Financial news

Bulgaria plans to tap global markets in the first half of this year and then again in the autumn to finance its fiscal deficit and roll over existing debt, the finance minister said on Thursday. The Balkan country, reeling from its biggest banking crisis since the 1990s and facing sluggish economic growth this year, plans to raise 6.9 billion levs ($4.2 billion) from foreign lenders in 2015. Vladislav Goranov said the government was not in a rush to raise funds, but believed that markets would be relatively more liquid at the beginning of the year. "Both the markets and the government are liquid enough at this moment, so there is no pressure... We expect good results on yields, meaning Bulgaria gets cheap financing," Goranov said. Borrowers such as Bulgaria have benefitted from years when major central banks have pumped out cheap money, encouraging investors to seek higher yields in emerging markets, but that tide is turning as the U.S. Federal Reserve moves to tighten its policy.

Romania and Bulgaria were the only EU member states to record an annual increase in industrial producer prices in November - of 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, the bloc's statistics office said on Thursday. On a monthly basis, the industrial producer price index (PPI) fell by 0.6% in Bulgaria and by 0.2% in Romania in November, Eurostat said.

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

Privatization

The idea for part of the shares of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and its subsidiaries to be sold on the BSE – Sofia has returned to the agenda. This is one of the mid-term measures to stabilise the energy field, it transpires from a paper worked out by the Energy Ministry. The idea to sell part of BEH on BSE is not new. It was put forward for discussion for the first time in end-2011 during the first government of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (CEDB). Initial plans envisaged the sale of 15% of BEH via the BSE or an international market or offering packages of 20 – 25% to the Electricity System Operator (ESO) and the gas operator Bulgartransgaz alone. Afterwards it transpired that the government intends to seek a strategic investor for the energy holding, which was supposed to happen until end-2012.

Concessions

Bulgaria plans to hold a tender to award a concession for the Ruse-East port terminal, on the Danube, according to the country's deputy transport minister. All preparatory works have been completed and a tender procedure is expected to be launched soon, Anton Ginev said. The Ruse-East port, with a total area of 825,533 sq m and a storage space of 193,600 sq m, is the largest Bulgarian port on the Danube.

Companies

Still another new meat processing enterprise started work in Northeastern Bulgaria- a company under the name of Bozmov, based in Rousse. The new production will enhance the company for meat products’ capacity and will help in covering the increased demand. The official opening took place in Rousse on the 17th of December. The real production in the new facility has already begun from the start of the present year. The investment is assessed to slightly over BGN 2.3 million, as funding is insured by both equity capital and a loan from Unicredit Bulbank. At present the new enterprise is working at half its capacity. The production is about 5 tons daily at existent capacity of 10 tons. More than 90% of the used raw material is Bulgarian meat, mainly from Brushlen pig farm. The company produces the full range of meat products. The old production facility of the company that is also located in Rousse will turn into its warehouse. For now Bozmov’s has about 120 employees.

Bulgarian steel radiators maker Korado Bulgaria has increased its capital by about BGN 7.1 million through a share issue on the Sofia stock exchange. Investors have acquired 2,576,786 Korado shares from the new issue, consisting of 2,884,786 shares, at an issue price of BGN 2.75 and a par value of BGN 1.0 apiece. The move is part of the company's mid-term investment plan, aiming to turn its Strazhitsa plant into among the top ten radiators' producers in Europe. The company's investment plan is estimated at BGN 25 million, with remaining funds to be financed by the company's parent, Czech-based Korado Group. The Bulgarian company has already invested EUR 3.0 million in a new production line in its Strazhitsa plant, which it acquired in 1998, in the northeastern area of Veliko Tarnovo and which exports radiators to all Balkan countries as well as Ukraine and Chile. The new line, which has a maximum annual capacity of 650,000 radiators, will increase the plant's total capacity to 1.15 million radiators per year. Korado Bulgaria's next investments will be in a specialized production line for bathroom radiators and in a new installation for radiator painting.

