The shareholders and project company of Nabucco have singed a mandate letter with three international financial institutions for the appraisal of the future natural gas transit pipeline, which has been hailed as a key step towards its successful construction.
The signing of the mandate letter of the shareholders and Nabucco Gas Pipeline International with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and IFC - a member of the World Bank...
In late November, the owners of one of the biggest family companies in the world, including Bonnier Group, Lombard Odier, IMD Group, will arrive in Bulgaria. The reason for their visit to Bulgaria is the forthcoming meeting in Sofia of the Board of Directors of the Family Business Network (FBN) International, whose members include 3,200 different companies from over 50 countries. This was announced by the Chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Family Business (FBN - Bulgaria), Hristo Iliev at...
Russian Investment funds show increased and growing interest in Bulgarian SPA centers both on the Black Sea coast and inside the country.
The information was reported by the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Tuesday, citing the President of the Bulgarian branch of the international real estate federation FIABCI, who said Russian investors are inquiring about possibility to purchase entire complexes at once.
According to the President, this a a new trend to replace individual private Russian...
UDF (Union of Democratic Forces) will propose a fiscal board to be introduced in Bulgaria, stated yesterday UDF Chairman Martin Dimitrov after a meeting of the National Executive Council. He added that this could happen only after the Law for the Structure of the State Budget and the Constitution were amended.
Dimitrov explained that the introduction of the Board will lead to the reduction of interest rates, increased foreign investments and GDP growth. The UDF leader called on Finance...
The Executive Agency for Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EAPSMEs) will allocate more than BGN 3 mln to organize business missions by 2012. The aim is to help firms with export potential to establish contacts abroad. An analysis is yet to be made which countries the business delegations will visit. Germany, Austria, Russia and India are currently being discussed. Groups of 20 Bulgarian businessmen (one from every company) will visit not only the capitals, but also other regions...
Rental levels in Bulgaria have tracked sideways in mid-2010 as the impact of softness in demand had been offset by the effect of restricted new supply, according to global research outfit Business Monitor International (BMI).
Surprisingly, BMI country sources expect modest rises in rents in Sofia and Varna and forecast that rental yields will continue to track sideways over the next year or so, as movements in rents are matched by changes in capital values.
At the beginning of 2010 rents...
The Bulgarian government is going to receive a dividend of BGN 41 M from the Czech-owned power utility CEZ Bulgaria.
This has become clear Monday after a meeting of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov with Jan Vavera, regional manager of CEZ for Bulgaria, which was also attended by Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, Traicho Traikov, and Deputy Environment Minister Evdokiya Maneva as well as the head of Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), Angel...
The administration of the western Bulgarian city of Pernik has renewed its initiative for a connection to subway of the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
On Monday, the Deputy District Governor of Pernik, Radoslav Yordanov, announced that the local authorities have renewed their talks with the central government for the building of a new train station that will provide a connection between the Pernik-Sofia rail line and the Sofia subway.
Monday's talks were held with Deputy Transport Minister...
Greek investment fund Bluehouse Capital is to acquire four properties of Sofia-based ERG Capital 1 and ERG Capital 2 REITs in a EUR 27 M deal, according to media reports.
Bluehouse Capital has already signed preliminary contracts with the two companies, majority-owned by the Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund (BAEF), Dnevnik daily reported, citing insiders to the negotiations.
The Bulgarian subsidiary of real estate consultants Colliers International has been picked as consultant on the...
The three biggest Bulgarian banks have put up for public sale seized real estates worth BGN 32,449 mln, shows an inspection of Klassa on the websites of the leading financial institutions. DSK Bank is the winner in assets declared for sale. The financial institution has offered to the market immovables worth BGN 23.16 mln. UniCredit Bulbank ranked second in assets worth BGN 5.678 mln put up for tender, followed by the UBB with seized real estates worth BGN 3.606 mln.
According to the...
Bulgaria's Boyko Borisov opened a much-advertised station for purification of waste waters near the central town of Sopot.
BGN 18 M were invested in the new facility, with BGN 4 M of these coming from the state budget, and the rest from EU Operational Program "Environment".
