Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and Regional Minister, Rosen Plevneliev, are breaking Sunday the ground of the road junction Burgas - Sozopol and of the road Burgas - Sredets.
The contractor is the Varna-based "Hidrostroy." The project is being realized under the "Transit Roads V" program, with a loan from the European Investment Bank and through State financing. Its value is estimated at EUR 4.2 M without Value Added Tax (VAT).
Construction control, for the cost of BGN 148 000,...
SmartSoft, a Varna-based Bulgarian developer, has announced the launch of its new optical character recognition software called SmartOCR.
In a company statement, SmartSoft has pointed out that SmartOCR, a software application which delivers SmartSoft's optical character recognition technology, enables users to turn scanned paper documents and screenshots into fully editable and searchable digital files.
The companies says that the patent-pending SmartOCR technology delivers accuracy rates...
Bulgaria's first and biggest mobile operator M-Tel has wrapped up the deal for the acquisition of cable operators Megalan Network and Spectrum Net, it said in a statement.
The price of the deal, which was announced in the middle of September, is EUR 83 M.
M-Tel, which is part of Telecom Austria Group, acquired 100% of the two Internet providers. However, both companies will continue to work independently for a period of about 18 months.
With the acquisition of the two cable operators,...
China's National Nuclear Corporation has reportedly voiced interest in the building of a seventh unit at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant, the closure of which was one of the conditions for the country's EU accession.
Representatives of the company have visited the site of the nuclear plant at the beginning of this week, local Standard daily reported, citing undisclosed sources.
Bulgaria's new center-right government of GERB party announced at the end of November last year that it...
Bulgaria's Ministry of Agriculture and Foods will organize the "Days of Bulgarian Business" in Jordan.
The business forum and expo focused on trade in agricultural products will take place March 26-29, 2011, in Jordan's capital Amman.
The project was announced Thursday at a meeting of Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov and Hassan Barmaui, Honorary Consul of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Sofia.
"This will be a great opportunity for Bulgarian products on Jordan's...
The creation of Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) was adopted at second reading by the Parliament on Thursday.
The agency will start functioning as soon as the text is published in the Bulgarian State Gazette, which was expected to happen by January 1.
The voting for the text began in the end of 2010 and it delayed the launching of the new institution, which will include the currently existing National Veterinary Service, National Plant Protection Service, National Grain and Grain...
A German company will build a wind generator park consisting of 30 wind turbines near the Southwestern Bulgarian town of Straldzha.
Mitko Andonov, Mayor of the Straldzha municipality has signed an initial contract giving the construction rights to the German company PNE Wind.
The final aim of the project is the construction of 30 turbines near the village of Kamenets with a total capacity of 54...
The Bulgarian banking system is concentrated, with most of the system's assets owned by large Western European institutions with a strong presence in South Eastern Europe.
The information was reported in a review released by Moody's Investor Service Thursday.
"Competition in the market remains strong, particularly given Bulgaria's current economic downturn, as all the banks find it increasingly difficult to find good-quality lending opportunities to grow their business," the analysis...
Bulgaria has moved up to the 60th position in the 2011 Economic Freedom Index compiled by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.
The Balkan country is one place behind Panama and one ahead of Kuwait. Romania is ranked 63rd.
Bulgaria's overall economic freedom score is 64.9, ranking it 60th freest in the 2011 Index. It indicates a 2.6 points increase, reflecting gains in seven of the 10 economic freedom categories. Bulgaria is ranked 26th out of 43 countries in the Europe...
Bulgaria registered a budget deficit of 3.9% in 2010 instead of the forecast 4.8%, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry.
According to estimates of the Finance Ministry, Bulgaria's deficit under the consolidated fiscal framework on cash basis was BGN 2.8 B in 2010, or 3.9%.
The accrual deficit, which is measured according to EU accounting rules, was 3.6%. According to Bulgaria's revised 2010 State Budget Act approved in June, the expected 2010 budget...
Bulgarian consumer price inflation marked a slight decrease for the first time in 16 months to 4.5% in December on an annual basis from 4.6% in November, data of the National Statistical Institute shows.
