Bulgaria's Electricity System Operator (ESO) has carried out an emergency export of electricity to Greece at the request of its Greek counterpart HTSO because of a strike at Greece's Public Power Corporation DEI.
Thus, Bulgaria exported extra 2200 MWh of electricity to Greece on June 20 and 21, 2011, ESO said, as cited by BTA.
Bulgaria's emergency electricity exports for Greece was executed under a preliminary mutual assistance agreement between ESO and HTSO.
Bulgaria is actually...
The price of natural gas in Bulgaria should go up by slightly over 4%, announced Tuesday Angel Semerdzhiev, head of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR).
In a media statement, the head of the energy watchdog rejected the proposal of state-owned Bulgargaz for a gas price increase of over 7% from July 01.
On June 10, Bulgargaz EAD suggested a Q3 gas price of BGN 568.92 per 1000 cu m, VAT excluded, or up by6.91% from the Q2 price approved by DKEVR.
According to...
Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry has extended the tender for the concession of Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport as no bidders have showed up within the original deadline.
The new deadline for submitting offers for the underdeveloped airport in the center of Northern Bulgaria, near Veliko Tarnovo, is October 31, 2011, the Transport Ministry announced on its website.
The same deadline has been set for the concession of the cargo terminal in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv Airport.
The news that there has...
The minimum monthly wage in Bulgaria is to go up on September 1, according to a proposal of the Finance Ministry, extended to the trade unions.
The proposal was made Tuesday during a meeting of the income subcommittee at the so-called Three-Way Council between the cabinet, the business and the labor unions.
The two main labor unions in Bulgaria – the Confederation of the Independent Syndicates (KNSB) and Podkrepa (Support) firmly reject the proposal, insisting the wage goes up on July...
Bulgaria's Sofia International Airport serviced 310 866 passengers in May, 2011, which is 11% more than the same period of 2010.
The data was reported by the airport authority Tuesday.
Since May, 2011, the Spanish Air Europa, member of the international Sky Team alliance, launched regular Thursday flights to and from Arrecife. The flights are serviced by a Boeing 737-800 with 186 seats and depart from Terminal 1.
May, 2011, saw a 27 000 increase year on year, for the number pf...
Bulgaria's gas distribution company Overgas has signed a contract with Germany's Bosch for mutual cooperation in the sphere of household gasification.
The aim is to simplify procedures and alleviate costs for connecting new consumers to the gas grid.
At present, connecting one consumer to the gas network costs around BGN 4000 and takes up to 75 days, which companies in the sector have identified as a key factor for the delayed gasification process in the country.
Starting early July,...
Some 500 hotel and restaurant owners, taxi drivers and salespeople rallied in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria's largest Black Sea resort, against regulations set by the company managing it.
The protesters demanded the immediate resignations of the management of the shareholder company owning the resort, disgruntled over what they claim are illegitimate fees for services and access to local infrastructure.
The protest was triggered by the increased fees imposed by the management for access to the...
The richest citizen of the Bulgarian town of Ruse, on the Danube, who earned BGN 3.12 M last year, has turned out to be a man from neighboring Romania, the national revenue agency announced.
The man, whose name has not been disclosed, is believed to have been lured to Bulgaria by the lower taxes, which the government has maintained at pre-recession levels.
However there is also a possibility that the Romanian is a tax fraudster as he submitted a tax declaration, but did not pay the taxes...
The subway tunnel with the largest cross section in Europe has been formally completed in the Bulgarian capital as part of the construction of the second line of the Sofia Metro.
The tunnel at Metro Station 8 of the Line II of the Sofia Metro has a cross section of 258 square meters, and is 108 meters long, 18 high, and 22 meters wide.
Metro Station 8 is the spot where the second line of the Sofia Metro will cross and inter-connect with the existing first line at its Serdica Station near...
The authorities in the Bulgarian capital Sofia are still mulling the route and type of the third line of the Sofia Metro, while the first two lines are still under construction.
Four different options for the third line of the Sofia Metro will be presented on Monday by the Czech firm Metroproekt Prague, a consultant to the Sofia Municipality, the Monitor daily reported Saturday.
