Bulgaria's exports increased by 0.9% in the first five months of 2012 year on year, while the country's imports grew by 12.1% in the same period.
In the first five months of 2012 the value of all exported goods from Bulgaria amounted to BGN 15.9 B, according to the country's National Statistical Institute.
In May 2012, Bulgaria's total exports added up to BGN 3.6 B and grew by 10.7% compared to the corresponding month of 2011.
The total value of all the goods imported in the country in...
Bulgaria's success in floating EUR 950 M worth of five-year bonds last week at a yield of only 4.25% comes close to the price higher-rated Lithuania achieved earlier this year, the finance minister has boasted.
The Lithuanian government raised EUR 400 M on international markets in April 2012 after issuing a euro-denominated bond with 4.21% yield.
"It is important to point out however that Lithuania enjoys a higher credit rating than Bulgaria's," Finance Minister Simeon Djankov...
French bank Credit Agricole has officially taken control of the Bulgarian assets of its Greek subsidiary Emporiki Bank.
The transfer of all 83 876 135 shares took place last week, data of Bulgaria's Central Depository shows.
Not that the procedure is complete, the Bulgarian unit of Emporiki Bank has direct access to funding from the French bank and will adopt the name Credit Agricole with its trademark and logo.
French bank Credit Agricole announced in the middle of June it has taken...
German discount retailer Lidl said it has expanded its chain in Bulgaria, a move that will heat up further the competition in the sector.
The new shops are located in the capital Sofia and the cities of Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora and Vratsa, bringing the total number of Lidl outlets across the country up to sixty.
Lidl opened its first fourteen stores in Bulgaria at the end of November 2010, locating them in eleven cities - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Stara Zagora, Pazardzhik, Sliven,...
Bulgaria's first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station was unveiled Monday in front of Inter Expo Center on the Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd in Sofia.
The project was initiated by a consortium called Green Energy with funding from the Global Environmental Fund's Small Grants Program and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The electric vehicle charging station, which can be used for cars, scooters and bikes, can charge one car and one scooter or bicycle at a time.
The...
Ten years after Bulgaria last appeared on the international capital market, the country made a successful comeback, but the biggest test is yet to come, according to analysts.
Bulgaria could have achieved an even better interest rate, but deliberately underestimated its prospects to please investors and lure them to subsequent issues, according to sources, cited by the local media.
Bulgaria tapped last week international markets to raise funds to repay the first tranche of about EUR 835 M...
The privatization process for VMZ Sopot, Bulgaria's largest defense industry plant, is to be launched Tuesday, according to Energy and Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev.
In a Thursday interview, he stressed that the state could no longer afford to seek money to pay the salaries of the plant's workers every other month, which was why it would go private.
Dobrev explained that the privatization strategy adopted by Parliament in 2011 envisaged a commitment for the buyer to keep the plant's...
According to flash estimates, the seasonally adjusted industrial production index in Bulgaria increased by 0.9% in May 2012, compared to April 2012.
The preliminary data was released Tuesday by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI.
In May 2012, the working day adjusted industrial production index also rose by 0.9%, compared to the same month of 2011.
In May 2012, as compared to April 2012, the seasonally adjusted Industrial Production Index in the mining and quarrying...
Bulgaria's capital Sofia slipped down one spot in the global ranking of cities with hotels with top customer satisfaction.
The rating is published by hotel.info every quarter.
Sofia is 11 with a score of 7.49 out of 10 received by customers themselves.
The respondents evaluate their stay on the basis of fulfilled expectations. They rank from 1 to 10 the hotel room, the noise level, the balance between price and quality, the staff, and the quality of food. These criteria allow some...
Bulgaria's government approved Wednesday a memorandum of understanding between Bulgaria's Executive Agency for Promotion of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Montenegro's Directorate for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.
The two sides are to cooperate on the organization of events promoting SMEs like exchange visits of entrepreneurs, arranging participations in business forums and seminars, commercial fairs, exhibitions and other activities enhancing the economic...
