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 Bulgarian government is no longer trying to make the future gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Turkey a section of the EU-sponsored gas transit pipeline Nabucco, Economy Minister Traikov announced.
The gas pipeline connecting the natural gas networks of Bulgaria and Turkey could be ready by 2014, and through which Bulgaria could be receiving up to 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Traicho Traikov told the Members of...
The highly controversial project for the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline has been delayed further as the Bulgarian Environment Ministry has returned the company’s environmental assessment report for the second time.
Bulgaria’s Environment Minister Nona Karadzhova announced Monday morning on BNT that the Ministry has once again refused to accept the report of the project company Trans-Balkan Pipeline (TPP) on the construction of the troubled Bulgarian-Greek-Russian...
Bulgaria expects a 10% growth in tourists, according to Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism Ivaylo Marinov.
In an interview for the morning broadcast of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), he predicted a stronger summer season than last year's because of the massive advertising campaign financed with EU funds.
According to the deputy minister, the season will be successful for the hoteliers offering good accommodation and staff.
A working group is about to be set up to...
Bulgaria's real estate market is ranked sixth in the world by the property price drop in the first quarter of 2011, according to a study of the global property services and research company Knight Frank.
To follow the price trend in Bulgaria, Knight Frank have used data of the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI, showing that residential properties' prices went down nearly 6% in the first quarter of 2011, compared to the same period of 2010. On quarterly basis, the decrease is 2.3%...
Bulgaria's Council of Ministers has approved a report on the implementation of the Action Plan for Reducing Administrative Burden by 20% by end-2012.
The set of measures was agreed upon in end-April 2010 and the report spans the period from its introduction until March 2011.
The Action Plan envisages a total of 135 measures divided into categories according to the five-component model for alleviating red tape: inter-institutional information exchange (data collecting from other state...
Bulbrokers, a local financial and investment company, has been picked to broker Bulgaria's 33% stake sale in Austria's EVN AG unit, while Central Cooperative Bank - the same government's share in Prague-based CEZ AS unit.
This was announced on Wednesday by Bulgaria's sale body, the Privatization Agency, which selected the two providers of brokerage services in a competition, which assigned the greatest significance to the offered commission after a sale and the turnover of deals inked by the...
Bulgarian telecoms operator Vivacom plans to invest BGN 600 M over the next three years to develop its fibre-optic internet network and improve its services, the company said.
Currently the company is the largest ISP in Bulgaria with over 350 thousand ADSL subscribers. According to the company CEO Bernard Moscheni that gives the company a market share of 26-27% in the country.
Vivacom has opted for Fiber to the building technology, or FTTb, which means that the company chose the active...
Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry has extended the tender for the concession of Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport as no bidders have showed up within the original deadline.
The new deadline for submitting offers for the underdeveloped airport in the center of Northern Bulgaria, near Veliko Tarnovo, is October 31, 2011, the Transport Ministry announced on its website.
The same deadline has been set for the concession of the cargo terminal in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv Airport.
The news that there has...
The price of natural gas in Bulgaria should go up by slightly over 4%, announced Tuesday Angel Semerdzhiev, head of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR).
In a media statement, the head of the energy watchdog rejected the proposal of state-owned Bulgargaz for a gas price increase of over 7% from July 01.
On June 10, Bulgargaz EAD suggested a Q3 gas price of BGN 568.92 per 1000 cu m, VAT excluded, or up by6.91% from the Q2 price approved by DKEVR.
According to...
Bulgaria's gas distribution company Overgas has signed a contract with Germany's Bosch for mutual cooperation in the sphere of household gasification.
The aim is to simplify procedures and alleviate costs for connecting new consumers to the gas grid.
At present, connecting one consumer to the gas network costs around BGN 4000 and takes up to 75 days, which companies in the sector have identified as a key factor for the delayed gasification process in the country.
Starting early July,...
Bulgaria's Sofia International Airport serviced 310 866 passengers in May, 2011, which is 11% more than the same period of 2010.
The data was reported by the airport authority Tuesday.
