Financial news

After a difficult two years that saw five governments, ongoing street protests and a banking crisis, Bulgaria's politics and economy may be getting back to something approaching normality in 2015. Blessed with greater stability – but with a significant fiscal deficit and loans to repay – the county plans to raise BGN 6.9 bln from bond issues this year. But investors may still be wary of the risks of a slow-growing country with a recent history of instability. On January 8, Vladislav Goranov, finance minister, said the government planned to raise the cash from foreign investors in two issues, one in the first half of the year and one in the autumn. He implied that the first issue would be sooner rather than later, pointing to market liquidity. "We expect good results on yields, meaning Bulgaria gets cheap financing," Goranov said early this month. The money raised will be used to help bridge a fiscal deficit that the government expects to come in at 3 per cent of GDP this year.

Operational Programme Science and Education for Smart Growth 2014-2020 has a budget of BGN 1.37 billion, which will be co-financed with EU aid and national budget money, Deputy Education and Science Minister Nikolai Denkov said during a presentation of the programme. The first axis of the programme, Scientific Research and Technological Development, is using a budget of BGN 560 million throughout the whole programming period, and the second axis, Education and Lifelong Learning, is using 504.6 million leva, Denkov said. The third axis, Educational Environment for Active Social Inclusion, can count on BGN 252 million. Another BGN 54.7 million is earmarked for technical assistance. The programme, which is one of seven EU-supported Bulgarian operational programmes for the 2014-2020 period, requires Bulgaria to reckon with several EU goals, Denkov said.

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

Companies

A new unique facility worth USD 71 million was officially put into operation in LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas. The installation is the first object of the unique new oil processing complex. The first stage is to be completed this year. Though the current investment is USD 71 million, Economy Minister Bozidar Lukarski and stressed that the total money invested in the new facility once completed will be a staggering USD 1.5 billion. As such, the refinery will be the largest private investment in the country. Following the investment LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas will be among the most modern refineries in the world. Sulphur-4 is designed for the processing of hydrogen sulfide generated during the thermocatalic processes of the petroleum fraction. The commissioning will allow to stop operation of the old plant Sulphur-2, built in the 60s of last century. The new installation will allow LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas to produce more high quality products and reduce environmental impact.

Slovakia's gas pipeline operator Eurostream is proposing to Bulgaria and Romania to build an interconnection to reduce their dependence on Russian gas supplies.The proposed 570-km interconnection pipeline would carry gas from Western hubs via Slovakia to Ukraine and then to Romania and Bulgaria, helping to prevent the negative consequences of possible disruptions in Russian gas supplies via Ukraine. A memorandum of understanding on the proposal is expected to be signed with counterparts in Romania and Bulgaria in the next two weeks. A joint venture project worth between EUR 750 M and EUR 1.2 B is now being considered. Under the project, Eurostream will use its existing pipelines to connect to Ukraine's Soyuz pipeline leading to the border with Romania. The proposed interconnection will have a potential capacity of up to 20 billion cubic metres of gas per year.

Bulgaria's industrial and logistics property market will continue to attract the interest of foreign outsourcing companies in 2015, especially in the automobile parts sector, real estate consultants Colliers International Bulgaria said. The industrial and logistics sector in Bulgaria provides less vacancy space than other property sectors, but there has been a strong interest in the past 12-18 months, Colliers International Bulgaria's manager of office and industrial services department, Verka Petkova, said at a press conference where the agency presented its latest report on Bulgaria's capital. “We expect the industrial market this year to see new producers, to see new logistic centres which will not only bring a good development for the segment, but also [provide] new jobs in places where there are fewer such,” Petkova said. The vacancy rate of industrial and logistics space in Sofia fell by an annual 2% to 22,600 sq m in the second half of 2014.