Borisov declared that the purified water had better drinking qualities than the tap water in the entire region. The purification station will serve 12 000 people in Sopot.
According to the Veselin Lichev, Mayor of...
In August 2010, Bulgaria had an unemployment rate of 9.14%, announced Labor Minister Totyu Mladenov.
The Minister pointed out on Sunday that after the Bulgarian unemployment peaked in February 2010 at 10.2%, it has been decreasing slowly but steadily in the last 6 months, with 40 000 Bulgarians starting new jobs in that period. In July Bulgaria's unemployment rate was 9.23%.
Mladenov said 9 000 people will be appointed as personal assistants to people with disabilities as of October...
CEO of Enel SpA, Fulvio Conti, has said the Italian company will sell its stake in Bulgaria's Maritsa East 3 power plant in the fall of 2010.
Conti has made it clear, as cited by Bloomberg, that Enel plans to sell gas distribution assets in Spain by September, and its Bulgarian coal-fired power plant shortly after that.
Bloomberg reminds that Enel is selling assets to help reduce debt by EUR 45 B in 2010. The Rome-based company said in May it planned to sell EUR 7 B of assets including a...
For the first time since end-2009, Bulgarian mutual funds experienced pick-up in the volume of managed assets, posting a 4% rise to BGN 618 million in August.
The figure represents a BGN 26 million increase on the July level, shows data by the Bulgarian Association of Asset Management Companies (BAAMC) and market players.
Domestic schemes attracted approximately BGN 8 million in fresh assets in the eight month of the year, with foreign schemes, led by Pioneer, scooping up around BGN 18...
Bluehouse Capital, the Greek private equity real estate investment management firm with a focus in the property markets of South East Europe, is the investor that will pay EUR 27 million to acquire the four properties of Bulgarian real estate investment trusts (REITs) ERG Capital 1 and 2, sources close to the negotiations told Dnevnik.
The Greek company has already signed preliminary accords with the REITs, owned by Bulgarian American Investment Fund (BAIF).
On Wednesday, BAIF officially...
Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov formally launched the construction of the last section of the Trakiya Highway, the first highway to run from Sofia to the Black Sea coast.
"There are 7 highway projects in Bulgaria. We will built three highways by the end of our first term (2013 – editor's note), and four highways in our next term," declared Borisov near Yambol at the groundbreaking ceremony of Lot 4, Trakiya's last section linking the city of Yambol and the town of Karnobat.
The PM...
The European Commission has expressed optimism about the potential of Bulgaria's economy to rebound as officials figures confirmed that the eurozone economy grew by 1% between April and June.
"Bulgaria does not threaten the stability of the European economy and the European Commission is upbeat about its recovery," Amadeu Altafaj, spokesman of the European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, told the Bulgarian National Radio on Thursday.
The statement followed the...
Bulgaria's finance minister has assured that the country will have no need to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund over a bailout loan for its ailing economy in the next two years.
"There will be no need for a loan not only this year, but the next two years as well," Minister Simeon Djankov said on Thursday.
"In terms of its economic policy the Bulgarian government is doing just as fine as the bigger part of the EU member states," he said, adding that he expects to see a return...
The first day of September spurred drowsy investors on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) into action with a bunch of exciting corporate news.
ERG Capital 1 and ERG Capital 2, the real estate investment trusts (REITs) of Bulgarian American Credit Bank (BACB), gained 36.92% to BGN 3.56, and 47.17% to BGN 3.90, respectively. But volumes were a slim 500 and 1,000, respectively.
BACB itself advanced by 2.95% to BGN 11.20 apiece on expectations of a possible sell-off after current majority...
EU-financed projects worth more than BGN 2 million should be considered first-class investments, a move that would double the speed of administrative servicing, according to Tomislav Donchev, Bulgaria’s minister in charge of EU funds absorption.
Alongside fast-track administrative support, Bulgaria’s first-class investors also get the right to purchase state property with no tender of competition as well as receive government assistance in infrastructure development adjoining their...
Bulgaria Translation