Russia's state power trader Inter RAO wants to acquire not only the majority stake of Italian energy giant Enel in Maritsa East 3, a Bulgarian coal-fired plant, but also its wind parks near the Black Sea coast, according to reports.
"We will offer in exchange the Russian government's stake in Russian power producer OGK-5, controlled by Italy's Enel," Boris Kovalchuk, Chairman of Management Board at Inter RAO UES, said, as cited by Moscow-based Komersant newspaper.
Italian energy major...
Three top global Dutch-based companies – TNT, Shell, and Philips – have presented their green initiatives in Sofia in order to promote environmental protection in Bulgaria.
The event was dedicated to the world Sustainability Day and was part of the Week of the Netherlands 2010 organized under the patronage of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bulgaria.
The visitors of the joint event of TNT, Shell and Philips at the Hilton Hotel in Sofia had the opportunities to learn in...
Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov said that Bulgaria is eager to start building its new Belene NPP during talks with US energy envoy for Eurasia Richard Morningstar.
The two met on Borisov's official trip to the USA to participate in the Millenium Goals discussion at the UN and discussed Bulgaria's participation in strategic energy projects.
Morningstar expressed satisfaction at the level of strategic cooperation and friendly partnership between the USA and Bulgaria.
The two discussed matters...
Economic freedom in Bulgaria ranks 15th among the 27 members of the EU and 36th in the world for 2008, show the results of a Fraser Institute study released Monday.
The Economic Freedom of the World 2010 Annual Report summarizes results for 2008 that show global economic freedom marginally decreasing at the onset of the crisis (from 6,74 out of 10 for 2007 to 6,67 for 2008).
Bulgaria's result is 7.31 for 2008 and has been marking a steady increase since 1990.
The top three EU countries...
A cross-border project to improve and popularize tourist opportunities in north-east Bulgaria / south-east Romania is starting, reported local authorities at General Toshevo.
The project is worth EUR 1.5 M and is joint between General Toshevo in Bulgaria and Negru Voda in Romania. Both towns are in comparatively remote areas of the neighboring countries in the historic Dobrudzha region.
The project aims at developing a joint tourist potential for the two municipalities in improving...
Bulgaria's construction sector will have about BGN 5 B (EUR 2,5 M) from the state on public procurement projects during 2011, according to Minister of Regional Development Rosen Plevneliev.
This is the combined amount of funds from the Ministries of Transport, of Environment, of Regional Development, as well as from local authorities and EU operative programmes, stated Plevneliev at the opening of the new acaemic year in the University of Architecture in Sofia.
Plevneliev once again...
One of the world's largest manufacturers of construction and mining equipment, engines and turbines, the US company Caterpillar, is going to open a trading office in Bulgaria.
This has been agreed during a meeting between Bulgarian Economy Minister Traicho Traikov and two of the Vice Presidents of Caterpillar, Tana Utley and Gregory Folly.
Traikov, who is on a several-day visit to Canada and the United States, has had a busy schedule.
His meeting with the Caterpillar managers focused...
Bulgaria's Economy Minister, Traicho Traikov, has had important meetings in the USA including with Boeing, Motorola, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Bank among others.
During talks with Boeing's top management, Traikov, who is on a several-day visit to the United States, invited the company to research opportunities for outsourcing in Bulgaria, and for taking part in the privatization of VMZ Sopot, a currently ailing military manufacturing plant which used to be one of Bulgaria's...
Defense Minister Anyu Angelov has expressed strong support for his colleague, Economy Minister Traikov, who invited US companies to consider investments in Bulgarian military plants.
Earlier on Sunday, it was announced that Traikov, who is in the US, had invited Boeing to study the opportunities for the privatization of the ailing Bulgarian military industrial giant VMZ Sopot. He also invited Motorola to establish a partnership with the Bulgarian government in the field of...
The vacancy rate of office space in Sofia is expected to rise up to 26-27% by the end of the year with the opening of new buildings, real estate consultancy Regent's Property Advisors forecasts.
Adding a significant amount of new offices to the market, the vacancy rate during the first half of the year reached levels of 22% of total stock, equaling to 253,000 sqm, data of the company shows.
The largest share of the empty offices still remains in the suburban areas of the city, but the...
