Financial news

The European Commission has given the green light to Bulgaria’s last 2 operational programs in the 2014-2020 programming period, including “Environment” and “Regions in Growth.” All of Bulgaria’s 7 operational programs in the 2014-2020 programming period have now been approved, with their total budget amounting to EUR 7.6 B. The funding under operational program “Environment” 2014-2020 stands at EUR 1.77 B (including national co-financing), with the EU resources, provided under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund, totaling EUR 1.5 B. The program envisages a list of concrete measures in support of Bulgaria’s efforts to switch to a more competitive low-carbon economy matching the EU’s high standards in the spheres of environmental protection and efficient use of resources. Operational program “Regions in Growth” 2014-2020 has a budget of EUR 1.5 B (including national co-financing), including EUR 1.3 provided under the ERDF. A total of 39 district centers will be directly involved in the management of the resources under “Regions in Growth” 2014-2020.

Bulgaria ranks lowest among European Union member countries in actual individual consumption (AIC) per capita, a measure of the material wealth of households, EU statistics office Eurostat said. Citing figures for 2014, Eurostat said that Bulgaria’s actual individual consumption was about 49 per cent of the EU average. Second lowest was Romania, at 55 per cent of the EU average, and Croatia, at 59 per cent. Eurostat also gave figures for would-be EU countries, of which one – Turkey – ranked higher than Bulgaria, at 57 per cent, while Montenegro matched Bulgaria at 49 per cent. Serbia was at 44 per cent of the EU average, Macedonia 40 per cent, Albania 34 per cent and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 37 per cent.

REFA qualification course 29.06-03.07.2015, 13.07-17.07.2015, 20.07-31.07.2015 Corporate organization and management and optimization of the production processes First module:"Work Systems and Process Design" Topic: Workplace Design and Ergonomics Ergonomic Workplace Design Work Load and Demands and Their Consequences Workplace Design - Anthropometry and Work Means http://refa.bia-bg.com/, tel. 981-45-67, Sofia

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

Companies

SEE Link, a joint stock company established by the operators of the Sofia, Skopje and Zagreb stock exchanges, has signed a EUR 250,000 contract for an order-routing platform with a consortium of Slovenian companies Novita and Evolve and Macedonian company NeoCom. Order-routing between the three stock exchanges is expected to start in the beginning of 2016, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) said. SEE Link was set up in May last year with the objective of creating a regional infrastructure for trading of securities listed on the markets of Bulgaria, Macedonia and Croatia. The SEE LINK project is supported by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which has provided a grant to establish electronic system for order-routing. In February, SEE Link has opened a tender for the development of the electronic system for order-routing.

In 2015 PIMK will invest EUR 25 million in new motor vehicles. The Plovdiv-based company is the largest road transport operator in the country. The enterprise is known for the fact that it transports clothes for the Spanish company Inditex that produces for brands such as Zara, Stradivarius, and Bershka. In the sector though, PIMK is more popular with the annual expansion both of its business and its car park. For the present year the company planned investment of EUR 25 million in 150 road tractors Mercedes and 100 Iveco, as the latter have already been delivered while the former will be produced by the end of October. Last year PIMK’s vehicles surpassed 1100. With the new purchases from 2015 the number of the company’s vehicles will grow by 10%, as sale of some of the old trucks bought in 2012 and 2011 is imminent. PIMK traditionally prefers buying trucks on financial leasing. The company follows the following scheme. First it finds loads and after that trucks for their transportation are insured. Purchase of 50 refrigerated trailers and 200 usual for intermodal transport, which the company launched earlier this year together with the forwarder DB Schenker, are also included in the planned investment for 2015.

Bulgaria’s state-owned gas company Bulgargaz reported a loss of BGN 15.195 mln for the first quarter of 2015. According to the report, published on the website of the Finance Ministry at the end of last week, the financial condition of Bulgargaz deteriorates substantially from the same period in 2014. In Q1, 2014, Bulgargaz reported a profit of BGN 7.151 mln. At the same time, the company’s revenues in Q1, 2015 increased from the same period of last year. “In the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the first quarter of 2014, the cost of the natural gas quantities sold was 18.77% higher. On the one hand this is due to the larger amount of natural gas sold and on the other hand to the higher supply costs of natural gas,” according to the report. The weighted average supply cost of the company in Q1, 2015 stood at BGN 618.34, while the company sold natural gas at a price of BGN 603.20, or 2.45% below the cost of the raw material.

