The Bulgarian and Russian governments have formally agreed to set up the South Stream pipeline joint venture by November 15, according to information from the Russian cabinet.
This was agreed during a phone conversation between the two countries PMs, Boyko Borisov and Vladimir Putin. Borisov and Putin expressed satisfaction at the way the joint work on South Stream is progressing.
The South Stream gas transit pipeline is supposed to be ready by 2015. Its construction is expected to cost...
Musala Soft, a leading Bulgarian software company, announced it is participating in a project for leading Qatar telecom QTel.
Experts of Musala Soft, in conjunction with partners from US-based TIBCO, are working to improve and integrate functionalities in the QTel system.
Musala Soft president Elena Marinova comments that this is a part of an expansion campaign to the Middle East and the rest of Asia.
"The global economic environment is a stimulus for controlled investment and...
Bulgaria's Economy Ministry is planning to present the country as a destination at the Romanian Tourism Fair 2010.
The international tourist expo will take place in the Romanian capital Bucharest on October 21-24, 2010.
It is usually attended by over 30 000 businesspeople from the tourism sector.
Bulgaria will take part in the Romanian Tourism Fair with an information pavilion of 110 square meters.
A total of 16 Bulgarian tour operators, travel agencies, tourism organizations and...
Bulgarian Economy Ministry is launching a new national tourism campaign in December, which aims to convince Bulgarians to spend their vacation in their native country.
On Tuesday, the ministry announced that the campaign will be presented by TV channels, radios, print editions and popular websites. There will also be ads in the centers of the cities and on key roads.
Deputy Economy Minister, Ivo Marinov, has explained that the campaign will be financed under the EU program "Regional...
The operator of the airports in the Bulgarian Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas "Fraport Twin Star Airport Management" is looking for anti-terrorism insurance.
Fraport will select the bidder with the lowest price offer. Varna airport has an insurance policy limit of EUR 51 000 and Burgas – of EUR 60 000. The combined limit for the stored fuel is EUR 927 000.
The policy will have a one year term; will start on February 1, 2011, and its value is estimated at BNG 150 000.
The...
The Slovenian company Mercator is going to invest EUR 80 M in a store chain in Bulgaria by 2012.
Mercator-B EOOD, which is Mercator's local subsidiary, announced Wednesday that it has put EUR 4 M into the opening of the first "Roda" megamarket in Bulgaria.
The Roda store in Sofia is scheduled to open next week on an area of 4000 square meters; it will employ 100 people, announced Branko Micic, manager in Mercator-B EOOD.
By the end of 2010, the Slovenian company plans a total...
After a period of relatively low activity, the Bulgarian capital Sofia is seeing signs of recovery in the office market, according to a survey by Colliers International.
The net absorption for the first half of 2010 has marked a 27% increase compared to the previous six months, the most active companies being mainly from the telecom, outsourcing and IT sectors, shows data of Colliers International.
The vacancy level has reached 21% of the total stock and was higher in Class A than Class B...
Britain's JKX Oil & Gas said the Shkorpilovtci South West R-01 exploration well in east Bulgaria spudded successfully on October 17.
The company noted that the well is targeting an amplitude supported channel sand complex of late Eocene age.
Results from the well, which will drill to a proposed total depth of 900m, are expected in early November.
Prospective resources for this feature are estimated at 20-30 Bcf (gross).
Earlier this month the British company, operator of the...
Bulgaria ranks fifth in the world in quality of broadband Internet, according to results of a research by Cisco Systems Inc, conducted by the Oxford University.
The first four places are taken by South Korea, Japan and Sweden, while countries like Finland, Romania and Denmark are placed after Bulgaria.
Among the cities, Sofia ranks 11th in quality of the Internet connection, followed by Lisbon, New York City, Hong Kong, Paris and Copenhagen.
"Having in mind the Internet speed, I would...
There has been a slight raise of foreign investments in Bulgaria for August, reported the Association for the Promotion of Foreign Investments.
This information, reported by the Bulgarian National Radio, comes after a long time of steady dropping of FDIs to the crisis-hit country.
