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 Finance Ministry has reassured a senior delegation of the World Bank of the country's economic prospects in the context of the Partnership Strategy between Bulgaria and the international financial institution.
Peter Harold, Director for Central Europe and the Baltic at the World Bank, was welcomed in Sofia Friday by Deputy Finance Minister Boryana Pencheva.
The two delegations' talks focused on the schedule of the Bulgaria-World Bank Parnership Strategy in light of the...
Sofia Airport, Bulgaria's largest international airport, is preparing the technical proposal for a small-scale public procurement for the overhaul of Terminal 1, the company announced.
Under the overhaul plan, sections with damaged stucco coating and plaster cornices will be repaired, together with an overall repainting of the walls and the ceiling in the building.
The floorings of the "Departures" and "Arrivals" public zones will be replaced.
The repainting of the walls is already...
In a highly controversial statement, Bulgaria's economy minister has defended, though half-heartedly, the flourishing gray sector in the country, saying that still it generates growth.
"If we have to choose between gray economy and no economy, Bulgaria is definitely better off having gray economy," Minister Traicho Traikov told the morning broadcast of bTV channel on Wednesday.
"Gray or not gray, these are economic activities, which generate gross domestic product," the minister...
Bulgaria is fully committed to developing its nuclear energy sector, stated PM Boyko Borisov at a foreign investment forum held in Sofia Tuesday.
In the past year or so, there has been an ongoing uncertainty how far Borisov's center-right GERB cabinet will further the project for the construction of a second NPP at Belene, contracted with Russian Atomstroyexport.
"If we give up on nuclear energy, we will have to face the fact that our neighbors such as Turkey will not have done the same...
Bulgaria might chose to press for short-term contracts for natural gas delivery with Russian giant Gazprom after 2012, stated vice-Minister of Energy Mariy Kosev Tuesday.
Bulgaria's contracts with Gazprom expire end of 2012 and the Russian company has until end of June to specify terms for a possible long-term extension.
"Should the conditions for a long-term contract that Gazprom formulates this summer prove to be unfavorable for Bulgaria, we will be requesting short-term contracts,"...
Bulgaria's sector-based strategy for the attraction of foreign investments was presented by Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov at a forum in Sofia Tuesday.
The strategy names the fields of the economy that the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism has identified as bearing the greatest potential for stable development that will significantly contribute to growth.
"Looking for a significant boost of GDP per capita, we have accented not on sectors that will give work to a...
In the first quarter of 2011, the newly built residential buildings in Bulgaria were 601, according to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute, NSI, released Tuesday.
Compared to the same quarter of 2010, the number of these buildings increased by 16.7%, but the number newly built units in them fell by 5.3% to 3 109.
The largest number of residential buildings and dwellings has been built in Varna - 103 buildings with 564 units in them. Burgas is second with 94...
In the period January - March 2011 Bulgarian exports to non-EU countries increased by 55.9% year on year.
The data was released by the National Statistics Institute Tuesday.
In the first quarter of 2011, the exports amounted to BGN 3.7 B.
The main trade partners of Bulgaria were Turkey, Russia, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and China, forming 49.1% of the total exports to non-EU countries.
The exports to South Africa, India, Croatia and the Ukraine increased...
A notice for the privatization of Bulgaria's former state tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac Holding is due to be published in the State Gazette on 10 May.
The promulgation will mark the start of the third official attempt to sell the state-owned stake in the company, which is expected to be successful thanks to the political consensus the deal now enjoys, the agency for privatization and post-privatization control said.
A majority stake - 79,83% - in Bulgaria's state cigarette producer...
Bulgaria and Turkey are planning the launch of a bullet train between Sofia and Edirne, according to Suleyman Karaman, Director General and Chairman of the Board of the Turkish State Railways.
Karaman told the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, transport ministers of the two countries recently held talks on the project, saying Turkey is ready with the project and is waiting for the Bulgarian side.
"Bulgarians are applying effort according to their possibilities. We insist on the realization...