Himax pharma acquired 5.05% of FEEI REIT from Enemona on the 10th of June 2015. Before the deal was struck the pharmaceutical company had no shares in the special purpose vehicle. After the sale Enemona’s stake in the fund remain 14.9%. Himax pharma registered increase of its total sales by 5.62% on an annual base for 2014. Thus they reach BGN 8.04 million. The company’s net profit went down by 37.66% to BGN 1.609 million in 2014. This is due to the increased amount of accounting depreciation and higher advertising costs as well as opening of a new commercial department in the company.

Actavis plc announced that the company has adopted Allergan plc as its new global name and will begin trading under a new symbol — AGN — after ringing The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The company name change follows the acquisition of Allergan in March 2015 and the approval of the name change by Actavis shareholders on June 5. The combination of Allergan and Actavis created one of the world's top 10 pharmaceutical companies by revenue and a leader in a new industry model – Growth Pharma. Allergan has initiated a rebranding campaign that will guide the transition of its facilities, operations and commercial presence around the world to the new company name. Allergan has also adopted a distinctive redesign of the company identity and logo.

Europe

Norway's Statoil will cut up to 7 percent of its workforce and a third of its consultants by the end of 2016, it said on Tuesday, adding to staff cuts already implemented as it battles low oil prices and shrinking margins. State-controlled Statoil plans to cut between 1,100 and 1,500 permanent jobs, adding to cuts of 1,340 since the end of 2013. It will reduce the number of its consultants by 525 as it plans to cut costs by $1.7 billion per year from 2016. "We have so far solved the workforce surplus through voluntary measures, and maintain the ambition to conduct the people process over the next 18 months without forced measures," the firm said in a statement. Employing some of the industry's highest paid workers, Statoil has been under pressure to cut costs due to a fall in the price of Brent crude oil of more than $50 a barrel in the past year to around $64. The firm, one of the largest employers in Norway, did not provide further detail on the cuts but said that it would give more detail on the "adjustments to the organization set-up" by the end of the month.

America

Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos or Pemex, says it’s discovered one of the most copious group of oil fields in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, its largest such discovery in five years.The five fields, situated off the states of Campeche and Tabasco, have total proven, probable and possible reserves that may be as high as 350 million barrels of crude oil equivalent and could be producing as much as 200,000 barrels a day, Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya told an energy conference in Guadalajara on June 10. He called the find an “achievement… of great magnitude.” The company, based in Mexico City, said four of the fields were found off the Tabasco coast and one off Campeche. It said they could begin operating as early as autumn 2016. But Jose Antonio Escalera, Pemex’s director of exploration, said in a radio interview that it would take about three years for the fields to reach their full potential.

Asia

China will pledge a multi-billion dollar investment in Europe's new infrastructure fund at a summit on June 29 in Brussels, according to a draft communique seen by Reuters - Beijing's latest round of chequebook diplomacy to win greater influence. While the exact amount is still to be decided, the pledge will mark the latest step in China's efforts to shape global economic governance at the expense of the United States, and follows major EU governments' decision to join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in defiance of Washington. It is expected to come with a request for return investment in China's westward infrastructure drive - the "One Belt, One Road" initiative - constructing major energy and communications links across Central, West and South Asia to as far as Greece. "China announced that it would make (X amount) available for co-financing strategic investment of common interest across the EU," the draft final statement says, adding that agreements will be finalised at another meeting in September.

Ruen monastery

The Ruen monastery is situated in the western part of Bulgaria, near the town of Kyustendil. It is one of the most recently established monasteries in Bulgaria. It was built in 2002. The church has an original architecture, nice wall paintings and a beautiful golden altar. A steep path from the monastery leads up to a cave, believed to have been the first shelter of the hermit John of Rila before he settled in the region of the present-day Rila monastery. Further up the hill one reaches a big cross perking ominously over the edge of a steep rock. According to the legend, the cross shows the place, from which a Bulgarian maiden jumped in despair in order to escape from her Ottoman persecutors.

On that day:  Dryanovo monastery