According to data from the Bulgarian National Bank, investments for the frist eight months of 2010 have been just 40% of the amount for the same period 2009 and totalled just EUR 830 M.
A large part of the...
Bulgaria and Russia have reached a serious progress in the negotiations for the South Stream gas pipeline project, Russia's Gazprom CEO, Alexei Miller, said after his meeting with Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov.
In Miller's words, a joint company will be created in November. It will be an operator of the Bulgarian part of the pipe.
Miller also said that the technical-economical job for the building of the pipe in Bulgaria will be submitted by the end of next week.
The Bulgarian Energy...
This week's signing of an agreement between Gazprom and Romania has considerably softened the stance of Bulgaria to Russian-sponsored South Stream gas pipeline project, writes Russian online edition Lenta.ru.
According to the article, this has lead to Bulgaria's taking up a more active position and signing important agreements with the Russian party Friday during the visit of Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.
The material considers a possible Romanian route of the pipe as an alternative to the...
The logistics market in Sofia region registered new stock increase of 12,684 sq.m., while the vacancy rate went up to 9.24% in the third quarter of 2010, shows a research by Forton, a property advisory company.
Thus, at present modern logistics space supply amounts to 527,434 sq.m., which represents mere 2.46% increase as compared to the second quarter of this year.
Development schemes delivered to the market include industrial projects of T-Logistics Center and BodyCar, an importer of...
Bulgaria's capital Sofia has made its way into the top ten office markets in Europe and the Middle East in terms of construction volume to be built by 2012, according to a survey by Colliers International.
Sofia ranks next to Paris, Brussels and St Petersburg since in each of these cities some 600-700 thousand square meters of office properties are being built.
The survey shows that Moscow is the leader in terms of office construction in the next two years, followed by Dubai and Abu...
Both Bulgaria and Romania might profit from South Stream, stated Bulgarian economy minister Traikov, commenting on views that the two countries are competing for a place in the Russian project.
Speaking in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, Traikov stated that there are many opportunities for the route of the South Stream pipe and that there are possibilities for branches from the main route that can lead to neighboring countries like Romania.
Friday Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller...
China's Deputy Minister of Trade Gao Hucheng was welcomed in Sofia by Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov.
Gao arrived to Bulgaria for the 14th session of the Bulgarian-Chinese Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation in his capacity as co-chair. On Bulgaria's side, the Commission is co-chaired by Deputy Economy Minster Ivo Marinov.
"Bulgaria emphasizes the importance of the project for setting up a joint industrial zone with China in Bozhurishte near Sofia," Traikov...
Bulgaria's government will make a new attempt to cut gas prices and sign a direct gas supply contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom during the one-day visit to Sofia of its chief executive officer Alexei Miller.
Miller will hold talks with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov.
Minister Traikov negotiated a gas price reduction during his talks with Russian officials in July and forecast that prices for industry and households will be "a few...
The Bulgarian economy will contract by 0.3% this year and grow by 2.5% in 2011, according to Bulgaria's Postbank, controlled by Greek EFG Eurobank.
The bank projects Bulgaria's inflation rate to reach 3% this year and mark a slight decrease to 2.7% in 2011.
"The real estate and construction sectors are no longer the drivers of Bulgaria's economy. Exports and tourism are the leading sectors now," says Anthony Hassiotis, the Country Manager for the six affiliated companies of the Eurobank...
The passengers traffic at the Bulgarian Sofia Airport increased by 9,6% in September, year-on-year, reaching a total of 310,000 passengers, officials from the airport have announced.
The increase of international flights passengers was 13%, while the growth of people attending internal flights was 9%.
The total number of arriving and departure flights in September was 4228, which is an 8,2% increase in comparison to the same month in 2009.
A growth by 11,1% was also registered in...
The Bulgarian Cabinet has approved draft amendments to extend by 6 months the legal deadline for the campaign to register anew all firms in the country.
Under the Commercial Register Act changes adopted in 2008, all active legal companies in Bulgaria are required to make new registration with the Registry Agency so that inactive and "ghost" firms can be eliminated from the entries.
Less than three months before the deadline about 285 000 firms renewed their registration, in addition to...
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