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...
Bulgaria's anti-trust commission is likely to launch a probe into a possible mobile price cartel after both Sofia and Brussels rose up against the rates charged by local mobile operators, the highest in Europe.
The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) will decide whether to carry out an analysis of the mobile services market after receiving the results of the finance ministry's check, its spokesman said on Wednesday.
It is only on the basis of the finance ministry's findings...
The Bulgarian authorities have demolished more than 15 illegal buildings in the country's largest and most popular summer resort Sunny Beach.
The buildings have been located mostly on the sand in the northern beach of the resort.
The action had begun precisely at midnight Monday into Tuesday, which was the deadline given to owners to remove the establishments on their own. Most, however, failed to undertake any move in that direction.
From a total of 45 illegal buildings on the...
In the period January - June 2011 the Bulgarian exports to third countries increased by 35.5% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and exceeded BGN 7.2 B.
The data was released by the National Statistics Institute, NSI, Tuesday.
The main trade partners of Bulgaria were Turkey, Serbia, Russia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, China and USA, forming 51.2% of the total exports to non EU countries.
The exports to South Africa, India and Canada increased...
In the period January - May 2011 the Bulgarian exports to the EU increased by 48.7% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and amounted to BGN 9.6 B.
The data was released by the National Statistics Institute, NSI, Tuesday.
The main trade partners of Bulgaria were Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece and Belgium, that formed 67.2 % of the total exports to the EU Member states.
The most significant growths were observed in the exports to Malta, Portugal, Denmark and...
The average monthly wages and salaries of Bulgarian employees under labor contract in April, May and June 2011 was BGN 711, 698 and 690, respectively.
The preliminary data was released Tuesday by the National Statistical Institute (NSI)
In the second quarter of 2011 in comparison with the first quarter of 2011 the average monthly wages and salaries increased by 4.2% to BGN 699. The highest increase in wages and salaries was reported in the sectors "Financial and insurance activities" -...
In 2010, Bulgaria acted as a mediator in an arms deal between Serbia and Cambodia for 50 T-55 tanks, according to the updated UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA).
The Serbian tanks were first delivered to Bulgaria, from where they were re-directed to Cambodia, Bulgarian Dnevnik daily reported Tuesday.
The document also shows that Bulgaria sold 44 home-made armored personnel carriers (APCs) and 4 BRDM-2 amphibious armored patrol cars to Cambodia over the past year.
Bulgaria...
Bulgaria's production of rice has been steadily on the rise in the past 5 years, according to latest data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods.
While in 2005 Bulgaria produced 20 000 metric tons of rice, in 2010, its output reached 57 000 metric tons, the newly released ministry data shows.
The average rice output per decare of cultivated land in Bulgaria in 2005-2010 ranged from 448 kg to 522 kg.
The rice plots in Bulgaria have been growing by about 15% per year, with some of them...
The downgrading of the US credit rating by S&P is a sign the current times are not times for populism, according to Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov.
Borisov made the comment for the Bulgarian "Trud" (Labor) daily in a phone call, saying those who must learn from the US debt crisis include President Georgi Parvanov since he has criticized the cabinet of the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party for not increasing retirement pensions.
"This is a strong...
Bulgaria's capital Sofia will have some of the most beautiful downtown metro stations in Europe, according to Head of the Sofia Metropolitan Company, Stoyan Bratoev.
The subway stop near the National Palace of Culture will have on display inside a replica of the building and all downtown stops will be in line with the city's historical center.
The station under Lavov Most (Lions' Bridge) will have bas-reliefs of the lions. The one under the Maria Louisa Boulevard, near the current central...
Preliminary data, released Monday by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI, showed that the seasonally adjusted Industrial Production Index is down by 1.5% in June 2011, compared to May.
In June 2011, the work day adjusted Industrial Production Index rose by 2.2% as compared to the same month of 2010.
In June 2011, compared to May 2011, the seasonally adjusted Industrial Production Index in the mining and quarrying industry decreased by 14.2%, in the electricity, gas, steam and...
Unilever Central and Eastern Europe has bought out "Darko", the second largest distributor and producer of ice cream in Bulgaria.
