Financial news

Thanks to subsidized jobs and seasonal employment official unemployment rate continued to fall in May to 10.1 percent. The decrease compared to April is by 0.6 percentage points, compared to 2014 - by 1.1 pp, according to data of the Agency for Employment. Over 28 thousand people registered in the labor offices found jobs in May - about 1,200 more than in April. Thus the number of jobless people is 331,846. In April they were about 18,500 less. On an annual basis the decrease is even more remarkable - nearly 36 thousand. Nearly 22,400 unemployed started working in the primary market in May. In subsidized employment are included nearly 6,000 people. Thanks to schemes financed by the operational program of the Social ministry have started work 4110 unemployed - twice more than in April.

According to the latest figures of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on the index of consumer prices, which were released on Monday, deflation returned to Bulgaria in May. The monthly inflation stood at negative 0.2 % in May, the inflation since the beginning of the year was 0.7 %, while the yearly inflation was 0.9 %. The prices of food products and soft drinks decreased by 0.9 %, those of alcohol and tobacco products remained the same, while the prices of clothing and shoes grew by 0.7 %. The prices of dwellings, maintenance and public utility bills dropped by 0.1 %, while those of furniture and domestic appliances increased by 0.1 %. Prices for healthcare and messages decreased by 0.2 % and there was also a drop in the prices of entertainment and culture by 0.6 %. The prices of transport increased by 1.9 %, while those in restaurants and hotels registered a growth of 0.1 %.

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Companies

BICA, BIA and the CEIBG demand an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov regarding the price of electricity. The three national representative organizations report that they will demand the resignation of Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and President of KEVR Ivan Ivanov, if no measures are taken for the introduction of European pricing of electricity. "In addition to our protests against the planned rise in electricity from July 1 - between 13% and 20% for the majority of active enterprises in Bulgaria and between 4% and 13% for the largest energy intensive production – we again categorically insist that Bulgaria implement EU policies and best practices in the energy sector," the organizations wrote in a letter to PM Borisov. The refusal of reforms in the energy sector and the decision all accumulated imbalances to be paid by local businesses are the main reason that makes BICA, BIA and the CEIBG request the two resignations. The business organizations point out that the decision has been taken without an impact assessment on the economy from the increase in the price of electricity for business use, as required by European directives.

Bulgarian pharmaceutical company Sopharma transferred its team of 14 experts in marketing of pharmaceuticals over the counter (OTC) to the company for wholesale trade in the group called Sopharma Trading. The aim is achievement of synergy, optimization of goods’ management at the internal market and improvement of invested funds’ efficiency. Sopharma produces a total of 35 types of drugs without recipe, among which are the best sold in terms of number of packages pharmaceutical in the country. Sopharma Trading on the other hand is dealer of drugs with the largest turnover in 2014 of a total of 304 distributors of meds, registered in Bulgaria. The company for wholesale trade distributes all registered in Bulgaria drugs with prescription as well as those OTC that are generally 4000. Sopharma is the third in market share in value on this market after the divisions of OTC Novartis and Actavis.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) could generate up to 6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in two or three years if the current growth trend continues, the chairman of the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association said. Currently, outsourcing companies in Bulgaria employ a total of 25,000 and generate around 3% of the coubntry's GDP, Stefan Bumov told a conference in Sofia. Bulgaria ranks as the top outsourcing destination in Europe and the ninth globally, he added. According to a report by commercial real estate brokers and consultants Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) released in March, Bulgaria rose 11 places in the company's BPO global rankings to third spot. "Benefitting from a low tax rate, and one of the lowest labour costs in the EU, Bulgaria also possesses a strong labour pool suited to the BPO sector with more than 60,000 students graduating annually from all Bulgarian universities," C&W said in the report, adding that about 50% of graduates obtain degrees in majors suitable for the needs of the BPO industry.

In the end of May registered in Bulgaria Qatar Management Agency bought industrial and agricultural properties assessed at more than BGN 4.85 million in the region of Varna. Among the bought buildings are poultry slaughter house, chick’s house, hatchery, three PLA, industrial and agricultural buildings and land. Sellers are companies Eco Pile and Ptisecom, part of Ingstroy Holding which is also a party to several of the deals. The company buyer has shares in one more company - Bulgaria Qatar Agricultural Company in which it is a partner with the Smolyan-based Texima Trading. Bulgarian-Qatari company buys lambs in the country as the idea is exports to be organized not exclusively for Qatar, but also for China and South Korea. Qatar Management Agency is registered in 2008 and develops activity in several fields- from IT and business consulting to services in the sphere of trade with fast moving consumer goods. In the beginning of last year the company opened a branch in the country. At this stage it is not clear whether it develops projects other than export of meat from Bulgaria.

