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...
The current driver for real estate values in Bulgaria, the income levels and domestic demand of the population, are set to result in a stable annual growth rate of 5-6% of real estate prices, Curtis M. Coward, CEO of the Arceland asset management fund told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) in an interview.
According to Coward, who is also a member of he Bulgarian Land and Property Owners Association (BULLPOA), that is a reliable, understandable, and credible number for a decade, as opposed to...
Only three companies have remained to bid for the privatization of Bulgaria's state-owned cigarette-making giant Bulgartabac Holding, and only one of them is a strategic investor – British American Tobacco.
In addition to BAT, only two companies registered in Austria – CB Family Office Services and BT Invest – have remained to bid for the purchase of a majority stake in Bulgartabac.
A total of 10 companies bought documents for the tender for the privatization of Bulgartabac Holding...
Some 800 Greek firms have been registered in Bulgaria in the first half of 2011, many of whom are said to have moved north because of the crisis in Greece.
About as many more can be expected to be set up in Bulgaria by the end of 2011, according to a report of the bTV channel, which reminds that the situation is similar with respect to Romanian-owned companies.
Firms from Bulgaria's two EU neighbors Greece and Romania are said to be drawn to moving to Bulgaria not just by the taxes, which...
Bulgarian cities and towns will be visible through Google Street View as Google executives have already notified the Bulgarian authorities of their intention to launch the product for Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Personal Data has been visited by Google officials from offices in Ireland and the Czech Republic several days ago, Commission head Veneta Shopova has announced.
The Google representatives, Simon Miechen from Ireland and Eva Martinikova from the Czech...
Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK and Russia's Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Rosatom, have signed an annex extending by 3 months their contract for the construction of the Belene NPP, which should become the second Bulgarian nuclear power plant.
The new "Annex No. 13" to the 2006 contract between the two state companies was inked late Friday night, the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism announced Saturday.
The newly-signed document effectively provides the two...
Bulgaria is going to save about BGN 8 M by opting to hold the upcoming presidential and local elections together, according to Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.
Speaking in Parliament Friday, Djankov explained that BGN 26 M have been slated under the 2011 State Budget Act for the holding of the double vote in the fall of 2011.
Individual elections (i.e. only presidential or only local) in the past have cost about BGN 16-18 M, said the Finance Minister and Deputy PM, who has been assigned...
The Bulgarian company "Adval" JSC and the German Ed. Zьblin AG held the grand opening of the third largest tunnel in Germany, the "Blessberg" tunnel, on Thursday.
The ceremony was attended by the German Minister of Transport Dr. Peter Rahmsauer, the Prime Minister of Thuringia Christine Lieberknecht, the Chairman of the Board of the German Railways (Deutsche Bahn AG) Dr. Ruediger Grube, the transport minister of Thuringia Christian Carius, the SPD deputy Sabine Doht and the Regional...
Bulgarian-German company BCI OOD is going to invest over EUR 200 M in a photovoltaic park in the Kazanlak Municipality in Central Bulgaria.
The solar power park will be located in three villages in the municipality – Yasenovo, Cherganovo, and Golyamo Dryanovo.
The investment decision has been finalized after the Kazanlak Town Council voted to provide BCI with a construction permit right for 30 years, the Stara Zagora Chamber of Commerce announced.
To enjoy the construction right for...
Bulgaria has witnessed a 1.2% monthly increase in the production of solid fuels to 2885 000 tons in March 2011, while the production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has gone up by 66.7% to 10 000 tons in the same period.
According to data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI), in March 2011 the production of unleaded gasoline goes up by 112.5% to 153 000 tons on the month, diesel fuel adds 97.8% to 184 000 tons and natural gas rises by 28.1% to 41 million standard cubic meters.
The...
The European Commission will allow a 2-year extension of the construction of the bridge across the Danube set to connect Bulgaria's Vidin and Romania's Calafat.
The so-called Danube Bridge 2, financed by EU's Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA), was set to be completed by October 2010, but has been delayed due to technical...
