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BULGARIA DELAYS EURO ADOPTION BY TWO YEARS AT LEAST (13/07/2012) Topics: 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'S FDI UP FOR THE PERIOD JAN-MAY 2012 (16/07/2012) Topics: 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 (12/01/2013) Topics: 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 JIM ROGERS MULLS INVESTING IN BULGARIA (14/04/2015) Topics: 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 TO JOIN PRIVATIZATION PROJECTS IN BULGARIA – ECONOMY MINISTER (15/04/2015) Topics: 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... WE HOPE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR NON-HAZARDOUS HOUSEHOLD WASTE TREATMENT BE COMPLETED IN 2016: BULGARIA MINISTER (15/04/2015) Topics: “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...

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BULGARIAN RESORT ALBENA ATTRACTED 220 000 TOURISTS IN 2010 Topics: Tourism One of Bulgaria's leading Black Sea resorts Albena attracted 221 000 tourists in the summer of 2011. The number of night stays in 2010 grew by 11% year-on-year, while the average occupancy rate of the resort located 30 km north of Varna and 500 km east of Sofia, increased from 76% to 79%. According to the annual report of Albena about the company's work in 2010, it registered revenues amounting to BGN 77.131 M. The 2010 profit was BGN 9.337 M. The report for 2010 will be presented to... BULGARIA'S GROSS EXTERNAL DEBT DOWN BY EUR 1.2 B IN MARCH Y/Y Topics: Bulgaria's gross external debt was EUR 36 B in March 2011, a decrease of EUR 1.169 B year-on-year, according to latest data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). As of end-March 2011 gross external debt was EUR 36.099 B (94.5% of GDP), which is EUR 580.4 M less compared with the end of 2010 (EUR 36.7 B, 101.8% of GDP). As of end-March 2011 Bulgaria's long-term liabilities amounted to EUR 25.342 M (70.2% of total debt), and short-term liabilities came to EUR 10.76 B (29.8% of total... BULGARIA SEES 34% INCREASE IN GOODS TRANSPORTED BY LAND Q1 2011 Topics: Bulgaria's goods transported by land transport increased by 34.2% year on year in the first quarter of 201, according to the country's National Statistical Institute. A growth was registered in both national and international carriages by 31.3 and by 40.5% respectively. In the road freight transport the increase of the goods carried was 2 948.6 thousand tons, representing 56.0% of the total growth. In the first quarter of the year, Bulgaria's transport performance, measured in... FITCH IMPROVES OUTLOOK OF 4 BULGARIAN BANKS Topics: The long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) outlook of Bulgaria's Societe Generale Expressbank, Allianz Bank Bulgaria and Bulgarian Development Bank have been upgraded to positive by Fitch Ratings. The outlook on Bulgaria's largest domestic-owned bank, First Investment Bank has been also upgraded to stable from negative, Fitch said in a statement late on Tuesday. The upgrade followed Tuesday's news that Fitch Ratings has also upgraded ITS outlook on Bulgaria's currency ratings to positive... DOUBLETREE BY HILTON VARNA ON BULGARIA COAST OPENS TO GUESTS Topics: Tourism DoubleTree by Hilton Varna-Golden Sands, the first global hotel brand to enter Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, has officially opened its doors to guests just as the summer season kicks off. "We hope that this first DoubleTree by Hilton hotel open and welcoming guests in Bulgaria will lead to continued and fast-growing popularity of our upscale, full-service hotel offerings across the region and around the world," Rob Palleschi, global head, DoubleTree by Hilton, said at a press conference in... EU VOWS NOT TO SET BARRIERS FOR SOUTH STREAM GAS PIPELINE Topics: The EU will not set unjustified restrictions regarding the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, which is supposed to transit Russian gas to Europe, Gunther Oettinger, EU Energy Commissioner, stated Wednesday. The EU will not create either bureaucratic barriers or unreasonable limits, Oettinger said during a presentation on the project, RIA Novosti reports. Russia and EU will be equal partners in the project, The EU Commissioner declared. On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of... TBP OFFERS BULGARIA NEW OFFLOADING TECHNOLOGY FOR BA OIL PIPELINE Topics: Trans-Balkan Pipeline, the company in charge of the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, has offered the Bulgarian government a new technology for unloading oil to address environmental concerns. Interestingly, the newly adopted approach is the opposite of the one which was initially adopted, and was defended by TBP executives as being safest in environmental terms. In a statement released Monday, May 23, the TBP company announced that a revised Environmental and... FITCH RAISES BULGARIA'S OUTLOOK FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE Topics: International credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has improved its outlook on Bulgaria's currency ratings to positive from negative. This has made it less likely that they will fall into junk territory, reflecting the Bulgaria's declining debt levels and recovering economy, reported Tuesday Dow Jones Newswires as cited by The Wall Street Journal. Fitch has Bulgaria's foreign and local currency ratings at BBB- and BBB, or one notch and two notches above junk grade, respectively. The... SOFIA CITY HALL PLANS MAJOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OVERHAUL Topics: The Sofia City Hall has applied with the Regional Development Program for EU funding for its "Integrated Project for Public Transportation." The information was reported Monday by Deputy Mayor, Lyubomir Hristov, who says the total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 61.4 M. The funds will be used to purchase 50 new trolleys and to build a new tram rail between the Ecclesiastical Seminary through the "G.M. Dimitrov" boulevard to connect with the 18 tram line to the "Darvenitsa"... BULGARIA TO SIGN ON NABUCCO PIPELINE IN TURKEY ON JUNE 6 Topics: Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, a subsidiary of the Bulgarian Energy Holding, will