A notice for the privatization of Bulgaria's former state tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac Holding is due to be published in the State Gazette on 10 May.
The promulgation will mark the start of the third official attempt to sell the state-owned stake in the company, which is expected to be successful thanks to the political consensus the deal now enjoys, the agency for privatization and post-privatization control said.
A majority stake - 79,83% - in Bulgaria's state cigarette producer...
Bulgaria's sector-based strategy for the attraction of foreign investments was presented by Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov at a forum in Sofia Tuesday.
The strategy names the fields of the economy that the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism has identified as bearing the greatest potential for stable development that will significantly contribute to growth.
"Looking for a significant boost of GDP per capita, we have accented not on sectors that will give work to a...
In April 2011, the unemployment rate stood at 9.3%, extending a downward trend from previous months, announced Labor and Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov.
According to Mladenov, as quoted by BNR, the trend should continue in the summer months due to seasonal work, subsidiary employment and the measures financed by the European Social Fund.
Minister Mladenov presented the statistics to representatives of German business in Bulgaria.
Mladenov reiterated the ambitious yet attainable...
Bulgaria and Turkey are planning the launch of a bullet train between Sofia and Edirne, according to Suleyman Karaman, Director General and Chairman of the Board of the Turkish State Railways.
Karaman told the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, transport ministers of the two countries recently held talks on the project, saying Turkey is ready with the project and is waiting for the Bulgarian side.
"Bulgarians are applying effort according to their possibilities. We insist on the realization...
Bulgaria plans to privatize the ADIS real estate agency that manages the properties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the country.
This was announced Sunday by Bulgarian Privatization Agency chief Emil Karanikolov for the Bulgarian National Radio.
"We are planning to restructure ADIS and privatize it," said Karanikolov, adding that other state companies are also planned for privatization, without naming them.
The ADIS real estate agency rents out the many diplomatic properties...
As Ryaniar's first flight from Milano to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv arrived on Saturday, its 140 passengers were welcomed with bread and salt, according to an old Bulgarian tradition.
The company will carry out regular twice-weekly flights from Milan Bergano to Plovdiv, from now on.
Until now, Ryanair performed flights from Plovdiv Airport to Stansted Airport in London twice a week - on Tuesday and on Saturday. One-way fares start from GBP 32.99 including taxes. The flights provide...
The much-anticipated EU-sponsored Nabucco gas transit pipeline will be delayed by two years, the Nabucco consortium has announced raised doubts of increasing uncertainty about the project.
Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH has pushed back the start of construction of its EUR 7.9 B pipeline to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe to 2013; thus, Nabucco is now expected to start operations in 2017 instead of 2015, as previously expected, the company said in a statement.
"The timeline...
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has completed his two-day Bulgarian visit in the southern city of Plovdiv where he was amazed at the history and architecture of the Old Town.
Ban was the guest of a formal lunch given by Plovdiv District Governor Ivan Totev in his honor on behalf of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
The UN head was fascinated with the cultural heritage of Plovdiv from Antiquity to modernity such as the amphitheater, the churches, and a number of the 19th century Bulgarian...
Representatives of Bulgarian business made Friday social commitments to the UN, in the presence of the organization's Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
The memorandum for cooperation was signed by Ban Ki-moon and the Chair of the Bulgarian network for the so-called UN Global Compact, Sasho Donchev.
The UN Secretary General, who is on a historic official 2-day visit to Bulgaria pointed out the memorandum is a serious step forward in achieving global values of stable development and...
A part of the money within EU's Operational Program Transport intended for the enhancement of Danube's shipping, will be used for the expansion of Bulgarian capital Sofia's first metro line.
Some of the BGN 138 M intended for the strengthening of Bulgaria's Danube coast will be used for the construction of the metro stretch between the Tsarigradsko Shose boulevard and Sofia's international airport, Ivaylo Moskovski, the country's Deputy Transport Minister, clarified Thursday.
The sum...
Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI), the electronics manufacturing services unit of Philippines-based company Ayala, is buying out EPIQ NV's assets in Bulgaria, Mexico, and the Czech Republic.
