Financial news

Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria in the first four months of the year stood at 523.5 million euro, the equivalent of 1.2 per cent of the gross domestic product, statistics from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) showed on June 17. In the same period of 2014, FDI was 426.6 million euro, but the original amount reported by BNB last year was 218.5 million euro, which was revised upward later. Investment in equity, including in the real estate sector, stood at 61.8 million euro (compared to 89.4 million euro in January-April 2014) and re-invested earnings accounted for 53.7 million euro (versus 55.3 million euro in the first four months of last year). Receipts from real estate investments by foreign companies totalled 17 million euro, compared to 38.6 million euro during the same period of 2014.

Bulgaria ranked 32nd in the 2015 Global Peace Index with a score of 1.607, with the state of peace in the country identified as “high”. Thus, the country's score has slightly deteriorated from 2014, when Bulgaria ranked 29th. The latest index of the Institute for Economics and Peace shows that the world is becoming increasingly divided with some countries enjoying unprecedented levels of peace, while others have fallen into further violence and conflict. The index measures the state of peace in 162 countries according to 23 indicators, which can be grouped into three broad themes – the level of safety and security in society, the number of international and domestic conflicts and the degree of militarisation. The levels of peace remained stable in the world over the last year, but were still below their 2008 values. The report concluded that since last year, 81 countries have become more peaceful, while in 78 countries peace has deteriorated. Europe is the most peaceful region in the world with many European countries reaching historically high levels of peace.

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Companies

Holding Zagora filed notice with the Labour Office to lay off 340 people, said holding partner Anton Andronov. He announced which companies will lose employees - Natalia – 50, Preskov – 80, Progress – 150, Hraninvest - 60. The four companies of Holding Zagora employ 2200 people. We will be happy if we are not forced to do so, the reality may be more severe because the reduction of workforce is not good. If you lay off people, you will hardly perform the production process. This will happen with other industries as well, said Andronov. He explained that the cuts will happen, if proposals to increase the electricity from July 1 are adopted and the charge “duties to the community” leads to increased power prices for the industry by over 20%. The consequences of the forthcoming increase in the cost of electricity for businesses will be layoffs and bankruptcies in the few remaining manufacturing plants in Bulgaria, warned Anton Andronov.

Nord Pool Spot, operating power markets in the Nordics, the Baltics, UK and Germany, considers the region of Southeast Europe (SEE) ready to implement European standards for electricity trading, the company’s CEO said. Over the past couple of months, Nord Pool Spot has teamed up with CROPEX in Croatia and Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) in Bulgaria to develop day-ahead power exchanges set to launch later this year. The scope of the cooperation could be expanded to include an intraday market as well at some future point. The power market initiatives in Croatia and Bulgaria are facilitated by the fact that both countries as EU member states are already part of the implementation of the so called Third Energy Package, a legislative package for an internal gas and electricity market in the bloc.

Dentsu Aegis Network announced in the beginning of the week that it takes over eCommera, leading provider of software services and platforms for e-commerce. eCommera has developed and is at present supporting more than 130 sites for e-commerce for its customers in more than 32 countries. Based in the UK, eCommera and its team of 275 employees, including 140 in Bulgaria will join Isobar, Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital agency. In Bulgaria Dentsu Aegis Network owns and develops communication agencies Carat and Vizeum, as well as iProspect, specialized in digital presentation of its customers. eCommera’s office in Sofia is one of the largest worldwide with its 140 experts working in it. They are responsible for development, testing and support of solutions for customers such as Clarins, ASDA Direct, TM Lewin and House of Fraser.

Computer lab of future was launched in the Sofia-based school 74th Gotse Delchev in Tuesday. It is equipped with terminal solution of Huawei Technology Bulgaria which works in cloud environment and has to help management of the school’s ICT infrastructure. In future the innovative technology might be used for direct connection between schools, the ministry of Education and other institutions. The terminal is centralized- there are no separate computers on desks in classrooms. Instead, each pressing of a button from the keyboard sends signals to the server. In that way expenses for equipment are to go down. In addition pre-conditions for creation of infrastructure of knowledge are set. Huawei Technology Bulgaria has used experience of 80 other countries when it was developing the cabinet. The Chinese company plans to open still another classroom of that type in another school in Ruse in September.