Radisson Blu in Sofia will soon be featuring a renovated commercial zone, announced Colliers International, consultant of the project.
The hotel will offer a variety of prestigious tenants and entertainment opportunities.
The new commercial area will have a total GLA of 1,100 sqm and will offer accessories and health and beauty shops, an expanded Casino, and the much loved Tequila night club, which is to re-open in Radisson Blu.
"I am glad that Colliers secured a variety of prestigious...
Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts expect an even higher number of Romanian tourists in summer 2011, according to hotel managers.
"Figures are already indicating that there will be a substantial growth in the number of Romanian tourists. It is another matter if this boom can compensate for the decrease in the number of tourists from other destinations," Ivan Portnih, CEO of Grand Hotel Varna, is quoted as saying by the Cherno More newspaper.
"The record number of Romanian tourists has its...
The eventual exit of a member state from the euro zone is probably inevitable, billionaire investor George Soros has said, but declined to name the country.
"There was no arrangement for any country leaving the euro, which in the current circumstances is probably inevitable," he was quoted as saying at a panel discussion in Vienna.
Soros pointed out that the euro had a basic flaw from the start in that the currency was not backed by political union or a joint treasury.
"The euro had no...
The Black Sea could turn in a worldwide attraction for underwater tourism if countries cash on the story that the Biblical Deluge happened in the area, according to Bulgarian archaeologist Petko Dimitrov.
According to Prof. Dimitrov, who is the director of the Underwater Archaeology unit of the Oceanology Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, there are enough findings in the Black Sea's aquatorium to make it an attractive destination for that kind of tourism.
"If the hypothesis...
The Black Sea city of Burgas will feature Bulgaria's first "open-air mall" as the shopping mall project dating back to 2008-2009 will be unfrozen.
"The Strand" shopping mall in Burgas is designed as an open air mall with stores and restaurants arranged around a racetrack 'High Street'.
The EUR 40 M project got its construction permit in 2009 but its construction was put off. Its ground-breaking ceremony is now scheduled for June 29, 2011, announced on Friday ZBS, one of the investors, as...
Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov and Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, are opening Saturday the first stage of the building of a new electric power substation on the Black Sea coast.
The "Helios" substation is being built at the largest Bulgarian summer resort – "Sunny Beach."
The new facility is owned by the National Electric Company, NEK, and its CEO, Mihail Andonov, will also take part in the ceremony.
The construction is done under a public procurement order....
Bulgaria and China signed a memorandum on mutual cooperation in the sphere of Information Technologies Friday.
Broadband technologies, e-government, joint research projects and support for business development are among the areas covered by the memorandum, which was signed by the Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski, and the Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technologies, Miao Wei, China Daily reports.
Information...
More and more Romanian citizens decide to register their businesses and pay their taxes in the Bulgarian Danube city of Ruse, according to the Balkan country's national revenue agency.
The government in Sofia has been boasting that Romanian companies are moving in droves to neighboring Bulgaria attracted by lower taxes, which the government has maintained at pre-recession levels unlike Romania or Greece.
Last week, it turned out that the richest citizen of Ruse, who earned BGN 3.12 M in...
The privatization of the Bulgarian state-owned cigarette produce Bulgartabac will be successful thanks to the privatization criteria, according to Economy Minister Traicho Traikov.
Answering MPs' questions in Parliament Friday, Traikov defended the way the government is going about the sale of Bulgartabac Holding in spite of criticism by the opposition Socialists that it is unclear who will be responsible for the tobacco-growing and cigarette-making sector in Bulgaria once the state-owned...
Romanian and Bulgarian subsidiaries of Greek banks have been funding their parent companies in the local market, analysts at Nomura Research Institute have observed.
According to Joseph Cotterill from the Financial Times there are a lot of ironies here.
"Romanian and Bulgarian subsidiaries of Greek banks are pretty well capitalized but largely that's because their parent institutions supported their subsidiaries under the original Vienna Initiative, in 2009," he writes in an article in...
Bulgaria Translation