Bulgaria is set to learn from Italy's good practices in order to develop its own equine tourism, according to Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism, Ivo Marinov.
Marinov met Friday in Sofia with Luigi Triossi, Secretary General of the International Federation of Equestrian Tourism (FITE); Alberto Spineli, Preisdent of the Italian Federation of Equestrian Tourism (FITETREC-Ante); and Fausto Faggioli, VP of the Regional Federation of Equestrian Tourism of the Italian region...
Bulgaria is about to make changes to its hotel and restaurant classification system, limiting the validity of hotel and restaurant star rating to five years.
Currently, the country's hotel and restaurant ratings are termless.
The classification procedure will be made easy for hotel and restaurant owner, Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism Ivo Marinov has promised.
Marinov has told the Focus news agency that obligatory standards will be introduced for Bulgaria's Spa...
Bulgaria's history museum has an unusual display on show: a "vampire" skeleton, discovered after the unearthing of the 800-year-old remains of two skeletons stabbed through the chest with iron rods.
Archaeologists, excavating a monastery near the Black Sea city of Sozopol, discovered the skeletons which were buried in a pagan ritual that they said was aimed at keeping the men from turning into vampires.
"To prevent suspected would-be-vampires from turning into vampires, a group of brave...
Bulgaria's Parliament decided to partially lift the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in natural gas and oil exploration and extraction.
The moratorium is only lifted as far as conventional gas extraction is concerned, Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev pointed out. The use of the hydraulic fracturing technology is still banned for shale gas activities.
"The extraction of local gas is 40% cheaper. I hope that you support this text, since it would be a clear message that we want...
Bulgaria's unemployment rate dropped to 11% in May 2012 from 11.4% the previous month, according to the country's Employment Agency.
Bulgaria's employment offices listed a total of 360 114 unemployed persons in April 2012, 13 410 fewer than a month earlier.
A total of 24 352 people found jobs over the month, a 4 213 increase year on year.
In May, more jobs became available in manufacturing, tourism and employment and programmes funded by the European Union and state budget took...
Bulgaria's Devnya-based chemical fertilisers maker Agropolychim received Thursday the long-awaited signature by Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov clearing the construction rights for the company's waste depot.
On Wednesday, the company said it was considering halting operations and laying off all of its 1100 workers because it had spent eight years trying to obtain construction rights for the facility that was essential for the plant's functioning.
In 2006, Bulgaria's Council of...
A mere 1000 (0.8%) of the total of 350 000 companies re-registered in Bulgaria's Trade Register are big (total headcount of 250+), the remaining ones being small and middle-sized, according to Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev.
The trend was highlighted Thursday at a meeting of the Economic Development and Social Policy Council at the President's Office held under the motto ""Inclusive growth: Employment and Social Inclusion".
The participants in the meeting agreed on the notion of...
The World Bank has revised sharply downwards forecasts for Bulgaria's economy, estimating it is to expand just 0.6% this year.
The bank expects Bulgaria's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 and 2014 to grow by 2.5% and 3.3% respectively.
Developing nations should brace themselves for weak growth and "tougher times", the World Bank warned.
It said that there may be "a long period of volatility in the global economy" as the eurozone debt crisis escalates.
The bank forecast that...
A new repaired and modernized section of the beltway of Bulgaria's capital Sofia is opening for traffic Wednesday.
The section is on the southern loop from the Mladost district to the exit for the suburb of Simeonovo and is over 3.5 km-long. The repair works are valued at BGN 45 M.
The new route will significantly ease-up traffic in the area because it will take both local Sofia traffic and the one coming from the Trakiya and Hemus highways in the direction of southwestern...
Bulgaria's Agency for Privatization and Post-Privatization Control has formally declared the cargo department of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) for sale.
The privatization of BDZ Freight Services, the only even remotely profitable section of the vastly indebted BDZ, has been a highly controversial matter for the past few years.
The aims of the privatization motion as recorded in the official paperwork are to preserve the business activity of BDZ Freight Services, to help modernize the...
