Financial news

The European Commission is mulling over unblocking the frozen funds Bulgaria stands a chance to receive some of the frozen by the European Commission funds under the Phare program. Well-informed sources said that Mr. Michael Leigh, Director-General for Enlargement, had sent a letter, in which he writes that Bulgaria achieved certain progress in the absorption of EU funds over the past few months. A report said that the Bulgarian Government would start negotiations over the unblocking of the EU funds frozen by the European Commission under the Phare program. EU experts are carrying out the one in a row review of the absorption of funds under the Phare program in the country. The official report of the EC will be ready at the end of this month.

The losses, calculated by companies up to the present day, are about BGN 169 263 699. This was announced by the Economy Minister. These are the direct losses, which different companies incur, the Minister specified. By the end of the day the Crisis headquarters will choose the consumers, which have the greatest need of receiving natural gas. Now the big question is that Russian gas flows in the network, so that we can release bigger quantities to consumers. Gas is most urgently needed in fertilizer and metallurgical factories, Dimitrov added.

Over 90% of the inspected projects under second measure of SAPARD, concerning the foods industry, are full of irregularities, said the vice-PM of the Euro funds, Miglena Plugchieva. The results are based on an audit, performed by an outer company after an order of the SAPARD management. It concerns project frauds, not only administrative failures, she added. The vice-PM will demand from the Council of Ministers greater authority on the management of the Euro programs. She would insist on being in charge of the assigning and discharging of all managements of the controlling bodies. In that way, she would be able to explain to Brussels all changers made.

Companies

The head of Bulgargaz Dimitar Gogov and the Deputy Minister of Economy Galina Tosheva will be a part of the Bulgarian Energy Holding board of directors. Other members of the board will be Dimitar Dimitrov, head of the board of directors of Bulgargaz, Boris Petkov – CEO of the state-owned Radioactive Waste and Tencho Popov, a financial consultant and ex-chief secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Deloitte Bulgaria consulted the officials in the Ministry of Economy during the election of the board members. The board of directors will control, organize and manage all activities of the mega holding.

Intracom Telecom, part of the SITRONICS group signed a contract with the Bulgarian Telecommunication Company (BTC) for the building of a GSM telecommunication infrastructure for the BTC network. The contract for the project, valued at BGN 30 M, was signed through the company's affiliate Intracom Bulgaria. The expected deadline is two years from now with Intracom Bulgaria providing services and materials for the extension of the mobile telephone (GSM) network of BTC. Intracom Telecom is a leading manufacturer and provider of telecommunication systems in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

According to preliminary data Radomir Metal Industries JSC loses BGN 400 thousand per day because of the stopped gas supply, said the Executive Director of the company Lyudmil Alexandrov. For two weeks the plant has been working with only 10% of its capacity as the gas is the major raw material for its production. With the delivered quantities of gas Radomir metal only manages to maintain some of the facilities to not freeze. According to Aleksandrov the distribution of natural gas is incorrect because the total consumption of the individual plants was not calculated.

Chimimport subsidiary Bulgarian Aviation Group has acquired the air carrier Air Ban from the DZI insurance company, a statement of the insurer revealed. Bulgarian Aviation Group has acquired the helicopters and emergency transportation license of the company. Transferred shares form 85,25% of Air Ban capital but the price was not announced. The deal was closed on December 12th last year but was not announced in the media or the BSE bulletin, despite the fact that DZI still holds the statute of a public company.

BGN 301 million will be invested in KCM S.A. Plovdiv in the next two years for the expansion of the production. The money will be invested in new grounds in the enterprise in Kuklen, and construction of new installations for lead and sulfuric acid. For the implementation of the project the company will receive a certificate for first class investor. After putting into operation of the new technology installations, about 145 specialists will be involved in the production of KCM S.A. With the new installations the emissions of greenhouse gases, dust and harmful substances from the plant will reduce.

Telecoms company Interoute, a unit of Europe’s largest voice and data network operator, will spend EUR 6 million on the overhaul of its Bulgarian network, said Mark Gregory, who is in charge of the company’s CEE business. The company will invest in a new data centre, a network infrastructure upgrade, staff training and the launch of an undergraduate programme. The ongoing financial crisis will not be as hard on telecommunications as on the property and consumer lending sectors, and both people and businesses will need phone and Internet connection, according to Gregory.

Europe

Italian carmaker Fiat and US giant Chrysler have agreed to create a global strategic alliance, the companies said in a statement. Under the terms of the deal, Fiat will get a 35% stake in Chrysler. In return, the US firm will get access to Fiat's fuel-efficient vehicle technologies. It is hoped the agreement will lead to "substantial" savings for Chrysler. It is one of two Detroit-based carmakers to have received emergency US government loans. The statement points out, however, that the agreement does not commit Fiat to funding Chrysler in future.

America

American International Group Inc Chief Investment Officer Win Neuger will step down from his post and focus on a narrower role at the company, people familiar with the matter said. An announcement is expected in coming days that Neuger, who has been the insurer's chief investment officer for years, will leave that job. Neuger will continue to oversee AIG's business of managing assets for external clients such as pension funds, and will also keep his titles as chief executive and chairman of AIG Investments.

Asia

Toyota Motor Corp., Asia’s biggest automaker, named Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder, as president after reporting the first drop in annual vehicle sales in 10 years. Toyoda, 52, will succeed Katsuaki Watanabe, who will become vice chairman, in June, the automaker said in a statement today. The company’s vehicle sales slipped 4 percent to 8.972 million last year, it said separately. Toyoda, the first member of the founding family in charge since 1995, will inherit a company expecting its first operating loss in seven decades.

Usteto

Usteto is a very popular place for rock climbing in Bulgaria. They are a rock gorge formed under the forces of the Yantra River above the Preobrazhenski monastery. They are located 5 km northern from the city of Veliko Tarnovo, on the western riverbank of Yantra. On the city side the rocks are lower and generally become higher when reaching the monastery. The rocks are formed of solid limestone and become weathered and loose on the side of the monastery. The first tours were made here in 1951. The tours have a different difficulty level and are perfect for rock climbing training. The plenty of rock forms allows a full training of rock climbers beginners.

On that day:  Pomorie