Financial news

The amount of the money which could be used freely in the Bulgarian Treasury dropped to just BGN 500 million, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov announced. In late January, the fiscal reserve was at BGN 7.129 billion of which BGN 1.321 billion is receivable, as such not liquid by the EU rules. The remaining BGN 5.808 billion, however, is also not entirely available to the government. Of these, BGN 2.445 billion is in the Silver Fund and another BGN 1.450 billion are in the Radioactive Waste Fund and Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities fund. The government has a BGN 800 million deposit in the First Investment Bank. Yet according to Goranov, the state does not intend to exert pressure on the bank to return them the money immediately. This should only happen "when things settle down" in Bulgaria's banks. Thus, according to the latest information on 19 Feb, the movable money in the fiscal reserve is BGN 547 million said Goranov. At the same time the end of May this year the state must repay a loan of EUR 1.5 billion, he warned.

Deposits in Bulgarian banks have increased by BGN 1.3 billion in just a month, according to BNB data for January 2015. In the end of the first month of the year, deposits in the banking system totaled BGN 58.95 billion, including the savings of households, companies, financial brokers, pension funds and insurance firms. According to the central bank, the massive cash inflow was due to the repayment of guaranteed deposits at Corporate Commercial Bank in December 2014. Households were the driving engine of the further accumulation of savings. Their savings bulged by BGN 724 million in January 2015 to BGN 39.99 billion. Corporate deposits grew by BGN 262 million to BGN 15.61 billion.

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

Companies

Bulgaria’s Chiren underground gas storage contains enough gas to meet the country’s needs for three months with some restrictions, according to a statement of the Energy Ministry. The information was released in response to Tuesday’s escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies and the warning of Gazprom that there could be problems with deliveries to Europe in two days. The Energy Ministry assures that the pressure at the entrance of Bulgaria’s gas transmission system is normal at present. The total quantity of gas stored at the Chiren facility is nearly 247 million cubic meters of gas. On Tuesday, Russian energy giant Gazprom warned that it could halt gas supplies to Ukraine, adding that this would most probably cause problems in Europe.

Italian businessman Edoardo Miroglio has concluded the second big deal via which he does not just expand its corporate portfolio but also saves its deposits in the closed Corporate Commercial Bank. After in the end of last year he entered as a shareholder in Technopolis, taking up its debts to the same bank, now its main company has concluded contract with the Ruse-based producer of ammunition under the name of Dunarit. Thus it is its biggest creditor now. Miroglio and companies of its group had a total of BGN 90 million in the closed bank. Via the two deals with Dunarit and Technomarket money is not lost; against it property and claims from companies are acquired. Miroglio entered in Bulgaria as a producer in textile industry and wine production. After that he expanded significantly his portfolio via companies in tobacco industry via Bulgartabac Holding, services and tourism via Interpred-world commercial center and Hotel Park Central in Sliven. Miroglio has taken up debts assessed at EUR 24.55 million or BGN 48 million. In return to the acquired debt on the 2nd of December the two companies have entered into a contract with which the whole enterprise Dunarit is pledged as security of receivables to E.Miroglio.

The assets of insolvent Bulgarian fertiliser plant Chimco have been put up for sale again, this time at a starting price of BGN 22.8 million. Bids for the fertiliser's properties, buildings, and production facilities can be submitted until March 6. The plant was put up for sale in the first quarter of 2014 at a starting price of nearly BGN 29 million, without attracting investor interest at the time. According to the daily, despite the lower price, Chimco's assets are amortised and their purchase would not prove lucrative, hence they will probably not attract investors on this occasion either. It also said that Chimco, which was declared insolvent in mid-2012, has about BGN 81 million in debts, mainly to state-operated electricity company NEK and gas monopoly Bulgargaz.

German company Paul-Heinz Wesjohann Group wants to buy Bulgarian Ameta Holding, owner of the Ludogorsko pile brand of poultry and poultry products and the PilCo processing plant in Razgrad. Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection of Competition has received a request envisaging the acquisition of joint control of the holding by the German company and the sole owner of Ameta Holding, Bulgarian American Foods. Paul-Heinz Wesjohann Group specializes in poultry production. It is a leading company in the poultry industry with an annual turnover of EUR 2.3 bln. Bulgaria’s anti-trust watchdog will receive statements of opinion on the deal by third parties by February 27, after which the Commission will come up with a statement on the deal based on an overall estimate of its impact in the sector.

