Financial news

Nuclear power plant Kozloduy, the thermal power plants of Varna, Rousse, Bobov Dol and Maritsa Iztok 2 and the seven local electricity distribution companies have asked the State Energy Regulatory Commission (SERC) to approve higher electricity prices and higher fees charged from the National Electricity Transmission Company (NETC) for having their capacity at its disposal on standby.  Under the effective legislation, SERC semi-annually reviews the expenditures and pricing policies of the domestic energy companies. The commission discussed the power plants' proposal at a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. 

Direct foreign investments in Bulgaria in the first four months of the year reached EUR 416.3 mln, BNB announced. This is EUR 18.2 mln premium to their amount in the respective period of 2003. The biggest share in foreign investment (EUR 312.6 mln) is occupied by credits, granted by foreign companies to Bulgarian companies. The biggest foreign investor is the Netherlands (36.9 per cent of the total amount of foreign investments), followed by Austria (23.6 per cent), and Switzerland (21.1 per cent).

Final decision to change the conditions for subsidising rural tourism with SAPARD funds will be taken in Brussels July 20, Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ms. Meglena Plugchieva said after a meeting of the committee monitoring the programme. The SAPARD agencies have not accepted projects for rural tourism since March 2004, she recalled. Several resorts have been suggested to drop out of the list of areas developing rural tourism, including Pamporovo, Bansko, Rezovo, Smolyan, Blagoevgrad, Kardjali, Nessebar, Pomorie, etc. New criteria for assessment of candidates for subsidies will become effective after July, Ms. Plugchieva explained. A decision was taken Tuesday that the development of rural areas shall be financed with fiscal reserve money, not with a credit from the World Bank (WB). 

Privatization

The management of Bulgartabac Holding and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) agreed that the offers of candidate buyers should be assessed by their social parameters as well. A special fund will finance the social consequences of Bulgartabac's privatisation. It will pay the outstanding wages to workers, which currently amount to some BGN 5 million.

Companies

Denmark's Carlsberg Breweries has sold to the Investment Fund for Central and Eastern Europe identical 20 per cent stakes in its Bulgarian division Carlsberg Bulgaria and Serbian unit Pivara Celarevo for combined proceeds of EUR 20.1 mln. Carlsberg Breweries owns the majority stakes in two Bulgarian brewers, Pirinsko Pivo and Shumensko Pivo, and is in the process of merging them into one company under the name Carlsberg Bulgaria.

Petrol is to distribute BGN 2.2 mln, or 67.55 per cent of its profit as dividends, the company’s AGM decided. Petrol’s market capitalization has been estimated at BGN 432 mln as of the end of 2003.

Moto Pfohe is the new exclusive authorized representatives of the Land Rover brand for Bulgaria. Initially, the new brand will be sold and serviced in the company’s complex in Sofia’s Lyulin district. However, Moto Pfohe is planning to gradually expand its dealing and servicing network on the whole territory of Bulgaria.

BTC will be obliged to sign mutual agreements with all licensed alternative telecoms, after Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) adopted the types of contracts between operators Tuesday night. This means that BTC subscribers will be able to talk on their phones at home, but through another operator. The regulation, which has been expected for a year and a half, and meets great opposition in the telecommunication branch, is adopted with a clause, allowing its preliminary implementation, e.g. it will become effective, even if the Commission’s decision is contested in court.

Central Co-operative Bank's entire profit for 2003, to the total worth of BGN 3.8 mln, will be transferred to reserves for a second year running, the bank's shareholders decided on Wednesday. The company's financial results saw a 20 per cent drop, by about BGN 1 mln, in a year-on-year comparison. Also on Wednesday the shareholders overhauled the CCB supervisory board, where only one member will retain his position.  By end-2003 CCB's assets stood at BGN 356 mln, 35 per cent up from 2002, while credits increased by 75 per cent, to BGN 166.8 mln. 

One of the shareholders in the joint venture Sofia City Company – Sunny Beach Holding has sold his 32-per cent stake from the capital of the Liechtenstein-registered offshore company Herbstmond Holding, became clear after the company’s AGM held yesterday. The deal was concluded on April 14 2004. Representatives of the municipality were again surprised at the sudden change of ownership. In March, when another general meeting of the company was held, they found out in the same surprising manner, that the other shareholder – Stara Planina Hold, has sold its 34-per cent stake in the Cyprus-registered offshore company DLA Industries Limited.

Europe

Virgin Mobile, the U.K. mobile-phone company controlled by billionaire Richard Branson, plans an initial public offering as soon as next month. The sale may value the company at about 1 billion pounds (USD 1.8 billion), said people familiar with the transaction. The company, started in 1999, plans to sell shares before the end of July, Virgin Mobile said in an e-mailed statement. Virgin may sell about 40 percent of the company, according to the people, who declined to be identified.

USA

Monsanto Co. on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit, thanks to strong sales of herbicide and specialty seeds, including types of genetically modified crops. The St. Louis-based company, which specializes in agricultural chemicals as well as development of biotechnology traits for crops, said it earned USD 252 million, or 93 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter ended May 31, compared with USD 174 million, or 66 cents, in the year-earlier period. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 85 cents, according to Reuters Estimates. The company said sales rose 14 percent to USD 1.7 billion, driven largely by a 27 percent jump in sales of Roundup weedkiller and other herbicides. 

Asia

Microsoft is proposing to expand an offer to supply Asian countries with a simpler, cheaper version of its Windows operating system in an apparent effort to curb software piracy and dent the appeal of the open-source Linux system in the region.The offer was made by Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, during a visit to Malaysia, one of the region's hotbeds for software piracy where an incomplete version of Microsoft's next-gene ration operating system, Longhorn, went on illegal sale earlier this year. The move comes as some Asian governments are turning to use of Linux technology, freely available on the Internet.

Architectural Reserve Jeravna

Jeravna is a little Bulgarian village, situated in a small valley in the central part of the Eastern Balkan mountains, near the town of Kotel in Bulgaria. The village is a world famous architectural reserve, which has preserved over 300 houses from the era of the National Revival. Some of the houses have been built more than 300 years ago. One of the most famous ones is the house of Yordan Yovkov – one of the most popular and talented Bulgarian writers. He was born in 1880 and spent his childhood in this house, which is currently a museum, where an exhibition of documents and manuscripts of the writer are showed. Another famous house in the village is that of Sava Filaterov – one of the most prominent Bulgarians, who lived in the end of XVII century. It has also been turned into a museum – richly decorated with fine fretwork. The vestibule is originally designed – it is rectangular and the ceiling is dome-shaped. The house-museum of Rusi Chorbadji – once one of the richest people in the village, is located in the very center of it. Each room is designed to be used for a specific purpose – for guests, living room, shop, cabinet, etc. All the houses have preserved the atmosphere of the Bulgarian National Revival period, and are an excellent source of information about the way people lived in those times. Jeravna is also known for its many springs and ancient fountains.