The third line of the Sofia Metro is supposed to run from the southwest to the northeast of the city via the...
A waste recycling plant, an investment worth about BGN 50 M, was formally inaugurated at the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna.
The recycling factory of Ecoinvest Assets, a consortium, is located in the village of Ezerovo, 10 km east of Varna, and was opened Saturday by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
It has a built-up area of 16 000 square meters, employs 40 people, and is supposed to function for at least 25 years. It can process 140 000 tons of waste annually.
The Ecoinvest...
Bulgaria has demanded that Belene nuclear project is frozen for another three months as of July, the energy and economy minister announced on Friday.
"We have proposed a three-month delay so that we have time to catch up with the so-called back office work," Minister Traicho Traikov said at a conference about the energy infrastructure, which is taking place in Sofia.
"We need additional information about the cost of the project, because what we have received so far from the Russian side...
Bulgaria's anti-monopoly body said on Thursday it has given the green light to the sale of a 49.99% interest in Bulgarian-American Credit Bank.
Allied Irish Banks announced a month ago that it has signed an agreement to sell its 49.99% shareholding in Bulgarian-American Credit Bank AD to Clever Synergies Investment Fund (CSIF).
The deal price was not disclosed.
The deal brought back into the banking sector Bulgarian tycoon Tsvetelina Borislavova, more publicly known as the woman with...
Bulgaria's government is certain to set up a state-owned mega-company to be in charge of large-scale infrastructure projects, a somewhat controversial brainchild of Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev.
The new infrastructure company will be called State Company "Strategic Infrastructure Projects". It is to be established as on Thursday, the Bulgarian Parliament adopted amendments to the Road Traffic Act, which include provisions for its setting up.
The mega-structure will be...
The Bulgarian government of the center-right party GERB plans to raise the retirement pensions only of widows, according to the latest announcement of Finance Minister Simeon Djakov.
According to Djankov, the state budget cannot afford to raise all pensions, as Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Labor Minister Totyu Mladenov had indicated earlier.
Instead, the government is mulling upping only the so called widows' allowances. Currently, retired widows receive 20% of the pension of the late...
Bulgaria's Cabinet has formally decided to award a large-scale concession for shale gas exploration to US energy giant Chevron.
The decision was formalized by the Borisov government on Wednesday after at the end of May 2011 Bulgarian Economy, Energy, and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov announced that US energy giant Chevron landed the shale gas exploration concession with a whopping offer of EUR 30 M, snatching it from British company BNK Petroleum, which remained second in the...
The Canadian EurOmax Resources company has discovered new gold zones near the southwestern Bulgarian town of Trun during its drill program.
Results include 87 meters at 2.14 grams per tonne gold (285 feet at 0.063 oz per ton gold) in diamond drill hole MTC1174, the first hole to test the region's Ruy target, a 600 x 400 meter gold-in-soil anomaly.
"Initial results from our 2011 Drill Program at Trun are very encouraging," Dr. Quinton Hennigh, technical advisor to the company, has...
The consumer price index (CPI) in Bulgaria in May 2011, compared to April 2011, was 100%, meaning the monthly inflation was 0%.
The data was reported Tuesday by the National Statistical Institute (NSI).
The inflation rate since the beginning of the year (May 2011 compared to December 2010) was 2.6% and the annual inflation in May 2011 compared to May 2010 was 4.8%.
The annual average inflation, measured by CPI, in the last 12 months (June 2010 - May 2011) compared to the previous 12...
Bulgaria plans to put out four or five important companies for privatization, announced Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov.
"Any moment is a good one for privatization, for the state is not a good husband and owner," said Djankov for the Bulgarian National TV.
He confirmed that legislative amendments are under way in Parliament to allow the privatization of "four or five companies" which are up to now in the list of firms prohibited from privatizing.
Djankov clarified the money from...
The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Westinghouse have signed a cooperation memorandum under which the US energy giant commits to helping extend the life of Units 5 and 6 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy NPP.
The document between BEH and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (entitled "Memorandum of Understanding for the Studying of Cooperation Opportunities in Nuclear Energy") was signed Monday at the Council of Ministers in the presence of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Economy Minister...
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