Financial news

Bulgaria's finance ministry said it expects that the country's economic growth will slow down to 1.4% in 2015 from 1.7% in 2014 due to the smaller contribution of the public sector and still cautious recovery of private sector demand. "Compared to the Autumn Forecast, the economic growth for 2015 and 2016 has been increased by 0.6 and 0.2 p.p., respectively," the finance ministry said in its spring macroeconomic forecast posted on Friday on its website. Bulgaria's economic growth is expected to gradually speed up to 2.3% in the 2016-2017 period, the major contribution being that of private consumption and investments. According to the ministry's forecast, the improvement in the external environment, expressed in higher growth of the European and the world economies, will lead to an increase in the real exports of goods and services up to 2.8% in 2015 while imports will grow by 3.6%.

Bulgaria is still ranked as part of "Emerging and Developing Europe" in IMF's recent World Economic Outlook report, though so are other EU member states from Eastern Europe, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Croatia. Unfortunately Bulgaria has the second-worst GDP forecast for 2015-2016, losing only to Croatia, the economy of which shrank by 0.4% in 2014 and will grow only slightly in 2015 (0.5%) and 2016 (0.1%). To compare, Poland's GDP will enjoy a stable growth of 3.5% in 2015-2016, up from 3.3% last year. This is also close to the "Emerging and Developing Europe" average levels (the region also includes Turkey and Serbia): it grew 2.8% in 2014 and economies are projected to increase by 2.9% and 3.2% in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Bulgaria had a zero current account balance last year and should not expect severe fluctuations in 2015 (0.2% of GDP), though this will change the following year (negative 0.8% of GDP).

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

Privatization

Bulgaria's privatisation agency said it has opened a tender for the privatisation of ammunition maker NITI, setting the starting price at BGN 3.6 million. Investors will be offered 690,392 shares comprising 100% of NITI's capital, the privatisation agency said. Binding offers should be submitted by July 27. Companies with manufacturing and/or marketing of defense products may apply. They should have positive financial result for the last two years and certificates under the law for the protection of classified information. This is another attempt to sell the military factory.

Concessions

The tenders for oil and natural gas exploration rights for Block 1-14 Silistar and Block 1-22 Teres, two exploration blocks located in Bulgaria's Black Sea continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, are underway. The licenses for prospecting and/or exploration of oil and natural gas will be awarded for 5-year periods. The applicant-merchant or at least one of the participants in the applicant-corporation should have generated total net income of sales for the last 3 financial years, depending on the date on which it was established, not less than EUR 150 000 000. The applicants’ proposals for the competition shall be assessed on the basis of the proposed working programmes, resources for environmental protection and bonuses as provided for in the competition dossier. The deadline for submitting the proposals under the competition dossier expires on the 155th day following the publication of this Decision in the Official Journal of the European Union. The holders of the permits are expected to be selected in early autumn. The launch of the competitions for the two exploration blocks is part of the commitment of the Bulgarian government to reduce the country’s dependence on imports and to develop its domestic oil and gas reserves.The government expects that the competitions will attract the attention of leading international companies in the sector, as is the case with the Han Asparuh exploration block.

Companies

Bulgarian telecommunications operator Max said it has extended its 4G LTE network to include four resorts in the country. Max's 4G LTE network now covers Hisarya and Velingrad spa resorts, as well as the coastal resorts of Zlatni Pyasatsi and Sts Constantine and Helena, the company said in a press release. The expansion is part of the company's plans to offer high-speed services not only in large urban areas but also in popular tourist destinations, it said. Max has 4G LTE coverage in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Ruse, Sliven, Pleven, Bansko, Hisarya, Velingrad, Zlatni Pyasatsi and Sveti Konstantin i Elena. In February last year, Max board member Tony Robinson said that investment in the company's five-year 4G LTE rollout plan would amount to EUR 75 million. Sofia-based Max Telecom was launched as a WiMAX operator in 2007. The company was acquired last year by London-based private equity investor Daniel Kupsin.

There is a proposition taxes for companies that have no right to have arable land to be imposed from the 1st of October instead of from the 1st of May. It is made by Rumen Hristov. The MP has handed out in the Parliament another draft amendment to the Law on Ownership and Use of Agricultural Lands (OUFLA), last changed two months ago. In accordance to the current law companies registered in offshore zones, as well as such registered out of the EU can not own agricultural land. The latest amendemends introduced sanctions to the amoount of BGN 100 for owned acre of agricultural land in case of violation. In three months’ time the amount of taxes becomes BGN 300 per acre. Hristov’s proposition will be considered at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture on 22 April.

