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 has registered an increase in its foreign direct investment in January-May 2012 year-on-year, according to the latest data of the Bulgarian National Bank released on Monday.
According to the Bulgarian National Bank's preliminary data, the foreign direct investment in Bulgaria for January - May 2012 increased by EUR 473.8 M (1.2% of GDP), compared to an increase of EUR 72.2 million (0.2% of GDP) for January – May 2011.
Bulgaria's attracted Equity Capital (acquisition/disposal of...
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...
Wall Street legend and highly successful international investor, author and commodities expert, Jim Rogers has said he is considering investing in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is among the few countries, in which he is considering investing right now, since they have made the most improvement since his latest trip around the world, the billionaire, currently based in Singapore, said in an interview for Gold Radio Cafй.
He joined the broadcast for a brief discussion on his new book "Street Smarts:...
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...
“The opportunities OP Environment provides in the previous and the new programme periods establish prerequisites for a huge volume of work on designing and construction of ecological infrastructure as well as possibilities for the state to tackle challenges,“ said Ivelina Vasileva, Bulgarian Minister of Environment and Water, speaking at an annual conference themed “Strategic infrastructure and investments – Bulgaria and the Western Balkans“, FOCUS News Agency reported.
“In the...
Dubai-based Oger Telecom will take over the management of Bulgaria's top fixed-line operator Vivacom following negotiations that have dragged on for nearly half a year, according to reports.
Oger Telecom representatives have confirmed for local Dnevnik daily that the company is a side in the lock-up agreement that the major lenders signed on the restructuring options for the debt-laden company with the mezzanine creditors, the most junior lenders in the capital structure.
Under the...
Hewlett-Packard will expand its outsourcing services in Bulgaria, the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and HP public administration director for central and eastern Europe, Sasha Bezouhanova, have announced.
On Friday, the Bulgarian Council of Ministers signed a memorandum with HP for the development of the company's activities in the country.
Borisov has stated that the result of the investments of the American information technology corporation in Bulgaria will be 2,000 new job positions...
Japanese credit rating agency JCR on Friday affirmed its BBB rating on Bulgaria's foreign currency long-term senior debts and BBB+ rating on the country's local currency long-term senior debts.
The outlook was revised to stable from negative.
"The ratings are primarily based on the country's prudent fiscal policy that has led up to a substantial reduction of the government debt and accumulation of large fiscal reserves, its maintenance of the solid currency board arrangement through...
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has invested over EUR 2 B in various sectors of the country's economy since the beginning of its operations in Bulgaria, mobilising additional investment in excess of EUR 5 B.
A delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors is expected to present on Friday the results of its four-day visit to Bulgaria, during which it obtained up-to-date information on developments in one of the bank's countries of operation.
During the visit members of the...
Bulgaria will introduce a flat 9% value-added tax (VAT) in the tourism sector as of the beginning of April next year under amendments that parliament adopted at first reading on Thursday.
The move comes in response to the demand of the European Union that Bulgaria should harmonize tourism VAT, which currently stands at 7% for organized groups and 20% for individual tourism.
The government has said that the new tax had to be introduced at the beginning of 2011, but was delayed until April...
MP Menda Stoyanova, head of the budget and finance committee of the Bulgarian Parliament, has expressed confidence that the 3.6% GDP growth project for 2011 will be realized.
"Interestingly, all international agencies forecast the same growth for Bulgaria. Even the IMF, which is very conservative in its forecasts, predicts a 2.5% growth. That is not 3.5% but is still a very serious growth," Stoyanova told the Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday.
She is certain that Bulgaria's economic...
Economy Minister Traikov has invited German car-maker BMW and the European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company (EADS) to consider investment options in Bulgaria.
Traikov met with representatives of BMW and EADS in Munich on Thursday, on his second day from his visit to Germany's Free State of Bavaria. He was accompanied by the Bavarian Minister of Economy, Infrastructure, Transport, and Technology Martin Zeil.
"Bulgaria is creating favorable opportunities, and is encouraging investment...
Musala Soft, a leading Bulgarian software company, announced it is participating in a project for leading Qatar telecom QTel.
Experts of Musala Soft, in conjunction with partners from US-based TIBCO, are working to improve and integrate functionalities in the QTel system.
Musala Soft president Elena Marinova comments that this is a part of an expansion campaign to the Middle East and the rest of Asia.
"The global economic environment is a stimulus for controlled investment and...
The Bulgarian and Russian governments have formally agreed to set up the South Stream pipeline joint venture by November 15, according to information from the Russian cabinet.
This was agreed during a phone conversation between the two countries PMs, Boyko Borisov and Vladimir Putin. Borisov and Putin expressed satisfaction at the way the joint work on South Stream is progressing.