Nine commercial banks will participate in a scheme for refinancing of credits for the purchase of agricultural machinery, which will begin operating from September 20, the Bulgarian Agriculture Fund announced.
The Agriculture Fund has signed contracts with DSK Bank, United Bulgarian Bank, First Investment Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, MKB Unionbank, Tokuda Bank, UniCredit Bulbank, Central Cooperative Bank and Teximbank.
The fund has envisioned BGN 40 M for farmers who have applied for free...
The increase of the Bulgarian government's share in the country's only stock exchange will lead to the sale of its majority stake to an industry investor, the bourse's executive director has admitted, confirming recent speculations.
Bulgaria raised the state's stake in the Balkan country's stock exchange as it prepares to sell its majority to an industry investor and offer the rest to the public, said Ivan Takev, the bourse's executive director, said in an interview for Bloomberg...
Bulgaria ranked first in the European Union in the number of new shopping malls in the first half of the 2010, a report by Cushman and Wakefield consultancy showed.
While in most EU member-states the number of malls is on the slide due to the global economic crisis, their construction has accelerated in Bulgaria, marking a nearly 90% increase over one year.
A similar trend is also witnessed in other Balkan states - Bosnia&Herzegovina, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia - but the growth...
Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov is on official visit to Canada, where he took part in the 21st World Energy Congress in Montreal.
Traikov met both Canadian senior state officials and high-ranking business representatives in the fields of energy, engineering and electronic industry, and transport from a number of countries.
Among the top topics discussed was the Belene NPP project, which was discussed among others with Areva Group's CEO Anne Lauveregeon.
Talks...
Representatives of the Bulgarian textile industry have stated they have been overwhelmed with orders and they had to turn down some of them due to lack of capacity.
The Bulgarian Association of Apparel and Textile Producers and Exporters has forecast a strong season and is expecting revenues, comparable to those of 2008, the Bulgarian National Radio has reported.
The VP of the Association, Bertram Rollmann, has stated that the orders in the sector increased by 18-22% for the past two...
Bulgaria aims to have a budget deficit of 2.5% of gross domestic product and a growth of 3.6% in 2011, according to a budget draft, cited by reports.
In June, the center-right cabinet revised the state budget increasing its 2010 target for deficit to 4.8% of GDP on a cash basis and 3.9% of GDP under EU accounting rules, far wider than initial estimates.
The center-right government dropped its plans for applying for ERM II after raising the alarm that the 2009 budget gap was 3.7% of gross...
The leading Bulgarian operator Mobiltel has signed pre-arrangements for the acquisition of two Bulgarian cable operators, Megalan Network and Spectrum Net.
The price of the merger is about EUR 70 M. The deal is expected to be finalized after approval by the Competition Protection Commission.
M-Tel, which is part of Telecom Austria Group, will acquire 100% of the two Internet providers. However, both companies will continue to work independently for a period of about 18 months.
"This is...
The Bulgarian National Revenue Agency (NAP) has announced tenders in some cities for properties that have been seized.
The NAP office in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Burgas has announced that it is selling a sauna, gym, cafe, underground garage, three apartments and two studios, all located in the Bansko resort.
The properties have been owned by a construction company from the Black Sea city of Nessebar, which has a debt of more than BGN 2 M to the National Revenue Agency (NAP).
The...
Bulgaria's top construction company "Glavbolgarstroy" will continue to build the southern loop of Sofia's beltway.
The company's bid for the 2.14-km section between the "Simeonovsko Shosse" boulevard and the "Mladost 4" district was the lowest among a total of 11 offers.
"Glavbolgarstroy" is prepared to build the road for BGN 37 000 B without Value Added Tax (VAT), which is 35% less than the estimated price of BGN 56 M without VAT of the State Road Agency.
Out of the 11 bidders, 5 made...
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and the Governor of the Chinese province of Guangdong Wang Yang discussed opportunities for Chinese investment in Bulgarian nuclear energy.
Mr. Wang Yang is on an official visit to Bulgaria to discuss possible Chinese investment in the country. The southern Guangdong province is China's most populous and, once rural and underdeveloped, now boasts the highest GDP of the People's Republic for 2009, totaling USD 572 B.
Last week the Guangdong city of...
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