The second largest company for agricultural land listed on the Bulgarian Stock exchange is preparing to leave BSE. This is to happen via liquidation, i.e. sale of land because this is what the law says for specialized pubic companies for properties and claims. The proposition is made by the major shareholder with a stake of over 99%-Agrion invest. As a reason for liquidation the company points out taxes, imposed if a foreign entity buys land. According to Agrion the public company might be sold off fast within half a year. Sale of 140 thousand acres of land is generally slow and bureaucratic occupation. That is why the short term makes market analyzers expect package deal, as the most probable buyer will be the present majority owner. In that way as a result of the debatable law a single huge public fund for agricultural land will remain. It is Advance terrafund. Agrion invest is the new name of the ex Winslow land invest, which is controlled by Vinprom Peshtera’s owners.

Europe

Liberty Global Plc’s Belgian unit agreed to buy Royal KPN NV’s local mobile-phone business for 1.33 billion euros in cash as billionaire John Malone gets his hands on a European wireless network for the first time. Telenet Group Holding NV, majority owned by Malone’s Liberty Global, gains the Base network as it seeks to challenge larger Belgacom SA and Mobistar SA. Telenet said Monday it plans to finance the takeover with 1 billion euros of new debt in addition to existing cash. It currently rents network capacity from Mobistar, whose shares fell as much as 18 percent in Brussels. The deal lets Liberty Global build a business with 2.4 billion euros in sales, while also targeting savings of 150 million euros. Malone has expanded through purchases across Europe and London-based Liberty Global now owns cable and phone operations stretching from Hungary to the U.K. The company has also added TV content and production to drive growth. The price values Base at eight times the unit’s estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for this year, the companies said.

America

Morgan Stanley reported a much stronger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit, boosted by higher revenue from trading bonds and equities. Net income applicable to common shareholders rose to $2.31 billion, or $1.18 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.45 billion, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the bank said it earned $1.14 per share. Adjusted earnings according to calculations by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S were 85 cents per share. On that basis, analysts had expected per-share earnings of 78 cents. Morgan Stanley shares rose in premarket trading following the announcement. Net revenue excluding items rose 10.3 percent to $9.78 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $9.17 billion.

Asia

Venezuela has received $5bn in financing from China, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says. The money was for "development", he said, but gave no details. The announcement comes three months after Mr Maduro travelled to China - a major investor in the region. Venezuela is suffering from an acute economic crisis, as the price of its main export, oil, has almost halved over a year. The opposition accuses the government of mismanagement. Mr Maduro visited Beijing in January and said at the time that China would invest more than $20bn in Venezuela. He did not make clear in Sunday's announcement if these latest $5bn were part of that larger sum. Loans by China's state-owned banks to Latin American countries rose by 71% to $22bn in 2014, according to estimates published by the China-Latin America Finance Database. The Chinese loans exceed the combined worth of those by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, according to the database.

Magura cave

The Magura cave is the biggest one in Bulgaria, located in the foot of the Rabishka mound, only 17 km away from Belogradchik. The mound reaches 461 km in height, and 80 m down from this point the hidden entrance of the cave could be found. The total length of the cave is around 3000 m, 1400 of which are well laid up. The temperature inside the cave varies between 12.2 – 12.9 ºC in all four seasons of the year. It consists of one main gallery, pointing southeast - northwest and three side branches.The cave-halls are enormous in size. Each one of them is over 200m long, more than 50m wide and over 20m high. The most precious heritage, left by the ancient inhabitants of the Magura cave are the rock paintings, for the making of which bat guano and red clay have been used. They are over 700 in number and make the cave unique on the whole territory of South-east Europe. These are the only preserved works of art, made by men dating back to the Bronze era - 3000 years ago. The climatic and relief conditions in the area surrounding the Rabisha hill are close to those found in the Champagne region in France. The cave offers excellent conditions for production of Champagne-like wines. In one of the branches of the cave a wine cellar is established (the only one in Bulgaria) where natural fizzy wines are produced using classical technologies. The cave and its surrounding area are declared a National Tourist Sight.

On that day:  Sofia Puppet Theater Silistra tomb