The British company Farans Construction Ltd has sent a letter to the Bulgarian cabinet, stating it is willing to build a new prison in Sofia.
The company, based in Ireland, cited by the Bulgarian daily 24 Chassa (24 Hours), informs it can build two prison complexes for 2 000 inmates in 30 months.
The company has experience if the construction of prisons, public buildings and bridges.
The Bulgarian Justice Ministry announced, as early as November 2009, it was looking for a land plot and...
Japanese company Toshiba intends to continue its investments in the construction of a 10 MW solar park near the Southeastern Bulgarian town of Yambol.
Toshiba representatives have confirmed their commitment during a meeting with Yambol's Mayor, Georgi Slavov, the Bulgarian National Radio has informed.
The photovoltaic park will cost EUR 37.6 M and will be able to provide electricity for 2 000 households.
Instead of owning the solar park, Toshiba plans to sell it to local funds and...
Bulgaria and Romania's economy ministers have discussed two large-scale hydro-energy projects on the Danube, whose future realization is said to harbor great economic potential.
Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Traicho Traikov was received Monday in Bucharest by his counterpart, Romania's Minister of Economy, Commerce, and Business Environment Ion Ariton.
After Traikov and Ariton's meeting, Bulgaria's Economy Ministry has announced that in September 2011, the...
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