Financial news

Bulgaria's current account showed a surplus of EUR 194.6 million in January-March compared to a deficit of EUR 146.9 million a year earlier, the central bank said. The current account surplus equalled to 0.5% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) projected for 2015, compared to a a deficit of 0.3% of the GDP in the previous year, the Bulgarian National Bank said in a statement. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria fell to EUR 317.3 million in the first three months of the year, compared to EUR 346.5 million for the same period a year earlier. Bulgaria's trade balance showed a deficit of EUR 669 million for the period under review or 1.6% of the projected GDP. A year earlier the country had a trade shortfall of EUR 1.022.9 million for the same period, equal to 2.4% of the projected GDP. Exports increased by 15.5% on the year to EUR 5.28 billion in the first three months of the year, while imports went up by 6.3% to EUR 5.95 billion.

Bulgaria will get BGN 32 billion in EU funds during the upcoming program period 2014-2020 for sustainable development. The main goal of the program will be to reduce the differences between regions, said Minister of Environment and Waters Ivelina Vasileva. ''Our aim to avoid a zero year will be achieved through the realization of projects by municipalities as main beneficiaries in most development programs,'' she added. The Minister said that authorities would striving to simplify the procedures, unify the rules and impose tighter control mechanisms in order to avoid any confusion and mistakes in the application process for tenders. Vasileva added that EU funds can be extremely useful when it comes to reform of the sectors of healthcare, social policies and more. Bulgaria received and invested over BGN 7 billion from the operational programs for sustainable development in the last period.

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

Concessions

Central mineral bath in Bankya may turn into a modern SPA center. That is what Sofia municipality’s project envisages- restoration of the old bath that has not been functioning for more than 25 years now. The idea is the building to be given under concession so that it is completely renovated. In addition plan is a new SPA hotel with swimming pools, beach zone, a summer theater with 200 places and underground parking to be built next to it. The two sites will be connected via hot underground pedestrian link. The new hotel building will have four floors. Its area will be 6000 square meters. Pools will occupy an area of 300 square meters, of which 150 square meters will be covered. The underground parking will have 100 lots. The bath in Bankya will be given under concession for a term of 35 years. Sofia municipality will expect future concessionaire to accrue at least BGN 200 000 annual concession fee after the first 15 years, but not less than 3% of its annual turnover

Companies

Lukoil Neftochim Burgas refinery opens a USD 1.5 B heavy crude oil residue conversion plant on Wednesday. Installations of this type are only found in 7 other countries, including US, Japan, and Kuwait. The plant is also known a hydrocracking unit for vacuum destillation residue. The new unit will make it possible to make maximum use of the expensive raw material. The extraction of high-value products from one tonne of crude oil will increase from 74% to 90%. The process of deep processing will allow the extraction of a larger amount of diesel fuels and mazut with less than 1% sulfur content. The new plant will give a substantial boost to the competitiveness of the Burgas-based refinery on the European market. At the same time the products will be in line with the strictest environmental standards of the EU. The construction of the new plant at the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas refinery started in 2012.

Yemeksepeti, which was purchased by Delivery Hero, is starting investments in Bulgaria and Romania. Delivery Hero, one of the largest online food ordering companies in the world, recently purchased the Turkish online food ordering website, Yemeksepeti. With this new purchase, Yemeksepeti is currently active in 10 countries including Turkey. With investments in bgmenu.com in Bulgaria and quicky.ro and oliviera.ro in Romania, Yemeksepeti is set to become the industry leader in these countries. "With our experience and unique business approach, we believe we will achieve the success we have achieved in Turkey with Hello Hungry; the owner of bgmenu.com, quicky.ro and oliviera.ro brands," said Aydın. Hello Hungry's CEO Zornitsa Chugreeva said they are glad to be cooperating with such a successful global player. "We believe we will make great progress with the vision and strategies of Yemeksepeti, which has proved its success both in Turkey and the nearby geography and with impressive growth figures that reach 300 percent in other countries it operates," added Chugreeva.