Ayala's IMI is buying the three EPIQ facilities for an estimated EUR 43 M in total.
In a statement, cited by ABS-CBN News, IMI said it would pay in cash and 200 million new common shares representing approximately 12% of the company after the transaction.
IMI said the acquisition, which is...
The Bulgarian National Palace of Culture (NDK) in downtown Sofia is to become a public company, the country's Council of Ministers decided Wednesday.
NDK will be a state company, initially within the Ministry of Finance, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov has explained. It will stay within the Ministry until a financial audit covering its last 10 years is carried out.
NDK is the largest multifunctional congress, conference, convention and exhibition center in Southeastern Europe. It was...
Bulgaria's Cabinet is taking steps in order to privatize the freight services of the state railway company BDZ, according to Vladimir Vladimirov, chair of the Board of Directors of the BDZ Holding.
Speaking at a railway transport forum in Sofia Wednesday, Vladimirov said the privatization of the freight and cargo services is part of the plan to restructure the notoriously troubled state railways, and will allow for improvements by private investors that the state can hardly ever carry...
The losses generated by the Bulgarian State Railways BDZ in the first quarter of 2011 declined substantially, BDZ executives announced.
The company, which is notorious for its passenger services and low efficiency, reminds that in 2010 it reduced its annual loss by BGN 17 M; i.e. it ended 2010 with a loss of BGN 47 M compared with a loss of BGN 64 M in 2009.
The upward trend of reducing losses is said to be continuing in 2011 as in the first quarter the losses of BDZ declined by BGN 7 M...
Moody's Investors Service is currently reviewing Bulgaria's credit rating and is likely to boost it, the credit agency says in a regular report cited by the Bulgarian Finance Ministry.
Bulgaria currently has a Moody's credit rating of Baa3, the same as Romania, Hungary, Croatia, and Latvia; on April 5, Moody's placed Bulgaria's Baa3 sovereign rating "on review for possible upgrade".
The Bulgarian Finance Ministry stresses that this grade "reflects Bulgaria's stable state finances and the...
Bulgarian cigarette maker King's Tobacco has confirmed its interest in the privatization of the country's state tobacco giant Bulgartabac Holding.
"Provided that we meet the requirements, we will join the competition. The requirements are pretty high because the state wants to protect the interests of tobacco producers," Boyko Kachulev, CEO of the company, commented.
The factory was part of Bulgartabac holding prior to its privatization in 2008 According to its data during the first three...
Bulgaria's newly adopted Renewable Energy Act contradicts the Constitution and EU law, and will shatter the country's energy future, according to the Bulgarian Wind Energy Association.
The Bulgarian Wind Energy Association issued Wednesday a devastatingly critical statement on the highly controversial law, whose adoption had been anticipated eagerly by hundreds of local and foreign investors only to see their hopes for facilitated investments dampened.
"We are highly disappointed with the...
Bulgarians will work to pay their taxes until May 4, 2011, according to a publication of the Institute for Market Economy.
The so-called "Tax Freedom Day" is a symbolic date when employees stop working for the State treasury and begin earning for themselves.
In Bulgaria, this day traditionally falls in May, and its earlier arrival in the last three years is attributed to the economic crisis and the wider budget gap i.e. the State seemingly takes less, but continues to spent as before by...
Two of the cars of the Chinese motor company Great Wall to be made in the Bulgarian city of Lovech made their debut, the site "Automedia.bg" informs.
The models Hover and Steed were shown for the first time over the weekend during the first round of the Bulgarian close-circuit race "Pista Litex." They were used as official automobiles of the race.
The site reports the two vehicles have generated very strong interest among the audience. This has also been the first time when the company...
The decision of Bulgaria's government to pack together its stakes at the stock exchange and the depository has sweetened the deal for the bourse, its executive director argues.
"Such bundling will sweeten the deal and will ensure that the new owner will have the freedom to define its own policy on both trading and post-trading level," Ivan Takev, CEO of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange – Sofia, said in an interview for Novinite.com.
Takev voiced confidence that Bulgaria's stock exchange,...
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