The delays in the construction of Lot 1 of Bulgaria's Maritsa Highway leading to the border with Turkey will be made up for, according to the Bulgarian government.
The construction of Lot 1 of the Maritsa Highway – between Orizovo and Dimitrovgrad – was inspected Wednesday by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova.
Lot 1 between Orizovo and Dimitrovgrad is 31.4-km long and is part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor connecting Central and...
Rural areas in Bulgaria are reporting peak interest in subsidized projects for the construction of photovoltaic systems.
A total of 37 photovoltaic projects were approved in the last three months, alongside subsidies of over BGN 11.6 M, according to recent statistics of Bulgaria's State Fund Agriculture cited by news portal investor.bg.
The subsidies are granted under three measures of the Rural Development Program (RDP) envisaging a diversification into non-agricultural activities,...
The citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Moldova who visited Bulgaria in 2011 can now enjoy eased visa rules for the Balkan country.
As of July 1, Bulgaria's consular offices in the aforementioned countries will issue annual multiple entry visas to all citizens who made a holiday or business trip to Bulgaria in 2011.
The candidates have to bring a photocopy of their 2011 visa.
As of January 2012, Russian holders of Schengen visas have been able to visit and stay in Bulgaria without...
Bulgaria ranks 43rd in the 2012 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) of the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) in France and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Switzerland.
Croatia ranks right before Bulgaria, while the majority of countries on the Balkans are after Bulgaria, like Montenegro (45th), Serbia (46th), Romania (52nd) and Macedonia (62nd).
The first thee places in the ranking are occupied by Switzerland, Sweden and...
Germany's importance for the Bulgarian economy is growing, Bulgarian Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev told a business forum in Berlin Tuesday.
Dobrev is part of the delegation accompanying Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev in Germany.
Speaking before 70 businesses in Berlin, he pointed to a potential German investor, a company interested in building a plant for car air conditioners in Bulgaria's Plovdiv, and noted that more and more investors are seeking to join Bulgaria's car parts...
Romanian investors are increasingly deciding to register firms in Bulgaria, the Romanian paper Ziare wrote Tuesday in a report.
Ziare points out that in 2011 the number of Romanian companies registered in Bulgaria increased by 50% year-on-year.
The report adds that the same goes for Greek investors, with the number of Greek companies in Bulgaria increasing by 72% in 2011 year-on-year reaching a total of 3 781.
The main reasons for Romanian investors to choose to start business in...
Bulgaria has set pricing on its euro-denominated, benchmark-size, five-year bond in the area of 350 basis points over midswaps, one of the banks running the deal said Monday.
BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Raiffeisen Bank International (RAIFY) are the lead managers on the issue, which is expected to price later Monday.
Bulgaria is rated Baa2 by Moody's Investor Services and BBB by Standard and Poor's Corp. Bulgaria was last in the euro-denominated bond market in 2002.
Bulgaria started on June...
One of biggest Bulgarian construction companies, Planex, has opened an office in the Romanian capital Bucharest, the company announced.
It said the move is "in line with its development plans", and that is has entered negotiations for a number of projects in Romania due by the end of the year.
„We have faith in the Bulgarian market, but at the same time, it is our responsibility to expand our opportunities. We are in process of negotiating a number of important projects in...
All trains serving the railroad line between the second largest city of Plovdiv and the town of Dimitrovgrad in southern Bulgaria can now travel with speeds up to 160 km/h.
The news was announced by Transport Minister, Ivaylo Moskovski, during the official opening of the railway section. The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn, President, Rosen Plevneliev, Regional Development Minister, Lilyana Pavlova, and...
In June 2012, the industrial confidence indicator in Bulgaria decreases by 1.1 percentage points in comparison with May.
The report on key indicators of Bulgarian economy was published Monday by the National Statistics Institute, NSI.
In April 2012, the work day adjusted Industrial Production Index rose by 0.3% as compared to the respective month of 2011 (by operative flash data estimates). An increase was recorded in 'Manufacturing' - by 4.2%, while decreases were registered in the...
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