Financial news

In the first three months of the year market for residential properties in the country has stirred up. Total number of deals for the entire country has gone up by 8.4% in 2015 as compared to a year earlier. Growth in mortgages is also significant as those contracted for the period are twice more numerous. The first quarter of 2015 ends with consecutive increase in number of deals as compared to a year before for Sofia and all big cities of the country. Just for Sofia reported growth is by 26.6%. Mortgages in the capital city have accelerated by 23.5 % in legal mortgages and by 36.6% in contracted ones. Situation is similar with towns such as Varna and Plovdiv, though there registered increased is humbler. There is imminent growth in Pleven, as opposed to Burgas where growth of deals is minimal. Purchases aimed at satisfying residential needs are still leading though deals with investment purposes are coming back on the market. This is main motive for purchase in 15-17% of all deals.

Beneficiaries under the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Innovation will have to recover between 5% and 25% of the grants received, if their projects are ineffective. This was announced by the Minister of Economy Bozidar Lukarski upon submission of the application guidelines under the Improving production capacity in small and medium-sized enterprises, which will be subject to public consultation before starting the program. Performance indicators of a project will be four - internal rate of return, increase in production, increase in export revenues and cost efficiencies. Under these criteria companies will be required to recover from 5% to 25% of the value of the aid, explained Lukarski. The Managing Authority will give benchmarks and if companies do not achieve at least 75%, a scale will be provided, at which the amount of aid will be returned proportionally.

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

Companies

The new competence assessment information system MyCompetence will make realistic assessment of the capabilities of the employees of Port of Burgas SPJSC to hold certain occupations and positions. The system, developed under a European project by the Bulgarian Industrial Association, was presented to the employees of Port of Burgas in a joint initiative of the National Centre for Competence Assessment and Executive Director of the Port Diyan Dimov. The possibilities of MyCompetence for assessment were presented by Tomcho Tomov, director of the Center for competence assessment to the BIA. The system is extremely useful for professional development, human resources management and in the selection of staff, Tomov said. Competencies include not only the learned in universities, but also the knowledge, skills and willingness to implement them professionally, explained Tomov. MyCompetence allows a comparison with the requirements of the European standard for the positions ESCO and after passing a test to be granted a certificate for the competences.

Modern railroad and convenient road connection will be routed to the Sofia Airport, further plans of transport ministry provide. Thus, Sofia Airport will become a modern intermodal terminal. And it make possible to transport cargo by air, rail and road. Most likely the facility will be equipped with equipment for servicing of containers. Automotive connection is planned to pass through the industrial area of Gara Iskar. There is an idea to connect the road to the North Tangent, Botevgradsko Shosse or the eastern arc of the Sofia ring-road. So far it is not known which of the options will be implemented first. It is clear only that the railway connection will leave from the eastern edge of the metropolitan station Poduyane.

Chinese investors plan to build a EUR 21 million fodder plant in Dobrich, in northeastern Bulgaria.The Chinese investors together with their Bugarian partners of a company named Nova era Sofia have already bought a land plot for the plant in the western industrial zone of Dobrich.The plant's initial capacity will be 150,000 tonnes, to more than double during the second stage of the investment project. The first stage of the project envisages investments of EUR 11 million in the plant. Following the completion of the second stage, the plant will employ 80. The plant's output will be exported to China. Chinese engineers are expected to arrive in Bulgaria in mid-April and to begin work on the plant's design.

Japanese dairy products maker Meiji has expressed interest in investing in Bulgaria’s southwestern region of Petrich. Although the core activity of Meiji is related to the production of dairy products, the company is also interested in manufacturing healthy products and food additives, baby food, confectionery, and pharmaceutical products. Meiji is one of the Japanese companies offering yoghurt made with Bulgarian starter culture (from Bulgaria’s state-owned LB Bulgaricum) in Japan. The company, founded in 1917, has a total headcount of over 15 000. The company has been promoting the Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt brand since 1973. Meiji is a leading Japanese food producer. Meiji sells nearly 2 million cups of yoghurt a day in Japan. Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt is also sold in China, Thailand, and Singapore.

Albeit slowly, the furniture industry in Bulgaria is developing, but in recent years, it relies more on exports than domestic consumption, according to industry data. However, some companies obviously have difficulties lately, as in the register of public sales only in the last 10 days have been registered several notices for sale of assets of companies in the sector. One of them is related to the Gabrovo-based Solex Investment, which sells furniture under the brand MeBex. Bailiff sells several warehouses and administrative building of the company for the sum of BGN 235 thousand. The sale is to satisfy the creditor of the company - First Investment Bank (FIB).

Europe

''Montenegro is the leader in the region in terms of foreign investment,'' stated the Director of the country's Stage Agency fro Economic Restructuring and Foreign Investments, Milos Jovanovic. He noted that over the past eight years the volume of foreign investments in Montenegro has reached as high as EUR 5.5 M. ''We are expecting the arrival of three companies from Qatar, Jordan and the US pretty soon,'' he explained. '' Those are companies in the sectors of tourism, petroleum extraction and information technologies and all of them have multi-million dollar businesses.'' Jovanovic stated that in his opinion the positive business climate was largely achieved through the 9% flat tax rate. According to official statistical data, foreign investment in the country in 2012 amounted to merely EUR 435.6 mln, while in 2013 - EUR 485,3 mln.

America

Ventas, Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-owned Ardent Medical Services, Inc. (with its affiliates “Ardent Health Services”), a premier provider of health care services and one of the ten largest for-profit hospital companies in the U.S., for $1.75 billion in cash. Ardent Health Services will be entitled to distribute up to $75 million in excess cash to its existing shareholders. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Ventas’s normalized funds from operations per share by $0.08 to $0.10 in the first full year after close. Ardent Health Services is owned by private equity funds managed by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ardent Health Services and its subsidiaries own and operate leading health systems in major markets in the U.S. Ardent Health Services currently generates approximately $2 billion in annual revenues with over 50 percent of its revenue derived from commercial (private) payers.

Asia

Japan has the potential by 2030 to triple the amount of electricity it gets from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, an environment ministry study showed. Clean energy — solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and ocean energy — could account for 241.4 terawatt-hours to 356.6-terawatt hours of output by 2030, depending on energy policies, according to estimates included in the study of renewable energy’s potential, posted on the ministry’s website Friday. The report didn’t provide total power output levels for 2030. Japan gets about 116.1 terawatt-hours from renewable energy sources, according to the report, which was compiled by the Mitsubishi Research Institute for the ministry. Solar output may increase to 77.7 terawatt-hours to 128 terawatt-hours in 15 years from 15 terawatt-hours, the report showed. Wind, including offshore, may rise to 41 terawatt-hours to 64.6 terawatt-hours from 4.8 terawatt-hours.

Tomb in the Ostrousha Mould

The Tomb in the Ostrousha mould is the largest cult tomb covering an area of 100 sq.m. It is located 2 km south from Shipka and is dated back to the 5th century BC.It consists of a chamber that bears a close resemblance to a sarcophagus, one round and three rectangular halls. The cellar of the tomb is very interesting – combination of relief and art decoration It is famed for the paintings in the cupola - a combination of relief and paintings, where you can see portraits, animal figures and plant ornaments. There are a total of seven Thracian tombs in Shipka, located on a territory, considered to by the Valley of Thracian kings.

On that day:  Dryanovska River World Health Day