By the end of 2010, Bulgaria will likely have attracted a total of EUR 2 B in foreign direct investments, forecast Borislav Stefanov, head of the InvestBulgaria Agency.
This development would still be a substantial decline as in 2009 Bulgaria attracted a total of EUR 3.2 B of foreign investments, not to mention a comparison with the pre-crisis years: EUR 6 B in 2008, and EUR 9 B in the record 2007.
The top sectors that have drawn foreign direct investments in Bulgaria to date are the...
The town council of Bulgaria's Black Sea resort Nessebar has effectively saved its UNESCO-recognized Old Town from destruction over the construction of a dolphinarium.
The Nessebar Dolphinarium saga finally ended on Thursday, after the town councilors approved the settlement between the municipality and Festa Holding, a private company which planned to build a dolphinarium on the small Black Sea peninsula harboring the Old Town, an UNESCO World Heritage site.
In a special press statement,...
The Czech-owned electric power utility CEZ, servicing western Bulgaria, announces BGN 2.9 M in new investments in their network.
The money is slated for repairs and improvements of the network and preparation for the winter tourist season.
The largest investment project, to be launched in October, is planned for the resort village of Ribaritsa where nearly BGN 900 000 would be used for network reconstruction.
The company's management point out the resort has many hotels while the...
Russian energy giant Gazprom has practically renewed its threat to replace Bulgaria with Romania as the primary transit hub of the South Stream gas pipeline.
This view is expressed in an article of the Russian business newspaper RBK Daily entitled "Gazprom Threatens Bulgaria Again."
The paper points out that Wednesday's news of Gazprom signing a memorandum of mutual understanding with Romania's company Transgas are a clear sign that Russia could decide to go for picking Romania as a...
More than 400 businesspeople have given the start of Confindustria Balcani, the Balkan association of Italian companies, at a special ceremony in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
The ceremony marked the first session ever of Confindustria Balcani, the union of Italian business associations in the Balkan countries, that took place in Sofia on Wednesday.
The brand-new federation brings together Italian entrepreneurs operating in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia,...
The following sample of random ads is shown with the sole purpose to demonstrate price levels for certain types of properties throughout Bulgaria. These offers are dated Oct...
Bulgaria's prime minister has described taxes in his country, which has a flat tax applicable for all income levels and one of the lowest effective rates in the world, as "fantastic".
"Bulgaria has at the moment low, favorable, fantastic tax rates. I would have rather expected our employers and businessmen to take every care that nothing bad is said about the government," Boyko Borisov told his ministers, according to the shorthand from their meeting on Wednesday.
"Given the conditions of...
Bulgaria's Varna has hosted the first ever annual conference of the Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents (FONASBA) to take place in the Black Sea region.
Over 80 ship brokers from 50 countries have come together for the 41st annual conference of FONASBA taking place in the Golden Sands resort near Varna October 11-15, 2010.
"The international ship transport sector is overcoming the crisis. Each day we say signs that the shipping industry is getting beyond the...
An agreement for the avoidance of double taxation between Bulgaria and Brazil is believed to boost the economic ties between the two countries.
This is the conclusion of a meeting of Bulgaria's Honorary Consul in Brazil Joao Vaz, and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).
An agreement for the encouragement and mutual protection of investments is also said to be very important, should the two countries want to expand their economic exchange.
The BCCI thinks Bulgaria's...
The figures presented in this Factsheet are estimated average costs when setting up a business in Bulgaria. Costs are in Bulgarian Leva (BGL) and are merely a guideline. (Exchange rate USD 1=BGL 1.45, Sept...
Salaries for the positions of Senior Programmer, Sales Representative, Managing Director and a Plumber in Bulgaria are compared with those of 8 other countries....
Bulgaria's contract with Russia's Atomstroyexport, commissioned to build the planned 2,000 megawatt Belene nuclear plant on the Danube River, which has stalled over lack of funding, will be extended by six months, reports say.
Negotiations between Bulgaria's National Electricity Company NEK and Russia's Atomstroyexport are underway, but no agreement has been signed yet, local Standart daily reported.
The talks will yield their first results next week, according to the report.
The...
In August, the construction production in Bulgaria is up in comparison to previous month, but is still down on annual basis, statistics show.
According to preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI), the production in the construction sector increased by 1,6% in August, in comparison to July.
However, the sector registered a decrease of 11,6%, year-on-year.
The August the volume of retail trade, except cars and motorcycles trade, dropped down by 0,3% from the previous...
Bulgaria's export has again registered a substantial growth in August, 2010, on annual basis, data published Monday by the National Statistics Institute shows.
The export was up 32.2% compared to August, 2009, reaching BNG 2.8 B.
In August, Bulgaria has a surplus in its trade balance of BGN 51.4 M, but it has been negative in the first 8 months of the year by BGN 2.6 B.
The export of Bulgarian companies is growing with double digits since the beginning of the year, seen by experts as a...
Bulgaria's Lyulin highway is 82% ready, the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Minister on Regional Development, Rosen Plevneliev, have announced.
The two have made an official check on the construction of Lyulin highway on Sunday and announced the launching of new lanes at the Daskalovo road junction, which aim at easing the traffic.
"Half of Lyulin highway was made for six months, while one third of it was made for three years," Borisov said.
In September, the Bulgarian Road...
The German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce has presented to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Sofia a plan for doubling the German investments in Bulgaria and the bilateral trade by 2015.
Mitko Vasilev, Chief Manager of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DBIHK), presented the "Action Plan 2015" to the German Chancellor at a business forum in Sofia Monday night organized in connection with Merkel's first ever visit to Bulgaria.
Merkel was the keynote speaker...
China has suggested to Bulgaria to increase the marketing and advertising of its goods in China, in order to boost the consumers' interest.
The suggestion was made Monday by Wan Jifei, the Chair of the China Council for the Promotion of International trade.
He is leading a Chinese delegation, which participates in a joint forum with Bulgarian companies, organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTPP).
According to Jifei, Bulgarian producers should participate in...
The number of new cars sold on the Bulgarian in the first nine months of 2010 declined by almost 40% year-on-year.
According to the Association of Car Producers and Importers, a total of 13 189 new cars were sold in Bulgaria in January-September compared with 20 729 in the first three quarters of 2009.
Toyota was the most popular brand on the Bulgarian market of new cars in that period with 1 450 sales, followed by Ford – 1 262, Volkswagen – 1 172, Peugeot – 1 032, Dacia – 912,...
Bulgaria Translation