Financial news

The European Commission (EC) has terminated the excessive budget deficit procedure against Bulgaria, as well as Finland, Denmark and Cyprus, the European Union's executive arm said in a statement on Thursday. The EC has concluded that "no further steps in the procedure are needed at present," as Bulgaria had taken measures to ensure adequate progress towards the correction of the excessive deficit within the time limits set by the Council. The Commission also said the country had made the necessary steps to address the excessive deficit by 2011 by avoiding a deterioration of the 2010 gap beyond the projected level of 3.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), in line with EC recommendations. The EC also expects that Bulgaria would have met the budget deficit target of 3.8% of GDP in 2010, as envisaged in the revised 2010 budget.

	Mineral Fuels, Tailoring Products, Canning, Perfumery and Cosmetics, Furniture, Meat Products, Wine, Wood-processing Industry

Privatization

Three state-owned companies under the construction ministry are planned for privatization in 2011, announced the Ministry of Rosen Plevneliev. Two companies are in the process to finding a private owner since 2010. They are Science Surveying in Geodesy and Photogrammetry Ltd. and Industrial Construction Holding. This year Technoexportstroy is to be put for privatization as well. Parliament has already voted on first reading the proposal of the cabinet for removing the company from the prohibitive list. From the sale of the three companies, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Worksis hopes to gather BGN 109 mln. Currently, the companies accumulate losses in the budget of the Ministry. As of September 30, 2010 the three companies were indebted to total over BGN 9 mln.

Companies

“The Thermoelectric Power Plant (TPP) Bobov Dol will use the same FGD (flue gas desulphurisation) system as TPP Brikel,” said Vladimir Vladimirov, Deputy Executive Director of the plant. At present, experts explore the possibilities for the construction of an FGD system at two units at TPP Bobov Dol. The company’s owner is Consortium Energy MK JSC, linked to the businessman Hristo Kovachki. Presumably, he is the owner of TPP Brikel as well. Under the privatisation contract, if by the end of the year, the consortium is not able to meet the pollution standards set in its integrated permit, it will be obliged to pay a penalty of BGN 100 mln to the State. The new owner will have to invest another BGN 35 mln in the plant as well. The company’s management has promised to comply with its obligations under the privatisation contract.

The territorial office of the National Revenues Agency (NRA) in Sofia seized the movable property of SAF Magelan JSC, announced the company. NRA has imposed also seizure of the existing and incoming amounts in bank accounts, deposits, items in safety vaults, as well as amounts provided for trust management of SAF Magelan JSC. The measures are in connection with the tax audit made in SAF Magelan JSC. This is another clash of the company with state, since 2010, when the National Veterinary Service confiscated goods of the company and banned the import of meat cutting.

Bulgarian drug maker Sopharma will acquire Belorussian pharmacy chain Interfarm through its Latvian unit Briz, Sopharma said Thursday without disclosing the deal size. On January 27, the company completed the first stage of the acquisition by gaining control over 44% of Interfarm's capital, according to the statement. The Belorussian chain, which reported a turnover of EUR 3.7 million in 2010, runs 19 pharmacies across Belarus and ranks eighth in terms of retail sales of pharmaceutical products in the country. Apart from Interfarm's takeover, Briz initiated a series of negotiations to purchase other pharmacy chains last year, with some of the deals expected to be finalised in the first half of 2011, Sopharma said. As at end-September, Sopharma held a 51% stake in its Latvian subsidiary.

German discount retailer Lidl opened on January 27 2011 its second outlet in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna and its first store in Veliko Turnovo in north-central Bulgaria. The newly opened unit in Varna is on Republica Boulevard, near the store of another German discount retailer, Kaufland, which hints at the extremely aggressive competition on the market, according to sector experts. The new additions increase the chain's local network to 19 outlets, while the number of cities where Lidl already operates now stands at 14. Lidl intends to open its third outlet in Varna, currently being built on the site of a former diesel engine factory, in the coming months.

Bulgaria’s Sofia Hotel Balkan will seek to raise up to 18.8 million euro in share and bond issues, it said. Sofia Hotel Balkan plans to raise some 17.2 million levs through issuing 4,785,360 shares at 3.6 levs each the company said in a statement released late on Wednesday. The shares will have par value of one lev each. The company also plans to issue a 20-year 10 million euro bond loan carrying a coupon of up to 10%, which is still to be approved by the company’s board of directors. The bonds are expected to have a nominal value equal to their issue price of 100 euro each. The success threshold of the issue is set at 60%, Sofia Hotel Balkan said. It gave no timeframe for the planned share and bond issues. The company’s current capital stands at 478,536 levs. Sofia Hotel Balkan was last traded on Wednesday on the Sofia bourse, when one share changed hands 49.5 levs, down 1.0%.

Europe

The European Central Bank will not allow rises in the cost of food and other commodities to produce a spiral of price growth, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said. Trichet's comments, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, show the ECB's determination to keep a lid on euro zone inflation, which exceeded the ECB's goal of just below 2 percent for the first time in two years last month. Trichet said he had nothing to add to the ECB's message on inflation from a meeting earlier this month but added that he saw no sign of second round effects -- where supply-related rises begin to have an impact on wage demands and other prices. "Everybody knows that we are alert and that we would not let second round effects materialize," he said. Cost pressures have been building in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, where producer price inflation jumped above 5 percent last month. Trichet said solving the euro zone's debt crisis was a work in progress. "Well it is a work in progress of course and we are calling on all partners to do the job," he said.

America

More Americans than forecast filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments last week, indicating it will take time for the labor market to mend. Applications for jobless benefits increased by 51,000 to 454,000 in the week ended Jan. 22, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 405,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls rose, while those collecting extended payments fell. A Labor Department official said snow in four southern states in previous weeks created a backlog of claims that were processed last week. While the economy has improved, it hasn’t been enough to reduce an unemployment rate that Federal Reserve policy makers said yesterday is too high and requires pressing ahead with a $600 billion stimulus plan.

Asia

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said there was no possibility of providing India access to corporate emails on BlackBerry devices. India has demanded access to all BlackBerry services as part of efforts to fight militancy and security threats over the Internet and through telephone communications. "There is no possibility of us providing any kind of a solution," RIM vice president Robert Crow told reporters. "There is no solution, there are no keys to be handed." RIM has been buffeted by demands for access to its encrypted data from several countries worried about security and social mores. Earlier this month, RIM said it would filter pornographic internet content for BlackBerry users in Indonesia, following government pressure to restrict access to porn sites or face its browsing service being shut down. Last year, the company narrowly escaped a ban in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

January 28 – the official holiday of Razgrad

As of 1994, on the occasion of the town’s liberation from the Ottoman yoke, Razgrad celebrates its official holiday. The town of Razgrad is situated in Northeastern Bulgaria, in the Danube River plain. Its proximity to the Romanian border and the Danube River favours the development of economic and transport potential. The region has been inhabited since ancient times. The prehistoric mounds of settlements, found in the surroundings, prove it. The contemporary Razgrad is a successor of the Roman town of Abritus. The town is prominent for its landmarks – the mosque, built in 1616, the bronze Momina Cheshma (Virgin’s fountain), the Christian temple of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. One of the most famous town symbols is the Clock Tower, raised in 1864. Different festivals take place in Razgrad – of the Kapanski traditions and habits (kapantsi is the way the natives call themselves), accompanied by the Yogurt Fair, and an International Children Folk Festival.

On that day:  National Palace of Culture Rupite