On a monthly basis, the index inched up by 0.4%, while the annual average inflation for the last 12 months was 2.4%.
Prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco shot up by 26.4% on an annual basis, while transport charges increased by 10.1%.
Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages...
Bulgaria's real GDP, which contracted in 2009 and grew by an estimated 0.1% in 2010, is forecast to expand with an annual average growth of around 3.8% in 2011-15, according to the latest report of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
This year real GDP is expected to grow by 2.6%.
Annual inflation is forecast to increase to 3.3% in 2011 from an estimated 2.4% in 2010, before averaging around 3% in 2011-15, says the January Country report Updater for Bulgaria by The Economist's...
Every fourth office in Bulgaria's capital Sofia is vacant, according to MBL yearly office market report.
In 2010, the overall vacancy rate in class A and class B office buildings in Sofia went up to 24.3% of the overall inventory or 335 000 sq.m. New absorption amounted to 105 000 sq.m., indicating a 50% increase year on year.
The last year saw 265 500 sq.m. of new office space in Sofia, raising the total stock in the capital to 1 378 000 sq.m. Additional 250 000 sq.m. of new office space...
Bulgaria plans to sell government bonds worth BGN 1 B, down from the 2010 debt issue of BGN 1.5 B in total, as the Cabinet is seeing the Bulgarian economy return to growth, which should boost state revenues.
This has been announced by Deputy Finance Minister Boryana Pencheva in an interview for Reuters distributed by the Finance Ministry press center.
Pencheva said Bulgaria targets a 2011 government debt amounting to 18.2% of the GDP, a growth compared with the 14.6% at the end of 2010...
The Bulgarian company "Megatex" has created a screen combining LED technology with renewable solar energy, the company announced Tuesday.
"Megatex" is to launch soon on the market a LED display which has a solar charging panel inside. It is the first such product in the world.
The panel has a 5 KW power to charge the screen. The new screen will be used outdoors and can be installed on stadiums; it can be used for concerts or as a billboard. One of its great advantages is that it can be...
The Czech-owned power utility CEZ, which services western Bulgaria, officially introduced their new Regional Manager – former Czech Ambassador to Sofia, Petr Dokladal.
Dokladal was Ambassador to Sofia from 2001 to 2006, and has received Bulgaria's highest order, Stara Planina, for his service to bilateral relations. He replaces Jan Vavera, who managed the company for the last year.
CEZ announced plans to reshuffle their leadership in Bulgaria in mid-December, but the changes became...
The Swedish company Atlas Corpco is considering a plan to relocate production of light compaction equipment from Ljungby, Sweden, to the Bulgarian town of Ruse.
"The considered plan is in line with our ambition to constantly improve the operational efficiency and make sure our production is cost competitive," Bjцrn Rosengren, Atlas Corpco's Business Area President, Construction and Mining Technique, has commented on Tuesday.
The company has negotiations with unions regarding the...
Bulgaria's exports to non-EU states have increased by 46.9% year on year in the period January- November and amounted to BGN 10.7 B according to the National Statistical Institute's preliminary data.
The main trade partners of Bulgaria's main trade partners in that period have been Turkey, Serbia, Russia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, USA, Singapore and China that formed 57% of the total exports to third countries.
The exported goods to China have increased by 140.6%...
Japan is interested in expanding its imports of certain agricultural products from Bulgaria, according to Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov, who met with the new Japanese Ambassador in Sofia.
Naydenov had a meeting Monday with His Excellency Makoto Ito, the new Ambassador of Japan to Bulgaria, which served to prepare arrangements for Naydenov's visit in Japan as part of a Bulgarian government delegation later in January.
According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Foods,...
China National Electric Equipment Corporation (CNEEC) is interested in participation in projects in the Bulgarian energy sector, the company representatives have announced.
The CNEEC representatives met Monday with Bulgaria's Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov at the Council of Ministers in Sofia.
A main subject of the talks were the opportunities of participation of CNEEC in large and smaller energy projects in Bulgaria.
The Chinese specialists have...
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