Since May, 2011, the Spanish Air Europa, member of the international Sky Team alliance, launched regular Thursday flights to and from Arrecife. The flights are serviced by a Boeing 737-800 with 186 seats and depart from Terminal 1.
May, 2011, saw a 27 000 increase year on year, for the number pf...
The minimum monthly wage in Bulgaria is to go up on September 1, according to a proposal of the Finance Ministry, extended to the trade unions.
The proposal was made Tuesday during a meeting of the income subcommittee at the so-called Three-Way Council between the cabinet, the business and the labor unions.
The two main labor unions in Bulgaria – the Confederation of the Independent Syndicates (KNSB) and Podkrepa (Support) firmly reject the proposal, insisting the wage goes up on July...
Some 500 hotel and restaurant owners, taxi drivers and salespeople rallied in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria's largest Black Sea resort, against regulations set by the company managing it.
The protesters demanded the immediate resignations of the management of the shareholder company owning the resort, disgruntled over what they claim are illegitimate fees for services and access to local infrastructure.
The protest was triggered by the increased fees imposed by the management for access to the...
Bulgaria's Electricity System Operator (ESO) has carried out an emergency export of electricity to Greece at the request of its Greek counterpart HTSO because of a strike at Greece's Public Power Corporation DEI.
Thus, Bulgaria exported extra 2200 MWh of electricity to Greece on June 20 and 21, 2011, ESO said, as cited by BTA.
Bulgaria's emergency electricity exports for Greece was executed under a preliminary mutual assistance agreement between ESO and HTSO.
Bulgaria is actually...
The subway tunnel with the largest cross section in Europe has been formally completed in the Bulgarian capital as part of the construction of the second line of the Sofia Metro.
The tunnel at Metro Station 8 of the Line II of the Sofia Metro has a cross section of 258 square meters, and is 108 meters long, 18 high, and 22 meters wide.
Metro Station 8 is the spot where the second line of the Sofia Metro will cross and inter-connect with the existing first line at its Serdica Station near...
The richest citizen of the Bulgarian town of Ruse, on the Danube, who earned BGN 3.12 M last year, has turned out to be a man from neighboring Romania, the national revenue agency announced.
The man, whose name has not been disclosed, is believed to have been lured to Bulgaria by the lower taxes, which the government has maintained at pre-recession levels.
However there is also a possibility that the Romanian is a tax fraudster as he submitted a tax declaration, but did not pay the taxes...
The authorities in the Bulgarian capital Sofia are still mulling the route and type of the third line of the Sofia Metro, while the first two lines are still under construction.
Four different options for the third line of the Sofia Metro will be presented on Monday by the Czech firm Metroproekt Prague, a consultant to the Sofia Municipality, the Monitor daily reported Saturday.
The third line of the Sofia Metro is supposed to run from the southwest to the northeast of the city via the...
A waste recycling plant, an investment worth about BGN 50 M, was formally inaugurated at the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna.
The recycling factory of Ecoinvest Assets, a consortium, is located in the village of Ezerovo, 10 km east of Varna, and was opened Saturday by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
It has a built-up area of 16 000 square meters, employs 40 people, and is supposed to function for at least 25 years. It can process 140 000 tons of waste annually.
The Ecoinvest...
Bulgaria has demanded that Belene nuclear project is frozen for another three months as of July, the energy and economy minister announced on Friday.
"We have proposed a three-month delay so that we have time to catch up with the so-called back office work," Minister Traicho Traikov said at a conference about the energy infrastructure, which is taking place in Sofia.
"We need additional information about the cost of the project, because what we have received so far from the Russian side...
Bulgaria's anti-monopoly body said on Thursday it has given the green light to the sale of a 49.99% interest in Bulgarian-American Credit Bank.
Allied Irish Banks announced a month ago that it has signed an agreement to sell its 49.99% shareholding in Bulgarian-American Credit Bank AD to Clever Synergies Investment Fund (CSIF).
The deal price was not disclosed.
The deal brought back into the banking sector Bulgarian tycoon Tsvetelina Borislavova, more publicly known as the woman with...
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