Financial news

In 2014 the economically active population aged 15 - 64 in Bulgaria was of 3,308,700 people and represented 69.0% of the people in the same age group. The activity rate (15 - 64 years) went up by 0.6 percentage points compared with 2013. The total number of employed persons stood at 2,981,400, representing 48.0% of the population aged 15 and over. There were 2,927,400 employed persons aged 15 - 64. The employment rate for the same age group was 61.0% (63.9% for men, and 58.2% for women). The employment rate for the age group 20 - 64 years was 65.1%, by 1.6 percentage points higher compared with 2013. The employment rate (20 - 64) increased by 1.7 percentage points for men and by 1.3 percentage points for women, achieving 68.1% and 62.0% respectively. The employment rate for people aged 55 - 64 was 50.0%. It registered an increase of 2.6 percentage points between 2013 and 2014 for both men and women reaching 54.5% and 46.0% respectively. There were 384,500 unemployed persons, of whom 221,400 were men and 163,100 were women.

The European Commission approved Bulgaria's Operational Programme (OP) Innovations and Competitiveness for 2014-2020. About EUR 1,390 million will be invested in the development of the Bulgarian economy, of which EUR 1,180 million come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The programme aims to boost economic growth and increase productivity, above all of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Special attention is paid to cooperation between business and research networks, and to enhancing entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. Financial instruments including bank loans, guarantees and equity investments will play a key role in achieving these objectives. The programme will also support measures for more efficient use of resources in the enterprises and for improving their energy efficiency.

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

Companies

Hewlett-Packard (HP) will open, in April, a technological laboratory in Bulgaria, in which it has invested more than BGN 10 million, the country's government said. The company intends to further invest in expanding its operations in Bulgaria, the government said in a press release after a meeting with HP officials. The technological laboratory that the company will open in Bulgaria for creating conceptual IT solutions and training highly qualified experts will be HP's only such in Europe. HP employs 6,000 people in Bulgaria.

Cordeel Bulgaria is building a new administrative-production complex at present. The company’s idea is to gather all its employees, workers, mechanization and construction materials at a single place. For the purpose Sofia’s Kremikovtzi region is chosen. Manufacturing building is almost ready. Cordeel plans to finish the complex in the summer of the present year. The investment is assessed at about BGN 9 million. Funding is through equity capital and a bank loan. The site, where the complex is located, has an area of 13 thousand square meters and allows construction of an office and production buildings, parking for cars and construction equipment, warehouses and green areas. The office building is composed of four levels, each with an area of 600 square meters. It is also envisaged for a future expansion. The production warehouses will have an area of 2000 square meters and height of 12 meters. It also has an option of expansion

A meat processing company based in Germany’s federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia mulls an investment in Bulgaria, according to Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski. The company, which name remains unspecified, could build a production facility in northern Bulgaria. It manufactures food preparations for Germany, Spain, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, and other markets. Provided that the German company decides to open a production facility in Bulgaria, a total of 130 jobs will be created at the plant. The company will be supplied with raw materials by local livestock farmers, thereby additionally boosting employment in the sector. The logistics will also be carried out by a Bulgarian company, while the output will be exported. Managers of the German company are to visit Bulgaria to examine the possibilities for opening a site in northern Bulgaria.

HomeMax is the new name of the Bulgarian business of Austrian hypermarket chain bauMax. bauMax sold its network of eight stores in Bulgaria to local investor Haedus JSC in September 2014. The new owner has changed the concept of the stores, turning them into a place offering comprehensive solutions and finished products, according to a media statement of the company. The new owner vows to keep the “Gardening” and “Construction” units, which have traditionally been strong, but plans to introduce additional services that go beyond what is typically offered by other hypermarkets for construction materials. “Global trends are changing and all chains of stores are now trying to follow the model imposed by IKEA, i.e. offering a comprehensive range of products and at the same time allowing the customer to combine items and materials to suit their own taste. We want to keep the good practices established by the predecessors but we shall also take into account domestic needs and the peculiarities of the local market,” says Zahari Zahariev, Manager of the company.

