Leading Bulgarian financiers have criticized the Borisov Cabinet for its response to the economic crisis while also recognizing that the government has in a way reacted to it “adequately.”
“The government has been acting adequately in a time of crisis inasmuch as it hasn't done almost anything,” economist Emil Harsev said speaking on BNT Wednesday.
He elaborated that, in his view, taking international bailout loans or other similar steps will be deadly for Bulgaria's...
The opening of the second line of the Sofia Metro in 2012 will double its load to 400 000 passengers daily, from the current 180 000, according to Sofia Mayor Fandakova.
Fandakova said upon inspecting the subway construction, that the completion of the second line should relieve the traffic in Sofia by 25%.
At present, the Sofia Metro has only one operational line from the Obelya and Lyulin quarters in the northwest to the Mladost 1 quarter in the southeast. The second line will run from...
Bulgaria’s State Commission for energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) has approved a price reduction of 5,17% for natural gas from January 1, 2011.
The news was announced after the DKEVR meeting behind closed doors Monday. The new prices will be effective for 3 months.
The cumulative decrease of natural gas price from October 1, 2010 and from January 1, 2011 is 6,11%.
The price reduction of heating and hot water is 5,1% in Sofia, 5,2% in the cities of Plovdiv and Burgas, and 5,7% in...
In 2011, priced for apartments in Bulgaria will hit bottom and go upwards by the end of the year, according to forecasts by real estate experts.
“Prices for residences in 2011 will remain at their historically low levels. We expect them to be stable in the big municipal cities. We also expect a delay in the drop of prices in the country in general,” said Teodora Dimitrova, executive director of the Bulgarian office of ERA.
Real estate agents from Elta Consult also think that drastic...
Bulgarian company IWC Bulgaria 4 owned by German Innovative Wind Concepts is planning a new wind park in the northeastern part of the country near the city of Shumen.
The park located by the Krasen Dol village will include 21 wind generators, at 2-3 MW each. The yearly turnout of energy is expected to be over 100,000 MWh.
The wind energy facility, which is expected to start working in 2013, will cost some BGN 150 M.
The Ministry of Economy and Energy has issued a "Class-A" grading of...
The southern city of Plovdiv has come up with an initiative to host a new national stadium of Bulgaria, which could be realized instead of the expensive construction of a new stadium in Sofia.
Last week Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced a plan to construct a new "National Stadium" for international matches to be located in the outskirts of the capital Sofia, near the Sofia International Airport. This project is said to rectify the present situation in which Sofia gets...
The long-anticipated construction of the railway line connecting the capitals of Bulgaria and Macedonia – which is also a major part of Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 8 – should start in 2012.
This has been forecast by Deputy Prime Minister of Macedonia, Vladimir Pesevski, in an interview for the Macedonian TV channel Alfa.
The report says the Macedonian government is optimistic that the realization of the project for a railway connection between Sofia and Skopje, which has been...
The receiver of the bankrupt Bulgarian steel factory Kremikovtzi has scheduled February 7 as the date for the third attempt to sell off the failed behemoth's assets.
Two prior auctions were held over the fall, but failed because actually no one turned out to bid for Kremikovtzi, which is considered the pride of communist-era industry in Bulgaria.
Unlike the first closed-bid auction, the second was with direct bidding. The starting price was BGN 452 414 008, down by 20% over the initial...
Bulgaria is looking at opportunities to export electricity to Lebanon, according to the Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, Traicho Traikov.
As part of a Bulgarian state delegation to Lebanon, Traikov met with Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Resource Gebran Bassil in Beirut.
Bassil has pointed out that Lebanon is planning to invest about USD 1 B in the construction of micro-hydro power plants, and Traikov has suggested that Bulgarian companies could participate in the...
Bulgarian state railway company BDZ expects to start making profit in 2015 as a result of a program of wide-ranging measures, its management announced.
In the first 11 months of 2010, BDZ improved its financial results by BGN 17 M compared with the same period of 2009, according to Vladimir Vladimir, Chair of the Board of Directors of the state-owned company.