Retail chain CBA is purchasing supermarkets in the cities of Veliko Turnovo, Ruse, Strazhitsa, Gorna Oryqhovitsa and Drqnovo. The deal is initiated by CBA JSC Varna. At present stores that are under acquisition are operating under the brand CBA and are controlled by CBA Franchise SPLTD. Sites are owned by different natural and legal entities. CBA Franchise uses them via long-term contract for rent. CBA JSC is engaged in retail trade of victuals and consumer goods via 36 super markets that operate under the brand of CBA in different cities in Bulgaria. Sole owner of CBA Franchise is CBA Asset Management JSC. The Varna-based company is completing its strategy for optimizing, modernizing and expansion of its network of commercial sites for retail trade on the territory of Veliko Turnovo and Ruse.

Several international companies have shown interest in investing in Industrial and Logistics Park - Bourgas. One of these companies is from Pakistan and its representatives think that Bourgas can serve as a link between Eastern China, Pakistan and the EU. The six companies, which have already starter constructing their production bases in Industrial and Logistics Park - Bourgas, plan to invest over 10,000,000 euro in total and create more than 350 jobs. Industrial and Logistics Park - Bourgas CEO Aristid Karavidov said that the companies have bought areas in the park and have started designing their industrial buildings. The full use of the industrial zone requires the participation of around 50 companies. A Belgian company has also shown interest in Bourgas' industrial zone, Loukarski said, adding that the talks with this company are at the preliminary stage. Industrial and Logistics Park - Bourgas is located on the territory of the city's North Industrial Zone.

Europe

Russia will probably leave its main interest rate unchanged this week and is unlikely to cut it from an emergency level before June as stabilizing the ruble and taming inflation take precedence over a looming recession, according to two surveys of economists. The first reduction this year is likely in June or July, according to a majority of respondents in a Bloomberg survey of 23 economists. The central bank will act once the inflation rate drops to 11.2 percent or less, based on the median of 18 estimates. All but one analyst in a separate survey of 19 economists predict the Bank of Russia will hold its benchmark at 17 percent at a meeting on Friday. The central bank, which last cut its main lending rate in December 2011, is staring down warnings from officials and business leaders including billionaire Oleg Deripaska that economic activity will grind to a halt after last month’s rate increase from 10.5 percent, the biggest since 1998.

America

More than a dozen states will share half of a $1.37 billion government settlement resolving allegations that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services knowingly issued rosy grades of mortgage bonds before the 2008 financial crisis, people familiar with the situation said. The big winner in a deal that could be completed as early as Thursday is California, which is expected to receive more than $100 million of the states’ roughly $687 million because of larger investment losses incurred by its public pension funds that relied on S&P’s ratings, the people said. Other states from Arizona to New Jersey would receive between $20 million to $25 million, the people said. The Justice Department is expected to collect the other half of the total, or about $687 million. The breakdown between the U.S. and the states hadn’t previously been reported. A final pact isn’t yet signed, and the process could still drift into next week, the people said.

Asia

Japanese retail sales eased last month, dampening hopes that the economy is past the worst of the post-tax hike recession. Retail sales fell 0.3% on a monthly basis in December after falling at the same rate in November. Sales rose 0.2% year-on-year in December, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) revealed on Thursday, coming in weaker than the market forecast of a 0.9% rise in sales. Nonetheless, December marked the sixth month in a row that sales were higher on an annual basis, suggesting that consumption has largely recovered from the sales tax increase in April which stifled demand, leaving the economy in a state of recession in the middle of last year. Economists expect that the recent drop in petrol prices will help drive an ongoing recovery in demand, as consumers are left with greater purchasing power.

The first Bulgarian community center

The community centers are institutions that have contributed greatly to the cultural and spiritual life of Bulgaria, particularly in years when the Bulgarian nationality was endangered. The first Bulgarian community center was opened on January 30, 1856 in the Danubian town of Svishtov. This initiated the community centers’ activity in Bulgaria. Today’s community center Elenka and Kiril D. Avramovi was also the first to establish a museum collection, again in 1856. Today the community center’s library is one of Svishtov’s symbols. Its over 101,000 items make it part of the town’s cultural memory. The library is proud of the books stored there, as it has 12 manuscripts and over 600 old printed books. The initial literary fund was formed by the 800 book, granted by the teacher Emanuil Vaskidovich. As the years passed the library enriched its fund with unique Old Slavonic printed books and manuscripts.

On that day:  The dragon houses Stefan Stambolov The city of the Roman legions