Since December 4 the Bank Deposit Guarantee Fund has paid out 90% of the insured deposits, which amounts to BGN 3.25 billion. So far 91 300 deposit holders have withdrawn their funds from the now-defunct Corporate Commercial Bank, Chairman of the Fund for guaranteeing bank deposits Radoslav Milenkov told reporters. Only about 2% of CCB depositors withdrew their money in cash, said Milenkov. Depositor holders believe in the Bulgarian banking system. The pace is decreasing. The first day was extremely busy for the banks, but there were no organizational problems. On the first day the nine banks paid out a total of BGN 1.7 billion to 25 000 depositors. On the other hand, 55% of the funds were paid out in the first three days. In the last 3 business days the amount was just 1.8%, meaning that the trend is declining, said the Chairman of the Fund. The total amount of deposits in the CCB is nearly BGN 3.6 billion, belonging to 255 000 clients, he said.

KPMG – Bulgaria was on the brink of losing its license, but will only suffer a fine. This transpired on Thursday following a secret vote of the Commission on Public Oversight of Statutory Auditors (CPOSA) on the sanction for violations in auditing Corporate Commercial Bank (CorpBank) over the past five years. KPMG will be fined with BGN 100,000 for the past five years in which it audited CorpBank. Apart from this the same fine will be imposed upon each of the two auditors of the bank. The total sanction will thus reach BGN 300,000.

Europe

Polish hotel chain Orbis recently signed the purchase of 46 Accor hotels in the region, including 7 in Romania. The deal was worth some EUR 142.3 million. The value of the Romanian portfolio was not announced. The deal had been initially announced in the fall of 2014. Orbis acquired Accor’s network of 46 hotels in 6 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. 38 of them are operational, and 8 projects are in the pipeline, 3 of which to be managed and 5 to be franchised, according to the Polish group. The recent deal also included a master license agreement, which allows Orbis to operate hotels under the Accor brands in 16 countries, until 2035. The deal includes a 10-year minimum exclusivity. Orbis is controlled by Accor itself. With this deal, Orbis runs 100 hotels in the region, and operates in 8 countries. The Accor hotels taken over via this deal operate under the brands Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, ibis Styles and ibis budget. In Romania, a Pullman hotel, a Novotel hotel, four Ibis, and a recently opened Mercure are currently operational.

America

Android’s share of the smartphone market has shrunk in the U.S. for the first time since 2013, according to new research, as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus helped Apple‘s iOS make market-share gains around the world. The market share of Android — the mobile operating software developed by Google – fell by 2 percentage points, year-on-year, in the U.S. over the three months ending November 2014, according to Kantar Worldpanel on Wednesday. It also slipped by over 3 percentage points across Europe’s five biggest countries, and tanked by 6.7 percentage points in the U.K. Dominic Sunnebo, the strategic insight director at Kantar, predicted more gains for Apple in the future due to the popularity of its newest iPhone models. Officially released in stores in September, sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus across the world topped 10 million in on the first weekend, according to Apple, managing to eclipse the launch figures of the previous 5S and 5C models.

Asia

The Chinese government will invest $250 billion in Latin American and Caribbean countries over the next 10 years in an attempt to strengthen its presence in a region dominated by the US. The volumes of bilateral trade between China and the region’s countries could reach $500 billion, said Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, at the first ministerial forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). “I believe that this meeting will achieve fruitful results, give the world a positive signal about deepening cooperation between China and Latin America and have an important and far-reaching impact on promoting South-South cooperation and prosperity for the world," he said. The countries are expected to adopt a five-year plan for comprehensive cooperation during the two-day summit held in Beijing. The plans to hold a China-CELAC forum were announced during Xi’s visit to the region in 2014, at which time the countries agreed on a cooperation framework, funds and projects in the fields of energy, infrastructure development, innovation and agriculture.

The Lozen Monastery Saint Spas

The Monastery Saint Spas is situated at the foot of the Lozen Mountain just below the Polovrak Peak. It was founded in the time of the Second Bulgarian State. The monastery complex consists of church, residential and farm buildings. In 1382, during the seizing of Sofia and the Urvich fortress, it was robbed and destroyed by the Ottomans. After its rebuilding in the 17th century, a local literary school was established. The church is one-shipped and three domed, with measurements 14 to 7 meters. It was constructed in 1821 and painted in 1869. The wall paintings are still well preserved. Today the monastery is permanently going monastery for young girls. It has left rich artistic and cultural heritage, that’s why it was announced a monument of culture.

On that day:  The Koprivets monastery Reverend Petka Bulgarska