Financial news

Annual average total income per household member in 2014 is BGN 4,813 or the same compared to 2013, show the data of Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute. Wages represent 54.2% of the total household income or by 1.1 percentage points (pp) more compared to 2013. Average income from wages per household person increases yearly in absolute value by BGN 53 (2.1%) and becomes BGN 2,610 in 2014. Share from pensions is 25.8% of the total annual household income in 2014 and increases by 0.3 pp compared to 2013. Social transfers (pensions, family allowances for children, scholarships and unemployment benefits) represent 29.4% of the total household income. The relative share of income from household plot decreases compared to 2013 and it is 1.4% of the total household income. Bulgarian households have spent BGN 4,509 per person in 2014, which is 1.0% more compared to 2013.

Bulgarian foreign exchange reserves reached a record high of EUR 18.96 billion, BNB data for March show. They increased by 21.19% compared to January and 10.38% compared to February. Experts claim that large foreign exchange reserves are a sign that the currency board is stable and that the crisis in Corporate Commercial Bank (CorpBank) has not affected it. The considerable increase is also the result of the EUR 3.1-billion bond issue in March.

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Concessions

Two Black Sea beaches, Coral and Dolphin, are to become eco beaches, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Lilyana Pavlova said. Concessions will be offered for the two beaches. The future concessionaires will be required to ensure more space for free sun-bathing and that any moveable amenities on the beaches be made of environmentally-friendly materials. A procedure for the award of a concession on the Coral beach will be tabled for discussion at the next regular meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 22. At the moment a procedure is underway for leasing the beach. The lease will be for a period of up to five years or until the entry into force of the agreement with the future concessionaire. A concessionaire for the beach is expected to be chosen by the autumn. The concession agreement is expected to enter force in January 2016. The aim is to ensure that Coral will remain an eco beach in the next 15 years.

Companies

Bulgarian start-up company WeDo presented the first in its kind online platform for time-sharing. The project is called WeDo and is aimed at connecting busy people who have no time and need help with those who are free and would finish certain tasks. Scope of activities includes: secretary work, processing of papers, and help with household, paying of bills, walking of pets, etc. Each volunteer has the chance to make their profiles in the platform and to be either assignor or performer of various tasks. When a task is completed the assignor pays the performer, while the latter will provide small percentage of the sum to the platform. The project is part of the fast-developing sphere of shared economy. At present WeDo is in a process of developing; both assignors and performers of task for beta testing of the system are being hired.

The Bulgarian Commission on Competition Protection has started an investigation against the service for joint travel UberX. The municipality has stated that security in online payments poses a problem regardless of the company's assurances that this is not the case. According to local legislation, offering a taxi service that requires payment needs to be registered prior to the start of its operation. Therefore, investigators from the municipality are demanding an official stance from the commission on whether the service thus provides conditions for unfair competition. Uber became active on the Bulgarian market on December 9 2014 through a mobile application. Meanwhile, Uber has provided a license agreement to Rasier Operations B.V. and it is the company connecting the drivers and clients in Bulgaria.

Passenger traffic at Sofia Airport rose by an annual 4.6% to 866,786 in the first quarter of the year. The number of passengers on regular international routes increased by 6% over the year to 792,712 in January-March, while passengers on domestic flights went down by 850 to 26,425, the airport operator said in a statement. Aircraft movements at Sofia Airport rose by 4.3% on the year to 9,834 in the first quarter. The airport handled 4,122 tonnes of cargo and postal shipments in January-March, an increase of 2.2% from the same period in 2014. In March alone, passenger traffic rose by an annual 4.2% to 304,995 while aircraft movements rose by 6.1% to 3,441.

Europe

Greek officials have made an informal approach to the International Monetary Fund to delay repayments of loans to the international lender, highlighting the parlous state of Greek finances, but were told that no rescheduling was possible. According to officials briefed on the talks by both sides, Athens was persuaded not to make a specific request for a delay to the Fund, which is owed almost €1bn in two separate payments due in May. Although Athens was rebuffed, the discussions, which occurred in private earlier this month, are a sign that the Greek government is finding it increasingly difficult to scrape together enough money to continue to pay wages and pensions while meeting its debt payments to external lenders. Yields on Greek bonds soared on Thursday following the news, with yields on three-year paper rising 134 basis points to 25.10 per cent, the highest since the country’s restructuring. Its 10-year yields climbed 45 basis points to 12.18 per cent.

America

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. posted the highest earnings per share in more than five years as all of its major businesses topped analysts’ estimates and the firm paid out a smaller portion of revenue to compensate employees. Net income surged 40 percent to $2.84 billion, or $5.94 a share, from $2.03 billion, or $4.02, a year earlier, the New York-based company said Thursday in a statement. That was higher than all 26 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein, 60, has preached patience as he stuck with trading businesses that competitors pared. His firm’s 12 percent increase in bond-trading revenue and 46 percent jump in equities surpassed gains at JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank by assets. “In short, nothing not to like about these results,” Chris Kotowski, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., wrote in a note to clients. “Equity trading shines in all-around great quarter.”

Asia

Move over, Beijing. Japan now owns more U.S. government debt than any other country, ending China's six-year run as the top foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries. Data from the Treasury Department released Wednesday show that Japan owned $1.2244 trillion worth of U.S. government securities at the end of February, compared to $1.2237 trillion for China. Both countries unloaded U.S. debt during the month of January, but China sold more, making Japan the top U.S. creditor for the first time since the financial crisis. The Treasury data should be taken with a grain of salt: Transactions carried out by other nations on behalf of China and Japan aren't included, making the final tally more of an educated guess. But the Japan-China switch is backed by larger trends, and changes in the way Beijing manages its foreign reserves. Treasury data show that over the past year, China's U.S. debt holdings dropped by $49.2 billion, while Japan's increased by $13.6 billion.

Kabile Monastery Nativity of Holy Virgin Mary

The monastery Nativity of Holy Virgin Mary is situated near the archeological reserve Kabile, 6 km from the town of Yambol. In late antiquity (4-5th century) Kabile was a big religion center. During the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great there was a monastery here, about 1 km away from the present reserve. The legend tells that Queen Elena often sent her men to bring her water of the curable spring nearby. Later the monastery became an orthodox nunnery and was inhabited until the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria at the end of 14th century. Although the monastery was destroyed, local people never forgot the story of the magic spring. In 1918 an old woman from Sliven found the spring after a prophetic dream. Supported by generous men, a small chapel was built there. The constuction of the monastery began in 1918 and ended in 1944. Now the cloister is nunnery, and the temple holiday on September 8 gathers lots of Christians. Most of them come here believing that the holy spring of the monastery will bring them health and longevity.

On that day:  The Clock Tower in Rakitovo