After the Italian bid for the construction of plant for production of aluminum parts for sports shoes near the village of Zetevo, another investment plan to build a new site in Aytos was filed at the municipal administration. Zaednost LTD wants to buy municipal area of 10 decares near the plant for shrimp on the road to the village of Karageorgievo, on which to build a factory for processing of olives. The company has its own areas with olives, raw material will be supplied from Turkey and Greece. There has been increased investor interest in the newly-emerging industrial zone near Aytos. After the construction of the plant for shrimp, which now employ 300 people, a Norwegian investor announced plans to purchase land for a new production of filleted salmon opening 200 jobs.

Europe

The only major ratings agency still to give Britain a top-notch credit rating said it risked a downgrade due to Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to hold a referendum on whether to leave the European Union. Standard & Poor's lowered the outlook for Britain's triple-A rating to negative from stable on Friday, saying the EU vote "represents a risk to growth prospects for the UK's financial services and export sectors, as well as the wider economy". Widespread dissatisfaction with the EU within Cameron's Conservative Party, and among many voters, prompted him in 2013 to promise to re-negotiate Britain's membership of the bloc and hold a referendum on the revised terms by the end of 2017. But the referendum was in question until the Conservatives unexpectedly won a clear majority in last month's election, as other major parties had opposed it. Opinion polls suggest around a third of Britons want to leave the 28-member bloc, which Britain joined in 1973.

America

Gun maker Colt Defense LLC said it is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection, amid business-execution issues and a heavy debt burden. The company has secured $20 million in financing from its existing senior lenders to continue operating while in bankruptcy and expects to remain in business after the restructuring. The West Hartford, Conn., company, with a legacy dating to 19th century New England, developed a pistol it calls “the gun that won the West” and enjoyed a lucrative stretch in the late 1990s and early 2000s as supplier to the U.S. military of the M4 line of firearms widely used by front-line troops. But Colt has struggled in recent years with supply-chain and working capital issues, a slowdown in rifle sales and its 2013 loss of a key contract to supply the U.S. Army with the M4. As a result of some of its operational issues, the company has had accounting problems that caused it to revise prior years’ reported financial results and miss a creditor’s initial filing deadline for an annual report, according to regulatory filings.

Asia

Taxi applications backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are seeking to raise funds that value the company at $12 billion to $15 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Xiaoju Kuaizhi Inc. is raising at least $1.5 billion to fend off Uber Technologies Inc. in China, the people said, asking not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak about the matter. The funding is coming from new and old investors, with the valuation doubling since the competing Didi and Kuaidi apps combined in February, the people said. The two apps form China’s largest taxi and ride-sharing platforms after merging to limit the rising costs of competing with each other and Uber. San Francisco-based Uber has told investors it plans to invest $1 billion in China, the Financial Times reported. Didi earlier announced it would give away 1 billion yuan ($161 million) worth of rides to commuters to compete against Uber and Yidao Yongche, which also operates in the estimated $1 trillion-a-year market for transportation services in the world’s most populous country. Didi Kuaidi still runs separate apps that customers use to access their service, while combining their technology and data.

Tatul - the Village of the Gods

Only 15 minutes away from Kardzhali has hidden a stone village. It is not only its name that is strange - Tatul. Most of the houses there are well carved out of stone blocks. Once, local people have brought them from the castles that had existed centuries ago in these places. Tatul excavations found out the site to have been an exceptional religious center about 4000 years ago, significant for the whole Eastern Mediterranean. Incredible collection of seals prove a clear link of the sacred spot to the live of sevast George Palaiologos, a famous historical person who lived in the period 1081-1115. He is the founder of the famous Palaiologos Dynasty, Byzantine emperors family in XIII-XV century. Several of the found 30 clay altars for sacrifices are from a completely unknown period of the middle Bronze Age - XIX-XVIII century B.C. Among the findings one can find dozens of whole vessels, that have been put around the altars, religious objects like the three wheels for the models of the celestial chariot, the top of a priest’s scepter, pottery with images of the solar cult, as well as a gold plate, part of a mask from the Mycenae period. An idol of the early Iron Age – a roughly made male figure, proves that religious activity had continued in that period as well.

On that day:  Roman Baths - Varna Anniversary of Georgi Partsalev