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 new Renewable Energy source act will be ready in two weeks, the country's Energy Minister has stated.
The act aims at meeting the mandatory targets set by EU's Directive on the Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources - a16 % share of RES on the final consumption of energy in 2020 and at least 10% share of renewable energy in final consumption of energy in transport by the same deadline.
Bulgaria's renewable energy legislation will be harmonized with EU laws in...
The Bulgarian Directorate for National Construction Supervision (DNSK) has announced it is starting to remove the illegal constructions near the Iskar Reservoir.
The removing comes four years after the illegal construction near the Iskar Reservoir has been established.
26 orders for demolishing one-floor houses, cottages and fences have been issued and they have to be completed by January 13, 2011.
“In the meantime, two owners have removed their own villas in the region of the...
A record 13% increase has been indicated in Bulgaria's flights in November 2010, most notably in freight transportation .
As many as 300 flights with cargo planes have been executed to and from Bulgaria in November 2010, which means a 17% increase year on year. The boost is most significant in Bulgaria's Air Max carrier and DHL's European Air Transport.
It has been recently reported that countries such as China and South Korea are ready to invest in Bulgaria's freight transportation...
Bulgaria's Interior Ministry is sending to the country's winter resorts police patrols whose members speaks up to three foreign languages, Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, informs.
Tsvetanov spoke Monday during a meeting with EU, Norway and Switzerland Ambassadors to Sofia, saying this was just one of the measures undertaken by his institution to provide safety for the visitors. In some resorts, such as Pamporovo, police will be even watching the ski tracks.
Policemen's fluency in foreign...
Representatives of major companies from South Korea have informed Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov of their large-scale investment plans for the country at a meeting on Monday.
The Korean Development Bank, Korea South-East Power Co., Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, and SDN Company Ltd have presented to Borisov the project for the construction of a photovoltaic park near the village of Zlataritsa close to Veliko Tarnovo.
The facility will feature a power distribution and a 4.7-km...
Ernst & Young, one of the world's leading professional services companies, expects that the Bulgarian economy will grow by 3.6% in 2011, the same growth rate forecast by the Bulgarian government.
In its Eurozone Economic Forecast Winter 2010, Ernst & Young says it expects the Bulgarian economy to shrink by 1% in 2010 overall, and to return to a growth of more than 6% after 2012 (6% in 2012, 6.9% in 2013) – even though the analysis also outlines certain major risks for this scenario.
The...
Bulgaria’s National Electric Company (NEK) is preparing a tender for remittance of part of its telecommunications network, the company’s CEO Krasimir Parvanov has announced.
“At present we use only 30% of our network and the rest could transmit digital television throughout the country, as well as 70% of the Internet,” the company has explained.
NEK has built a fiber optic network in parallel with the rehabilitation of its own grid.
The cables have been placed in the...
AmCham Bulgaria is staging a business road show in the USA in May 2011 together with the US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Warlick and the Bulgarian Ambassador to the USA Elena Poptodorova, its Director Valentin Georgiev told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).
In an interview for the Bulgaria-US Survey of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency), Georgiev, the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, said the 2011 "AmCham-Ambassadors' Road Show" will be seeking to boost the...
Bulgaria has marked a record high of sales of electricity abroad in 2010, doubling the amount sold for the previous year.
For 2010, Bulgaria will have exported 7500 GWh, while the amount for 2009 was 3700 GWh, announced the National Electric Company (NEK) Saturday.
The levels of electricity export for 2011 are previewed to be similar to those for 2010, said NEK president Krasimir Parvanov.
He added that Bulgaria has the ambition to become the undisputed leader in the exportation of...
Bulgaria has marked a record high of sales of electricity abroad in 2010, doubling the amount sold for the previous year.
For 2010, Bulgaria will have exported 7500 GWh, while the amount for 2009 was 3700 GWh, announced the National Electric Company (NEK) Saturday.
The levels of electricity export for 2011 are previewed to be similar to those for 2010, said NEK president Krasimir Parvanov.
He added that Bulgaria has the ambition to become the undisputed leader in the exportation of...
Bulgaria's 2010/11 winter tourist season will be stronger than the last one, according to Minister of Economy Traicho Traikov.