The South Stream gas transit pipeline is supposed to be ready by 2015. Its construction is expected to cost...
Bulgaria's Economy Ministry is planning to present the country as a destination at the Romanian Tourism Fair 2010.
The international tourist expo will take place in the Romanian capital Bucharest on October 21-24, 2010.
It is usually attended by over 30 000 businesspeople from the tourism sector.
Bulgaria will take part in the Romanian Tourism Fair with an information pavilion of 110 square meters.
A total of 16 Bulgarian tour operators, travel agencies, tourism organizations and...
The Slovenian company Mercator is going to invest EUR 80 M in a store chain in Bulgaria by 2012.
Mercator-B EOOD, which is Mercator's local subsidiary, announced Wednesday that it has put EUR 4 M into the opening of the first "Roda" megamarket in Bulgaria.
The Roda store in Sofia is scheduled to open next week on an area of 4000 square meters; it will employ 100 people, announced Branko Micic, manager in Mercator-B EOOD.
By the end of 2010, the Slovenian company plans a total...
Bulgarian Economy Ministry is launching a new national tourism campaign in December, which aims to convince Bulgarians to spend their vacation in their native country.
On Tuesday, the ministry announced that the campaign will be presented by TV channels, radios, print editions and popular websites. There will also be ads in the centers of the cities and on key roads.
Deputy Economy Minister, Ivo Marinov, has explained that the campaign will be financed under the EU program "Regional...
The operator of the airports in the Bulgarian Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas "Fraport Twin Star Airport Management" is looking for anti-terrorism insurance.
Fraport will select the bidder with the lowest price offer. Varna airport has an insurance policy limit of EUR 51 000 and Burgas – of EUR 60 000. The combined limit for the stored fuel is EUR 927 000.
The policy will have a one year term; will start on February 1, 2011, and its value is estimated at BNG 150 000.
The...
Britain's JKX Oil & Gas said the Shkorpilovtci South West R-01 exploration well in east Bulgaria spudded successfully on October 17.
The company noted that the well is targeting an amplitude supported channel sand complex of late Eocene age.
Results from the well, which will drill to a proposed total depth of 900m, are expected in early November.
Prospective resources for this feature are estimated at 20-30 Bcf (gross).
Earlier this month the British company, operator of the...
After a period of relatively low activity, the Bulgarian capital Sofia is seeing signs of recovery in the office market, according to a survey by Colliers International.
The net absorption for the first half of 2010 has marked a 27% increase compared to the previous six months, the most active companies being mainly from the telecom, outsourcing and IT sectors, shows data of Colliers International.
The vacancy level has reached 21% of the total stock and was higher in Class A than Class B...
Bulgaria ranks fifth in the world in quality of broadband Internet, according to results of a research by Cisco Systems Inc, conducted by the Oxford University.
The first four places are taken by South Korea, Japan and Sweden, while countries like Finland, Romania and Denmark are placed after Bulgaria.
Among the cities, Sofia ranks 11th in quality of the Internet connection, followed by Lisbon, New York City, Hong Kong, Paris and Copenhagen.
"Having in mind the Internet speed, I would...
Bulgaria and Russia have reached a serious progress in the negotiations for the South Stream gas pipeline project, Russia's Gazprom CEO, Alexei Miller, said after his meeting with Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov.
In Miller's words, a joint company will be created in November. It will be an operator of the Bulgarian part of the pipe.
Miller also said that the technical-economical job for the building of the pipe in Bulgaria will be submitted by the end of next week.
The Bulgarian Energy...
Bulgaria's capital Sofia has made its way into the top ten office markets in Europe and the Middle East in terms of construction volume to be built by 2012, according to a survey by Colliers International.
Sofia ranks next to Paris, Brussels and St Petersburg since in each of these cities some 600-700 thousand square meters of office properties are being built.
The survey shows that Moscow is the leader in terms of office construction in the next two years, followed by Dubai and Abu...
The logistics market in Sofia region registered new stock increase of 12,684 sq.m., while the vacancy rate went up to 9.24% in the third quarter of 2010, shows a research by Forton, a property advisory company.
Thus, at present modern logistics space supply amounts to 527,434 sq.m., which represents mere 2.46% increase as compared to the second quarter of this year.
Development schemes delivered to the market include industrial projects of T-Logistics Center and BodyCar, an importer of...
This week's signing of an agreement between Gazprom and Romania has considerably softened the stance of Bulgaria to Russian-sponsored South Stream gas pipeline project, writes Russian online edition Lenta.ru.
According to the article, this has lead to Bulgaria's taking up a more active position and signing important agreements with the Russian party Friday during the visit of Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.
The material considers a possible Romanian route of the pipe as an alternative to the...
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