17/05/2012

Erste Group Bank AG, one of the four biggest lenders in the former communist part of Europe, keeps Bulgaria in its plans, but in the longer term, its chief executive has said. "If we look into the long term, the market we have to move into urgently - and urgently means for me sometime in the next 25 years - is Poland," Chief Executive Andreas Treichl said in response to a question after a meeting of the shareholders on Tuesday, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

16/05/2012

Delayed salaries and unemployment are the most common causes of late payments of debts, according to the Association of Collection Agencies in Bulgaria (ACAB). According to ACAB statistics, 42% of the respondents cited the untimely payment of salaries as the reason for delaying the settlement of debts in 2012. In 2011, 44% of the respondents attributed late payments to the irregular payment of their salaries, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

15/05/2012

Bulgaria's Defense Ministry is about to sell a number of potentially attractive real estate properties, according to reports. The Bulgarian government is about to approve the sale of 18 military properties that are said to be no longer needed by the military, Mediapool reported Monday. Only one of the properties – a plot of 1.5 million square meters with 9 buildings located in the village of Banevo, Burgas District – is said to be worth over BGN 23 M, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

14/05/2012

Bulgaria's energy sector is a mix of a number of success stories and shortcomings and hurdles, it emerged during a panel discussion held in the frame of the first Bulgaria: Business UP investment conference. Energy effectiveness is a global issue and a priority even in the most developed industrial countries in the world all while Bulgaria is lagging at the bottom of the EU by its energy effectiveness, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

11/05/2012

Bulgaria should prudently increase the fiscal reserve and steer clear of reducing it, IMF mission has concluded at the end of its visit here. "Fiscal buffers need to be raised to safeguard resilience. At this juncture, it would be prudent to increase the fiscal reserve, and to avoid steps that would reduce it," IMF mission chief Catriona Purfield said in a statement, Darik Radio announced.

09/05/2012

Bulgaria's Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski has invited companies from Israel to take part in tenders for the construction of transport infrastructure in the country. Moskovski has also invited Israeli firms to participate in tenders for the concession of Bulgarian ports and airports, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

07/05/2012

A total of 15 companies have made bids in the tender for the engineering and construction of the southwestern Bulgarian highway Struma (running from Sofia to the Greek border), including several unexpected first-timers, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

04/05/2012

One of every five Bulgarians or a total of 1.35 million people (nearly 20%) have a college degree, according to the February 2011 Population Census results. The data was published Thursday by the country's National Statistics Institute, NSI, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote. Bulgarians with high school education are 2. 9 million (43.4%). The proportion of persons with elementary or lower education is 13.9% (or every seventh in 100).

03/05/2012

Bulgarian bankers are seeing an unprecedented rush of clients, who want to pay off their loans in advance, prompted by uncertainty about their job and incomes in the coming months. "People and companies, who have had a good credit history, do not hesitate to tighten their belts further in order to pay off their mortgage or loan early. We have never seen before this phenomenon on such a massive scale," Petar Andronov, CEO of Cibank, said in an interview for Stantard daiy, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

02/05/2012

Archaeologists working along the route of Bulgaria’s Struma Motorway, which when completed will lead from capital city Sofia to the Greek border, have found a necropolis estimated to date back about 2800 years, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television said on May 1 2012, The Sofia Echo wrote.

27/04/2012

Hungarian energy company MOL is ready to sell its stake in the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project, it was made clear on Thursday. "We have signalled that we are ready to sell our shares if necessary...we merely had to send a very very strong signal now that we are not willing to finance this any longer," MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi told reporters on Thursday, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

26/04/2012

The Anglo-American School of Sofia has been awarded LEED EBOM gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the first school building in Bulgaria and the third K-12 School outside of the US to gain such an accolade. LEED is the USGBC’s leading rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient and high performing buildings, The Sofia Echo wrote.

25/04/2012

Fuel prices in Bulgaria will stabilize around their current levels, according to Delyan Dobrev, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism. In a Tuesday interview for private TV station Nova TV, he explained that high fuel prices were driven by the cost of crude oil on international markets and the high excise tax rates in the EU, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

24/04/2012

Bulgaria’s banking system is stable even though it is now third in the European Union in the rate of bad loans, after bad loans had risen to close to 15 per cent year-on-year at the end of 2011, according to International Monetary Fund figures. The rate of bad loans, which at the end of 2011 added up to about 8.3 billion leva (about 4.1 billion euro) put Bulgaria almost on a par with Romania, Greece, Ireland, Latvia and Lithuania, Darik Radio said, The Sofia Echo wrote.

20/04/2012

Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev has inaugurated a command center of HP at the Sofia Business Park. The new command center in Bulgaria for technological processes is HP's second globally, according to TechNews, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

19/04/2012

The newly established Association of Bulgarian Exporters (ABE), which brings together companies generating about 25% of the country's total exports, has emphasized the need for a national strategy for the development of the sector. Krasimir Dachev, Deputy Chair of the ABE, stated Wednesday that Bulgaria's exports in 2012 were hardly likely to reach the levels of 2011, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

18/04/2012

A new regulation that would extend and strengthen the European Union's retail price controls on mobile phone roaming charges and caps on Internet fees for traveling smart-phone users could just mean consumers will take the hit with other mobile services, industry insiders say, The Sofia Echo wrote.

17/04/2012

Tobacco production in Bulgaria is expected to grow by 20-40% in 2012, according to Tsvetan Filev, Chair of the National Association of Tobacco Producers (NATP). In a Friday interview for Darik Radio-Shumen, he explained that the increase had been made possible by a set of amendments to the Tobacco and Tobacco Products Act aimed at achieving a liberalization of the market and the removal of the licensing regime, as a result of which prices had risen by 40-50% in 2011, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

09/04/2012

Three investors are bidding to buy Bulgaria's major Lead and Zinc Complex (OTZK), Bulgarian Finance Minister Simeon Djankov has announced. The three likely buyers of the highly-troubled metallurgical giant – which is Bulgaria's major producer of non-ferrous metals – are two foreign companies and one Bulgarian firm, Djankov said but refused to reveal their names, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.

06/04/2012

Lukoil Bulgaria CEO Valentin Zlatev has vowed that the company is ready to work at a zero profit in the case of a dramatic spike in fuel prices. Zlatev's comments came on the heels of a Friday meeting with Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev and Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) wrote.