Traikov, who is also responsible for Bulgaria's tourism, stated for Darik Radio Saturday that he expects an at least 3% increase in revenue, with some operators even expecting a 10% increase.
The Bulgarian minister commented that the country expects guests from all over Europe, including neighboring countries like Greece, Macedonia and especially...
The major TV channels National Geographic, Eurosport and Euronews is sending TV crews to Bulgaria to shoot reportages on tourism in the country, the Bulgarian Economy Ministry has announced.
The visit of the international journalists is organized through a project for advertising the tourism industry in the country and is financed by the Operational Program “regional Development.”
The National Geographic crew has already arrived to Bulgaria and is working on reportages on the culture...
Bulgaria may have its carbon emissions trading rights under the Kyoto Protocol restored by the United Nations in the next few weeks, a spokesman of the Environment Ministry has said.
Bulgaria has met all the conditions to end a ban imposed by the UN on June 30 for failing to pass appropriate climate legislation in time and provide an emissions inventory for 2007 and 2008, Environment Ministry spokeswoman Katya Shavuleva told Bloomberg agency in a phone interview.
The ban extended to...
Bulgarian pharmaceutical giant Sopharma has formally launched the construction of its new factory, an investment worth BGN 70 M, in Sofia on Thursday.
The groundbreaking ceremony was carried out by Sopharma CEO Ognyan Donev and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, with several ministers and foreign ambassadors also attending.
The company has pointed out that the construction of new factories demonstrates the revived dynamics of the Bulgarian economy deriving from the companies investing in...
Bulgaria's economy registered slightly better results in the third quarter of 2010 that the initial data sets of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) indicated last month.
Thus, final NSI data showed on Thursday that in the third quarter Bulgaria's GDP grew by 0.7% compared with the second quarter, and by 0.5% compared with the same quarter of 2009. (The initial forecasts were for 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.)
In July-September 2010, Bulgaria's GDP amounted to BGN 19.4 B (BGN 2 581.2...
The regional office of the real estate company "Foros" in the southwestern Bulgarian city of Blagoevgrad has registered an increased interest by Greek clients in the last few months of 2010.
"In the last months we have more than five request per month. Before, we had one client every three months," said Georgi Georgiev, manager of the Blagoevgrad office of Foros.
He said that the interest comes mostly from Greek businessmen, aged 30 to 50, who already have or want to start their own...
The Bulgarian government voted Wednesday an extension of the deadline the state has to refund discounted arrears to businesses to December 17, amidst an ever-growing amount of state dues to the private sector.
The previous deadline was set for November 30, but the Bulgarian Development Bank managed to pay just BGN 237 M out of BGN 289 M total of claims.
In the spring of 2010, the center-right GERB cabinet adopted a decision proposing to companies to receive their arrears for 2009 and 2010...
The Rezidor Hotel Group officially launched Tuesday evening Park Inn Sofia, the very first Park Inn property in Bulgaria, which happened to be the hundredth in the chain.
"Eastern Europe is an important development region for Park Inn by Radisson, and we look forward to positioning Park Inn Sofia on the market and to actively search for further business opportunities in Bulgaria," Rezidor's Area Vice President Jörg Schiffmann told journalists from local media after giving them a...
Austrian company EVN is expected to purchase a 70% stake in the Bulgarian hydro power plant project "Gorna Arda" from Turkish company Ceylan in the first quarter of 2011.
This has been announced by Joerg Solgelner, Regional Manager of EVN Bulgaria, as cited by the Pari Daily. EVN and Ceylan are currently in negotiations for the buyout.
According to Solgelner, there are still important questions with respect to the Gorda Arda ("Upper Arda") project that have to be settled before a contract...
The Rezidor Hotel Group officially launched Tuesday evening Park Inn Sofia, the very first Park Inn property in Bulgaria, which happened to be the hundredth in the chain.
"Eastern Europe is an important development region for Park Inn by Radisson, and we look forward to positioning Park Inn Sofia on the market and to actively search for further business opportunities in Bulgaria," Rezidor's Area Vice President Jцrg Schiffmann told journalists from local media after giving them a...
Bulgaria Translation