He said that the total loss of BDZ in 2010 is expected to be down by between BGN 15 M and BGN 25 M compared with 2009. The board...
Some texts of the Social Security Act will be challenged in the Bulgarian Constitutional Court, the right-wing Blue Coalition announced Wednesday.
The Coalition is joined by the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and several independent Members of the Parliament, who want the texts declared anti-constitutional.
The co-Chair of the Blue Coalition, Ivan Kostov, announced they have been able to collect 52 signatures in...
Bulgaria is one of eight new countries that have made their way into the top 30 destinations for globally sourced activities for the period 2010-2011, all of which are in emerging markets, according to a Gartner report.
Five of the new entrants made their debut in the top thirty list (Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Colombia, Mauritius and Peru), along with three re-entrants (Panama, Sri Lanka and Turkey), shows the report entitled "The top 30 countries for globally sourced activities for the period...
The delegation of the Bulgarian Atlantic Club, which was on a week-long official visit in South Korea, has come home with several specific business projects underscoring the special interest of Korean companies in Bulgaria.
The visit of the delegation of the Bulgarian Atlantic Council to South Korea is the first of its kind in the 20-year history of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Korea.
The delegation consisting of the President of the...
The Bulgarian Postal Services have made BGN 250 000 in profits in 2010, the Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, Aleksander Tsvetkov, told the media Saturday.
Tsvetkov further pointed out the Posts have registered a loss of BGN 8 M compared to the 2010 positive result.
The Minister and his 9-year-old daughter, Mariana, sent a letter to Santa from the new postal services counter at the "Opalchenska" metro stop in Sofia. A new postal branch is also open at the...
Bulgaria has registered the highest year-on-year growth of its exports of all EU 27 countries in the first nine months of 2010, according to latest Eurostat data.
Bulgaria's exports grew by 33% in January-September 2010 compared with the same period of 2009. It is followed by Latvia, whose exports grew by 29% year-on-year, Lithuania (28%), Estonia (28%), and Romania (26%).
Luxembourg is the only EU 27 country that registered a decrease of its exports in this period of -4%.
Sweden...
The Bulgarian government is the only one in Europe that reduced the tax burden in a difficult crisis year such as 2010, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said.
"There is no other government in Europe that did what we did. 2010 was a year of financial stability for Bulgaria. We did not raise the taxes, and did not decrease the pensions. There will be a reduction of the VAT rather soon in 2011. By the end of our term, there will be a second decrease of the value-added tax," Djankov promised on...
The Dzherman hydro-power plant, an investment of "Electricite de France Energies Nouvelles" (EDF EN), was formally opened in Southwestern Bulgaria on Saturday.
French energy company, which is one of the largest in Europe, has invested a total of EUR 4.16 M in the hydro-power plant.
The plant has a capacity of 3 MW; it will be producing about 10 500 MW/h of electricity a year. It was opened by Bulgaria's Economy, Energy, and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov and the new French Ambassador to...
The Business for Sale supplement of Financial Times has listed 140 Bulgarian businesses, offered for sale.
Most are real estate properties, but the offers also include companies such as a software business and even a TV channel.
Buyers are mostly attracted to hotels and family vacation homes. Listing prices are over USD 1 M to the record USD 35 M for a hotel in Bulgaria's largest summer resort "Sunny Beach.".
Properties for sale include a land plot near the Sofia airport, an office...
The Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Exim Bank) has signed a permanent cooperation agreement.
The aim of the agreement is to encourage and promote investment and trade between Bulgaria and the Republic of Korea.
The document was signed by the CEOs of BDB, Dimitar Dimitrov and Sasho Chakalski, and the President and Chairman of the Korea Exim Bank, Dongsoo Kim.
The two banks have agreed to finance projects to together and to work to boost the...
The supermarket chain Billa is opening Saturday its 20th store in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the company announced.
Billa, which is owned by German concern REWE Group, currently operates 84 outlets in Bulgaria.
The new store is located in the very heart of the capital's downtown, on 116 "Rakovski" street, near the "Slaveykov" square.
Despite being smaller than the Billa supermarkets in the suburbs, of the so-called compact type, the store will offer a variety of merchandise,...
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