Qatar is interested in investing and financing the construction of the 7th unit of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). This emerged during the meeting between Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov with His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Amir. “Bulgaria wants to build a new nuclear unit at the site of the existing Kozloduy NPP. The nuclear units there were built back in the 70’s of the last century, which is an advantage for having already built infrastructure and trained nuclear engineers. After the early closure of the first 4 units of the plant, which was one of the requirements for Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, Bulgaria took a decision to build a new modern nuclear unit of the latest generation which to meet the energy needs of the state and at the same time to cover the highest ecologic criteria,” Boyko Borisov said.

The Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) has fined the CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria JSC electricity distribution company with BGN 1.25 million for abuse of dominant position, the commission said Monday. The company has delayed without grounds the conclusion of a contract for the sale of joining facilities developed according to a procedure set down in a special ordinance for joining producers and consumers of electric power to the grid and the electricity distribution network. According to CPC, in this way CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria JSC may prevent, restrict or violate competition and may abuse consumer interests. CPC has decreed termination of the abuse and required the company to draw up and submit within 30 days a detailed list of all required documents related to the transaction.

Europe

Crunch talks on Ukraine’s national debt hang in the balance after the finance minister warned creditors that “all options were on the table” as the economic outlook for the war-torn country worsens. Natalie Jaresko made the comments ahead of a restructuring deadline next month. They came as official figures showed Ukraine experienced an even deeper slump than expected in the first quarter, with gross domestic product shrinking 17.6 per cent year on year. The central bank had previously estimated a 15 per cent contraction. The scale of the slump deepened international concerns over the country’s economy. Figures showed inflation spiked to some 61 per cent in April, because of sharp increases in utility tariffs on top of the weakness of the national currency, the hryvnia. Ukraine’s government is struggling to convince creditors to accept a haircut as part of plans to restructure $23bn of debt. The atmosphere surrounding the talks has become increasingly acrimonious as both sides this week issued statements accusing the other of failing to engage “substantively” with the process.

America

US Secretary of State John Kerry has suggested that the China-backed Asian infrastructure bank should cooperate with established global lending institutions, thereby distancing himself from earlier opposition to the bank. "We welcome the AIIB [Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank] and we encourage it to co-finance some projects with existing institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank," Kerry said after talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi late Saturday. The climbdown comes after EU's four largest economies - France, Germany, Italy and Britain - backed the establishment of the Beijing-sponsored development bank, which Washington views as a rival to the World Bank. "We are wary about a trend toward constant accommodation of China, which is not the best way to engage a rising power," an unnamed White House official told the Financial Times at the time. During the press conference, Kerry reiterated US concerns about governance and transparency at the new institution.

Asia

The United States is discussing with China imposing further sanctions against North Korea as the reclusive country is "not even close" to taking steps to rein in its nuclear weapons program, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said. He said Washington had offered the North the chance of an improved relationship in return for signs of a genuine willingness to end its nuclear program. "To date, to this moment, particularly with recent provocations, it is clear the DPRK is not even close to meeting that standard," Kerry told a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. "Instead it continues to pursue nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles." DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. The country is already under heavy UN, EU and U.S. sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests. "I think never has the international community been as united as we are now, that, number one North Korea needs to denuclearize," Kerry said, adding a pending nuclear deal with Iran could serve as an example to the North.

Slona (The Elephant) Rock Phenomenon

The Slona rock phenomenon is situated in the western part of the beautiful Rhodopi mountain. It is located on the left shore of the Vacha river, a short distance before it flows into the Shiroka Laka river, immediately after the road fork on the section Devin-Smolyan, before the village of Nastan begins. On this place, the amazing natural forces have moulded a whimsical rock shape, resembling the figure of an elephant, which is where the name of the phenomenon comes from. According to scientists, Slona was formed either as a result of the demolition of an ancient cave by the river, or as a result of an earthquake.

On that day:  The Slavova fortress 1934 Sofia met the dawn with a new Government