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...
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...
Part of the deductions of the business sector for local taxes should be granted for investments in the Bulgarian resorts - this is one of the proposals for amendments to the legislation drawn by the Union of Owners of Sunny Beach (UOSB) and the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association. According to Elena Ivanova, UOSB Chairwoman, in the first place, certain criteria should be prepared and they should determine which resorts are national resorts. Currently, they are defined as settlements of...
Britain's JKX Oil & Gas, the operator of the B1-Golitza license in Bulgaria, began on Thursday a two-well drill program in the country to test targets with an estimated resource of up to 60 billion cubic feet (Bcf).
The Staro Oryahovo South R-1 well will be drilled to test a submarine fan target of Eocene age in the Kamchia Basin, south west of Varna, Bulgaria.
Drilling is planned to complete by the end of September when the rig will move to the Shkorpilovtci South West R2 location, 5km...
Bulgaria's prime minister will launch the construction works of the last section of Trakiya highway, linking the city of Yambol and the town of Karnobat, with a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday.
The Bulgarian Road Infrastructure picked "Holding Roads" as winner in the tender for building of the 49km section of Trakiya Highway, also known as Lot 4.
The offer of the Bulgarian company is BGN 174,705,600 M, VAT excluded.
Bulgaria's tie-in "Unified Highway Trace" won the tender for the...
The Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) turned green on Wednesday amid a slight uptick in trading activity.
Meanwhile, global markets remained bloody red, not buying promises by both lawmakers and financiers they would do whatever is necessary to shore up economic recovery.
In Sofia, the broader BG40 index was the best performer with a 1.21% rise to 111.95 points as the others inched up by some 0.5%.
The main contributors were liquid stocks such as Synergon holding and Corporate Commercial...
The Romanian unit of energy company GDF Suez has submitted an application for a licence to enter the Bulgarian power market, the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) said on Tuesday.
The company explained the timing has to do with the pick-up the market is experiencing at the moment, noting that it plans to sell electricity oversees and not in Bulgaria.
Plans call for purchasing power from Bulgarian generators and sell it on in Romania, Greece and Turkey.
In a report...
The mintage of the coin is 5000 pieces. The coin surprised collectors with it sporting a gold plated design, while previous announcements did not hint that such will be available. The interesting fact here is this will be the lowest ever mintage for a Bulgarian gold plated coin.
The coin has an interesting, original and different design. We expect a serious interest in it by Bulgarian commemorative coin collectors.
The obverse of the coin features the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank...
Bulgaria will inquire with the European Commission whether it would be possible to provide free quotas of greenhouse gas emissions from the State reserve for new market entrants to Brikel TPP (Thermoelectric Power Plant ) in order to enable the company to continue operating. The issue was discussed at a meeting attended by Traicho Traikov, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Nona Karadjova, Minister of Environment and Water, trade unions and the businessman Hristo Kovachki...
Western Bulgaria and the energy sector are most attractive for investments, shows an analysis of InvestNet.bg – the Bulgarian investment and business network. Information activities and telecommunications are also attractive to businesses and the health care sector is next in the ranking.
A pilot study for the third quarter of 2010, shows that the investment activity in the country is unlikely to improve before the end of the year. Entrepreneurs described the high unemployment, the...
The Bulgarian Chimimport Holding group has registered a 3% growth in net profits for the first half of 2010 notwithstanding greatly decreased revenue for the period.
Chimimport has registered a 20% drop in income due to shrinking in its non-financial activities, especially in transportation, which has shrunk 14%.
In the transportation sector, Chimimport holds Bulgaria Air, Hemus Air and Air Ban.
Revenue from interest and insurance on the other hand has grown, mostly from Armeec...
There is no difference in the expenses made for buying an office by a mortgage in Bulgaria and leasing it, according to non-banking financial institution Creditex, part of the Bulgarian unit of Dutch-based TBI Financial Services.
The company anticipates pick-up in the Bulgarian business property market due to changes in the ratio between selling prices and rents.
Around 16 percent of Creditex’ loan portfolio covers investment properties. While lease prices are lower than in 2008 and...
Bulgartabac, Bulgaria's state tobacco company, has registered a 165.93% increase in net profit for the first half of 2010 in comparison with the same period last year.
Bulgartabac's financial statements attribute that to considerable increase in exports and optimization of costs.
Net profits for the first half of 2010 amount to BGN 7.5 M, with more than five-sixths of the production going for exports.
Exports have increased 56% in volume and about 80% in terms of revenue.
Sales for...
Bulgaria Translation