The second bridge linking Bulgaria and Romania across the Danube has been completed at 81%, the Spanish construction firm FCC announced Monday.
The adjacent infrastructure of the Vidin-Calafat bridge has been completed more than 90%, with the so called Danube Bridge 2 expected to be fully operational at the end of 2012.
The builders have already launched into operation some of the road junction at the bridge, and have completed the international passenger and freight railway terminals in...
South Africa company ALC will open a production facility Tuesday for luxury seats and interior for BMW cars in the village of Musachevo near the town of Elin Pelin, just outside of Bulgaria's capital Sofia.
The invesment made by the company amounts to EUR 4 M, and it has opened 500 jobs, which will build seats for the luxury BMW Series 5 and 7.
South African company Automotive Leather Company (ALC) has a long tradition of working with premier car producers, such as Mercedes, Volkswagen,...
The number of Belarusian tourists in Bulgaria has doubled in May-June 2012 year-on-year, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced.
According to the Ministry, in May and early June 2012, the Bulgarian consular service in Belarus's capital Minsk issued a total of 18 500 visas compared with only 8 000 visas in the same period of 2011.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has sent 6 more employees to Minsk in order to boost its consular staff in the Belarusian capital for the period between May 13...
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Energy and Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev and Sheila Camerer, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Bulgaria, opened Tuesday a plant for luxury seats and interior for BMW cars in the village of Musachevo.
"I am really pleased to welcome investors who make plants, real production, and open job places," Borisov stated during the ceremony in the southwestern Bulgarian village.
The Prime Minister voiced hopes that the road to Musachevo would be...
Bulgaria's exports to other EU countries decreased by 4.6% year on year in the first quarter of 2012, amounting to BGN 5,4 B (approximately EUR 2,8 B), according to preliminary data.
The country's main trade partners in that period were Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece and France, forming 66.7% of its total exports to the EU member states, Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute says.
The most significant growths were observed in Bulgaria's exports to Cyprus and Portugal, while the most...
Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov has been invited to join the World Bank Knowledge Advisory Council, the press service of the Finance Ministry announced.
The World Bank Knowledge Advisory Council is supposed to advise the President and the Managing Directors of the financial institutions on matters related to the knowledge agenda.
This is said to include strategic advice on the roles the Bank plays as producer, connector and customizer of knowledge,...
Bulgaria's exports to non-EU countries decreased by 2.0% year on year in the period January-April 2012, according to preliminary data released by the country's National Statistical Institute.
Bulgaria's total exports to non-EU countries in the period amounted to BGN 4.9 B.
Turkey, China, Russia, Serbia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and United Arab Emirates formed 50.6% of Bulgaria's exports to non EU countries between January and April 2012.
The exports to United Arab...
State-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz has requested a 15.73% price increase from July 1, according to a media statement published on the company's website on Monday.
Bulgargaz bases its demand on the higher US dollar value and on the unfulfilled circumstances provided in the report of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) on gas prices from April 1.
The company further highlights the need to inject some 148.5 million cubic meters of gas into the Chiren underground...
Bulgaria's best swimmer Petar Stoychev earned a berth to London 2012 with a bronze medal finish Sunday in the men's 10-kilometre race at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swimming qualifier.
Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli won the gold medal in one hour 45 minutes 18.5 seconds. Canadian Richard Weinberger followed in 1:45:30.2 and Petar Stoychev was third in 1:45:34.1.
This will be the second time that Petar Stoychev will compete in the Olympic marathon swimming. In the previous games in Beijing in...
Sofia Airport will launch a new cargo service in May, operating the Sofia-Belgrade-Prague route.
Czech Airlines will run the cargo flights twice weekly, on Wednesday and Friday,
The cargo flights- will be executed twice weekly, on Wednesday and Friday, on an АTR72 freighter.
In May, Sofia Airport registered the highest amount of freight and postal shipments processed since the beginning of 2012, at 1441 tons, up by 6.2% from May 2011.
There was a significant 28% increase in...
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