participate in the official signing of an agreement on the Nabucco gas transit pipeline in Turkey on June 6, 2011. Besides the Bulgarian company, the shareholders which will sign the agreement are OMV (Austria), BOTAS (Turkey), Transgaz (Romania), Mol Natural Gas (Hungary) and RWE (Germany) Each shareholder holds an equal share of 16.67% of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH. Nabucco is estimated to cost EUR 8... POPTODOROVA: SMALL US BUSINESS IS INTERESTED IN BULGARIA Topics: Smaller US companies are increasingly interested in investing in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Ambassador to Washington DC, Elena Poptodorova, says. In an interview for the Bulgarian news agency, BTA, Poptodorova commented on her just-concluded 5-day trip across the US. She went to the cities of Chicago, Il, Houston, TX; Phoenix, AZ, and San Francisco, CA in a joint initiative with US Ambassador to Sofia, James Warlick, to secure American investments in Bulgaria. "Big companies are very important,... IMF MISSION SIGNALS OPTIMISM ABOUT BULGARIA'S ECONOMY Topics: The conclusions of the International Monetary Fund mission, which visited Bulgaria's capital Sofia during the period May 10-20, have exhibited optimism about the Bulgarian economy and state finances. The visit was part of the IMF's surveillance under Article IV of the IMF's Articles of Agreement. The mission, headed by Catriona Purfield, met with officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Bulgarian National Bank, other government agencies, as well as representatives from the private sector,... BULGARIA'S KOZLODUY NPP AMONG WORLD'S MOST TESTED - ECONMIN Topics: Bulgaria's Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is among the most scrutinized NPPs in the world, according to the country's Energy and Economy Minister, Traicho Traikov. Four of the total of six units at Kozloduy were closed due to EU safety requirements, Traikov pointed out during the European Nuclear Forum in Prague, featuring European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger. The 440-MW Soviet-era Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Kozloduy NPP were shut down in 2002 and 2006 on EU insistence... BULGARIA GOVT ASSUAGES FEARS OVER SALE OF SOFIA'S LANDMARK Topics: Bulgaria's culture minister has denied allegations that the National Palace of Culture NDK, one of the landmarks of the capital Sofia, is about to be put on sale. "Nobody said that NDK would go private, in fact its privatization has been in the making before our decision and we prevented it. All offices and shops in the NDK underpass have been sold out, the covered parking, which is a gold mine, has been sold and re-sold, ", Vezhdi Rashidov explained in an interview for state-owned TV... US CONTOUR GLOBAL OKED TO BUY ENEL STAKE IN BULGARIA PLANT Topics: Bulgaria's antitrust regulator has given approval to US investment fund Contour Global to acquire the majority stake of Italian energy giant Enel in Maritsa East 3, a Bulgarian coal-fired plant. Enel reached in the middle of March an agreement to sell a 73% stake in Bulgaria's lignite-fired Maritsa East 3 power plant to Contour Global LP for EUR 230 M. The impact on net debt reduction will be about EUR 450 M. The deal will be carried out via the fund's unit Contour Global Bulgaria... CHINESE CARS TO BE MADE IN BULGARIA FUROR AT RUSE UNIVERSITY FAIR Topics: Prototypes of the cars of Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motors that will be produced in Bulgaria's Lovech generated heated interest Thursday at the opening of the auto and agricultural equipment fair at the Ruse University "Angel Kanchev." China's Ambassador to Bulgaria Guo Yezhou, Deputy Agriculture Minister Georgi Kostov, and a Romanian delegation from Giurgiu were among those who demonstrated great interest in the two vehicles – a jeep and a pickup truck, i.e. the models Hover and... BULGARIAN CAPITAL HAS ONLY 5 500 ROOMS IN CITY HOTELS Topics: Real Estate There are only 5 500 rooms in three-, four-, and five-star hotels with more than 50 rooms in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, according to data announced by property consultants. The data was presented in Sofia Thursday at a public discussion about the prospects of city hotels in the Bulgarian capital, organized by Forton International and their partner Cushman & Wakefield. In comparison to Sofia, the city hotels in Romania's capital Bucharest have twice as many room to offer, the organizers'... SOUTH STEAM SHAREHOLDERS TO STRIKE NEW AGREEMENT IN 2011 Topics: A new shareholders' agreement for the South Stream gas transit pipeline will be signed in 2011, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller has announced. The shareholders are going to come up with a final investment decision for the construction of the Russian-sponsored gas pipeline at the end of 2012, according to Marcel Kramer, CEO of South Stream AG, as cited by RIA Novosti Thursday. The entire technical and economic assessment of the future pipeline, for which Bulgaria will be a geographic hub, will... ENERGY IRISH ISLAND RENEWABLE ENERGY SAID TO EYE BULGARIA WIND PARK Topics: Renewable Energy Irish company Island Renewable Energy may build a wind park in the Northern Bulgarian Suhindol municipality,Nikolay Nikolov, its executive director for Southeast Europe, has announced. The project, which may be launched after, wind measurements and a feasibility study, involves a 90-megawatt wind farm valued at EUR 130 M. "If we decide to go ahead with the project, construction may start in some three years," Nikolov said, as cited by Bloomberg, adding that the conclusive decision also... IMF SEES BULGARIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH AT 3%, INFLATION -5.3% END-2011 Topics: The International Monetary Fund expects Bulgaria's economy to grow 3% at the end of this year as a global recovery boosts exports demand in the EU. The IMF forecast for the Bulgarian economy in 2011 is below the 3.6% growth projected by the Bulgarian government in its 2011 budget. The Washington-based global lender forecasts end-year's inflation at 5.3%, according to its latest report. Bas Bakker, leader of the team, commented that the pace of recovery in the countries from...