A textile factory in the village of Musachevo (Elin Pelin municipality) is announced for sale in the register for public sales. The property is owned by a company under the name of Irna-Co, which has a main economic activity in production of textile and knitwear. The property, announced for sale has an area of 3.6 thousand square meters. The sewing company has a gross floor area of 1.85 thousand square meters. The initial price of the property is BGN 1.2 million. The public sale is at the request of the creditor Eurobank Bulgaria. The company Irna-Co is registered in the spring of 2008. Whether the sewing company will find its new owner will become clear on the 16th of April.

Europe

Small Spanish bank Banco Madrid has filed for bankruptcy after the United States accused its Andorran parent of laundering money for organised crime groups. Customers of Banco Madrid, which caters for wealthy people, rushed to empty their accounts after parent group, Andorran lender Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA), was described by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as an "easy vehicle" for criminal gangs in Russia and China to funnel their profits. The cash withdrawals prompted Banco Madrid to halt business and seek protection from its creditors, the Bank of Spain said on Monday. Banco Madrid had 15,000 clients with assets under management of about 6 billion euros ($6.3 billion) before the U.S. allegations and BPA's subsequent seizure by authorities in Andorra, a tiny principality in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. The Bank of Spain will guarantee deposits of up to 100,000 euros per client. It said fewer than 500 clients had more than 100,000 euros deposited at the bank.

America

The Venezuelan parliament on Sunday approved a law giving the president, Nicolás Maduro, the power to legislate by decree for nine months in the face of what he described as threats by the US government. The so-called “anti-imperialist” law will be in effect from the time it is published in Venezuela’s Official Gazette until 31 December. Maduro requested the expanded powers in response to new US sanctions on Venezuelan officials accused of human rights violations. Critics of Venezuela’s government have called the move a power grab. The US is targeting officials in the top echelon of Venezuela’s security apparatus it says are responsible for cracking down on last year’s anti-government protests and for pursuing charges against opponents. The officials will be denied US visas and have their US assets frozen.

Asia

China's Shanghai Composite gained 1 per cent to 3,410, on track for its highest close since August 2009. The mainland's benchmark has now risen 5.4 per cent this quarter, following an astonishing 37 per cent climb in the final three months of 2014, driven by a surge of trading volumes and retail account openings. As the FT's Lex column points out, mainland shares are still cheap despite this rally: At 11 times next year's earnings for 15 per cent growth, Shanghai's A shares look reasonable relative to the MSCI world index, on 14 times for 13 per cent. As Stock Connect grows up, those who can look past teething problems are likely to be rewarded. Though recent data from China has been disappointing, February data showed that recent loosening of monetary policy had been effective in spurring banks to lend more. Many economists expect the People's Bank of China to cut further, to counter slowing growth. "Our economists think the time is ripe for further reserve requirement ratio cuts in China," said economists at ANZ, referring to the amount of reserves lenders must hold at the PBoC.

Crafts Museum in Troyan

The specialized Museum of Folk Crafts and Applied Arts in the town of Troyan (central Bulgaria) is one of its kind in Bulgaria. It is an institute for gathering, keeping and development of the local folk arts. The museum not only collects, keeps and restores wonderful collections of pottery and metals, traditional folk cloths and dresses, wood-made articles, etc., but it also studies and popularizes through its scientific issues the folk arts and history of the region. A total of 131,326 exhibits are kept in the museum. The oldest exhibits in the museum date from 10-9th century B.C. As early as the National Revival the town of Troyan became famous for the craft skills of its citizens. The local pottery at the time was mainly in warm colours – yellow, brown, green, but later in 20th century the traditional tonality was varied reaching different variants of the Troyan pattern. The woodworking also brought great fame to the Troyan masters. The woodcarvers of Novo Selo (now the town of Apriltsi) made the iconostases, the holy gates and the stalls in a number of churches and monasteries. Beside these crafts, the museum also exhibits metal-processing and artistic crafts. The Troyan many-colored rug and the fleecy rug, decorated with flowers, are particularly famous. Near the museum, the newly constructed Crafts Street is located. Works of famous local masters are exposed here. It is the first stage of the Ethnographic Trade-Craft Complex Charshiyata that is currently under construction.

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