Bulgarian company Central Energy Repair Base (CERB) is repairing the biggest water power plant in Albania-HPP Komany. The project is assessed at BGN 1 million and is ordered by the Albanian national electric company KESH. CERB participates as contractor of the world leader in the field- Andritz Hydro Austria. The Bulgarian company will make repair of three transformers. The repair includes activities such as redesign and replacement of the cooling system of transformers, processing, of transformer oil, cleaning and repainting, etc. After the repair work is over transformers will work at its full capacity and their efficiency will be bettered multiple times. Under the project which will finish in 2016, 10 CERB’s experts are working in WPP Komany. The latter has a capacity of 600 MW and is the biggest of Albania’s three water power plants. They insure 65% of the electricity in the country. CERB is the largest Bulgarian enterprise for diagnosis, repair and maintenance of electrical machinery and equipment. Over 70% of the company's activities are made abroad.

Europe

The Greek central bank took the unusual step on Wednesday of warning that a failure to reach a bailout deal with its international creditors would leave Greece on a “painful course” of not only leaving the eurozone but threaten its membership of the EU. The statement, contained in a regularly-scheduled report from the Bank of Greece, is the first time any Greek authority has publicly broached the possibility the country could face ejection of the 28-country club that Athens joined shortly after its return to democracy in 1981. The concern comes amid an escalating war of words between Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s prime minister, and eurozone officials ahead of a high-stakes eurozone finance ministers meeting on Thursday. The Bank of Greece said: “Failure to reach an agreement would . . . mark the beginning of a painful course that would lead initially to a Greek default and ultimately to the country’s exit from the euro area and, most likely, from the European Union. “Striking an agreement with our partners is a historical imperative that we cannot afford to ignore.”

America

Allergan PLC announced an deal to buy Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.1 billion. The deal values Kythera shares at $75 each, or a 23.5% premium to Tuesday's closing price of $60.72. Kythera's stock is currently halted for news dissemination. The acquisition, which will consist of 80% cash and 20% stock, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015. Allergan affirmed its 2015 earnings outlook, and said the deal would be breakeven in 2016 and add to earnings thereafter. "The acquisition of Kythera is a strategic investment that strengthens our leading global position in aesthetics and continues to position us for long-term growth," said Allergan Chief Executive Brent Saunders. Allergan's stock is still inactive ahead of the open. It has climbed 16% year to date -- Kythera's stock has run up 75% -- while the S&P 500 has tacked on 1.8%.

Asia

A Chinese bank will become the first Asian firm in history to join a group of Western institutions that help set the price of gold in the London market. Bank of China has gained entry to the London Bullion Market Association gold price auction, which takes place twice a day and is widely used as a benchmark by miners, traders and consumers. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of bullion, yet it has never played a major role in setting the price of gold. “Bank of China joined LBMA as an initial member in 1987, and has been actively participating in the gold trading business in London for over 40,” said Yu Sun, general manager of Bank of China’s London branch. He added that the bank’s inclusion in the auction should allow the gold price to better reflect supply and demand in the People’s Republic, which is a major market for the precious metal. The way the London gold price is determined changed this year in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal.

Bacho Kiro cave

The Bacho Kiro cave is located in the Northern Bulgaria, near the Drianovo monastery and some 30 km away from the town of Gabrovo. Once known as the Small Cave, it was later (in 1940) renamed to Bacho Kiro, after the famous Bulgarian hero from the April Uprising, who used to hide from his persecutors in its numerous labyrinths. During the Ottoman Yoke, the cave was rarely visited, since people believed it was haunted by evil spirits, dragons, monsters and dark powers. In 1890, Prof. Yurichin conducted the first ever scientific research into the cave. Later on (1971-1976) it was thoroughly examined by a group of Bulgarian and Polish specialists, who found different items dating from 40-70 000 years BC, including nibs, knives, working tools and weapons. From a historical point of view, all these findings prove the fact, that the place has been inhabited since ancient times. The Bacho Kiro cave was declared natural landmark in 1962 and is the first cave in Bulgaria, provided with all utilities. It is a three-floor cave with low entrance and large chamber - the vault is about 20 m high, the length of the cave is 3,500 m. The cave keeps a constant temperature of 11 degrees Celsius all year round.

On that day:  Petropavlovski monastery