In April 2011, the unemployment rate stood at 9.3%, extending a downward trend from previous months, announced Labor and Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov.
According to Mladenov, as quoted by BNR, the trend should continue in the summer months due to seasonal work, subsidiary employment and the measures financed by the European Social Fund.
Minister Mladenov presented the statistics to representatives of German business in Bulgaria.
Mladenov reiterated the ambitious yet attainable...
As Ryaniar's first flight from Milano to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv arrived on Saturday, its 140 passengers were welcomed with bread and salt, according to an old Bulgarian tradition.
The company will carry out regular twice-weekly flights from Milan Bergano to Plovdiv, from now on.
Until now, Ryanair performed flights from Plovdiv Airport to Stansted Airport in London twice a week - on Tuesday and on Saturday. One-way fares start from GBP 32.99 including taxes. The flights provide...
Bulgaria plans to privatize the ADIS real estate agency that manages the properties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the country.
This was announced Sunday by Bulgarian Privatization Agency chief Emil Karanikolov for the Bulgarian National Radio.
"We are planning to restructure ADIS and privatize it," said Karanikolov, adding that other state companies are also planned for privatization, without naming them.
The ADIS real estate agency rents out the many diplomatic properties...
Representatives of Bulgarian business made Friday social commitments to the UN, in the presence of the organization's Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
The memorandum for cooperation was signed by Ban Ki-moon and the Chair of the Bulgarian network for the so-called UN Global Compact, Sasho Donchev.
The UN Secretary General, who is on a historic official 2-day visit to Bulgaria pointed out the memorandum is a serious step forward in achieving global values of stable development and...
The much-anticipated EU-sponsored Nabucco gas transit pipeline will be delayed by two years, the Nabucco consortium has announced raised doubts of increasing uncertainty about the project.
Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH has pushed back the start of construction of its EUR 7.9 B pipeline to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe to 2013; thus, Nabucco is now expected to start operations in 2017 instead of 2015, as previously expected, the company said in a statement.
"The timeline...
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has completed his two-day Bulgarian visit in the southern city of Plovdiv where he was amazed at the history and architecture of the Old Town.
Ban was the guest of a formal lunch given by Plovdiv District Governor Ivan Totev in his honor on behalf of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
The UN head was fascinated with the cultural heritage of Plovdiv from Antiquity to modernity such as the amphitheater, the churches, and a number of the 19th century Bulgarian...
A part of the money within EU's Operational Program Transport intended for the enhancement of Danube's shipping, will be used for the expansion of Bulgarian capital Sofia's first metro line.
Some of the BGN 138 M intended for the strengthening of Bulgaria's Danube coast will be used for the construction of the metro stretch between the Tsarigradsko Shose boulevard and Sofia's international airport, Ivaylo Moskovski, the country's Deputy Transport Minister, clarified Thursday.
The sum...
Bulgarian cigarette maker King's Tobacco has confirmed its interest in the privatization of the country's state tobacco giant Bulgartabac Holding.
"Provided that we meet the requirements, we will join the competition. The requirements are pretty high because the state wants to protect the interests of tobacco producers," Boyko Kachulev, CEO of the company, commented.
The factory was part of Bulgartabac holding prior to its privatization in 2008 According to its data during the first three...
The Bulgarian National Palace of Culture (NDK) in downtown Sofia is to become a public company, the country's Council of Ministers decided Wednesday.
NDK will be a state company, initially within the Ministry of Finance, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov has explained. It will stay within the Ministry until a financial audit covering its last 10 years is carried out.
NDK is the largest multifunctional congress, conference, convention and exhibition center in Southeastern Europe. It was...
Bulgaria's newly adopted Renewable Energy Act contradicts the Constitution and EU law, and will shatter the country's energy future, according to the Bulgarian Wind Energy Association.
The Bulgarian Wind Energy Association issued Wednesday a devastatingly critical statement on the highly controversial law, whose adoption had been anticipated eagerly by hundreds of local and foreign investors only to see their hopes for facilitated investments dampened.
"We are highly disappointed with the...
Bulgaria Translation