Unilever and the Balkan Accession Fund (BAF), Darko's current owner, announced the deal Monday, without specifying the amount of money the multinational giant will pay BAF for Darko and its brands.
The announcement says that Darko's 80 employees will become part of Unilever's team in Bulgaria. Darko will retain its staff and production for the Bulgarian...
Romanian oil company Rompetrol has opened its 58th gas station in Bulgaria, amidst plans to boost its presence on the Bulgarian market.
The newly opened Rompetrol gas station is located on the E79 road, 10 km north of the Kulata crossing point on the Bulgarian-Greek border.
By the end of 2011, Rompetrol Bulgaria AD plans to open 5 more gas stations in the country, bringing their total number to 63, Stanimir Smilkov, commercial director at the firm, said in a statement.
All fuel sold by...
The "Dynamo" factory in the Southern Bulgarian city of Sliven, a leading producer in the automotive and machine-building industries, plans to invest over BGN 0.5 M to boost production capacity and meet the high requirements of the market.
A new phosphate coating line is scheduled to go online in August, marking the completion of the first stage of the plant's investment program for 2011, according to a media statement of the company.
The second stage will include the introduction of a...
Bulgaria's unemployment rate has seen a negligible drop in July 2011, latest data of the State Employment Agency shows.
A total of 315 375 persons were officially registered as unemployed in Bulgaria at the end of July, which is 2 962 fewer compared with the end of June.
The official unemployment rate figure is estimated at 9.47% of the workforce, or 0.09% lower than it was in June 2011.
Compared with July 2011, however, Bulgaria's unemployed are 26 600 fewer, the Employment Agency...
Electronics, IT, and services outsourcing are the sectors of the Bulgarian economy that harbor the greatest growth potential, states the major conclusion of a fresh study by Bulgaria's Finance Ministry.
The report of the Economic Analysis and Forecasts Directorate of the Finance Ministry in Sofia released Monday studies the performance of the real economy sector in Bulgaria in 2008-2010.
In addition to stressing the importance of improving production efficiency in Bulgaria, the paper also...
According to estimates, 6.6 M tourists will have visited the Bulgarian Black Sea by the end of the season in August.
This means a growth of the number of tourists by some 14% with respect to their numbers in 2010.
According to the Institute for Analysis and Assessment in Tourism, at present the growth is over 10%.
In terms of nationality, increased numbers come mostly from Russia, Germany and Slovakia.
At the same time, the Institute notes that counting all the growth, some 70% of...
Bulgarian capital Sofia closed down popular downtown Shishman Street for car traffic, leaving it open for pedestrians starting Saturday on through August 31.
The move is part of the renewed "Sofia Breathes" campaign and will feature a plethora of events to be held on Shishman Str.
All intersections of the street between the Narodno Sabranie Sq. and Graf Ignatiev Str. will be closed down too, except for cars of people living in the area.
Sunday the events will be of an athletic nature,...
Bulgaria will not fail to feel the effects from the debt crises that have grappled the USA and the Eurozone, according to local economy analysts.
The downgrading of the US debt rating by Standard & Poor's from AAA to AA+ will lead to instability in global stock exchanges which is bound to reflect on financing and activities of companies in Bulgaria, according to Ruslan Stefanov from the Center for the Study of Democracy.
The analyst adds that this could lead to a slowdown in consumption...
Bulgarians, who pay the highest prices for mobile calls across the European Union, will welcome the new year with good news for lower bills from their mobile operators, the regulatory authority has promised.
Bulgaria's watchdog, the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC), will undertake steps to resume cuts to mobile rates and bring them down to and below EU average, Veselin Bozhkov, the regulatory authority head, commented for the morning broadcast of bTV on Thursday.
The cut in...
Bulgaria's state-run power grid operator has threatened to sue in Geneva Russia's state nuclear company Atomstroyexport over delayed payments on planned Belene nuclear plant.
The government in Sofia however was quick to point out that this is not a counter-claim to Moscow's lawsuit at an arbitration court in Paris, which is again on due payments on the nuclear project.
"The action was described as a "counter claim" just because the two sums in question are similar," a statement by the...
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