The Bulgarian energy regulator terminated on Monday the licence of Sofia-based Power Logistics to operate as electricity trader at the company's request. Power Logistics requested licence termination from the regulator because the company withdrew from the electricity market in 2010 and has not been active on it for a long time, the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) said in a statement published on its website. Power Logistics was granted a 10-year licence to trade with electricity in September 2007. The regulator's decision can be appealed within a 14-day period.

Europe

Gulf investors are the latest to enter Turkey’s robust and fast-growing online retail market. With market research firm Euromarket International forecasting revenues to more than double by 2017 and hit $6.6 billion, foreign investors are pouring in. The Abraaj Group, a Dubai-based private equity firm, on Monday said it purchased a minority stake in Turkey’s largest online retailer, Hepsiburada, in a bid to grab a share of the country’s soaring consumer spending on the Internet. Istanbul-based conglomerate Dogan Group’s partial sale of Hepsiburada adds a web-based operation to Abraaj’s four existing investments in Turkey, with a purchase of a 25% stake valued at about $100 million, according to two people familiar with the transaction. Hepsiburada—established in 1998 and owned by the Dogan conglomerate with interests in media, energy, financial services and tourism—is valued at $400 million, according to the people. Its website has 14 million unique visitors a month.

America

New U.S. household formation, a key driver of housing demand, has recovered after the job losses that accompanied the recession, shows a new study from the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate.While it was known that negative economic shocks such as major drops in employment reduce household formations, little was known about how long these declines would persist. The study, which is authored by Lusk Center director of research Gary Painter and doctoral candidate Jung Hyun Choi, finds that household formations consistently fall in the first quarter after an increase in unemployment, but return to their previous levels within about three years. This is true regardless of whether jobs have returned. "This shows us that even a permanent increase in the unemployment rate will not have a permanent impact on housing formation," Painter said. "As a result, policymakers and industry practitioners have a new level of predictability when it comes to how economic crises impact the rate of new households."

Asia

Chinese investors are likely to buy $20 billion worth of properties overseas in 2015, up 21% year-on-year, forecasts Jones Lang LaSalle. Chinese overseas investment in real estate was nearly $16.5 billion in 2014, a 46% increase compared to the previous year. Apart from the domestic real estate buyers, property developers and insurers are behind this overseas buying spree, experts say. In 2012, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission allowed insurance companies to invest in real estate outside of mainland China and Hong Kong, which has prompted them to move their assets overseas. "The easing of restrictions over the last a few years by the Chinese government has (made it) ... much easier for institutions as well as individuals to move money overseas," said David Green-Morgan, the Singapore-based head of global research for International Capital Group at JLL. Ping An Insurance Group's acquisitions recently included the Tower Place office block in London for £327 million and Lloyds of London.

Shoumen Fortress

The historical and architectural reserve Shoumen Fortress is situated 3 km west of the center of the town of Shoumen. The fortress has existed for more than 3200 years, as the district has been inhabited since high antiquity. The Shoumen Fortress is very well preserved and is the local biggest historical and architectural monument. According to the archeologists the stronghold was built at four platforms in the antiquity, and was expanded later in the Middle Ages. During the invasion of the Slavs and Avars the fortress was destroyed. Later the Bulgarian khan Omurtag built it again. In 11th century the stronghold was conquered by the Byzantine army. As a Bulgarian bulwark the Shoumen fortress has played quite a significant role. It survived even in the early years of the Ottoman yoke. In 1444, during the crusade of Wladyslaw Warnenczyk (Wladislaus III of Varna) the stronghold was destroyed and burned down. This is one of the best-studied archeological monument in the country. The fortress and cult architecture, the houses and the outhouses, and the thousands of movable monuments show the variety of functions the fortress had during the different ages, especially during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. Today, the Shoumen fortress is an outdoor museum.

On that day:  Kamburov Inn – the town of Elena