Financial news

The yield on deposits in Bulgarian banks keeps going down. Since the summer of last year, interest rates on 3-month deposits remained on its downward trend. In June 2015 those in BGN fell to an average of 0.50 percent from 0.55 percent the previous month. The situation in EUR is the same - a decrease to an average of 0.48 percent last month from 0.51 percent in May, shows an analysis of the financial portal Moite Pari. In the middle of the year is observed retention of rates on consumer loans in BGN. In the sixth month of the year, they remained at nothing from 12.08% the previous month. Those in EUR, however, has declined from 13.55 percent to 13.50 percent on average. Data last month showed that housing loans have become more favorable in the heat of summer. Interest on these in BGN has dropped to an average of 6.58 percent in June from 6.61 percent in May. The trend is the same for those in EUR where the reduction is lower - within 0.02 percentage points to an average of 6.79 percent.

Bulgaria plans to impose a 5% tax on the monthly income of all electricity producers in the country in an attempt to cover part of the deficit which the state-owned National Electricity Company (NEK) has accumulated, a draft bill approved by the energy committee in parliament indicated. The proceeds from the planned tax will go to an Energy System Security Fund that is yet to be set up, according to the draft bill, published on parliament's website. The fund will cover part of NEK's deficit resulting from its obligation to buy power from local producers at fixed prices under long-term power purchase contracts, which it then sells at a much lower price to the electricity distributors supplying the regulated market. Renewable energy producers face an even bigger drop in revenue since the bill also envisages a cut in the amount of power output they can sell at feed-in tariff level.

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Companies

PIT BOX EOOD will build a logistical center in the southern village of Madzherito, Stara Zagora Municipality, under a EUR 1.9 M project financed under the EU’s JESSICA initiative. Societe Generale Expressbank and the Regional Urban Development Fund have granted a 15-year investment loan of EUR 1 942 930 to PIT BOX EOOD under the JESSICA initiative (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas). The co-financing provided by the bank amounts to EUR 1 298 700. The logistical center will be leased to Speedy, the largest Bulgarian courier company, under a long-term contract. The logistical center will support the pallet services of the company, one of the swiftest developing business lines of Speedy. The modern logistical center will be built on the territory of the former state-owned poultry processing plant near Stara Zagora on an area spanning 5400 square meters. The project will create 10-15 permanent jobs, as well as 40 temporary jobs during the construction works.

Bulgaria's Blagoevgrad-BT, a unit of cigarette maker Bulgartabac Holding, has squeezed out the minority shareholders of its Bosnian subsidiary Fabrika Duvana, becoming the sole owner of the Banja Luka-based tobacco company, bourse data shows. After obtaining approval for the move from the registration court on June 22, Blagoevgrad-BT paid small shareholders 0.638 marka ($0.4/0.3 euro) for each Fabrika Duvana share it did not already own, data from the Banja Luka securities commission shows. The court decision stipulates that each minority shareholder has the right to reject Blagoevgrad-BT's terms and, within 30 days from the date of the decision's entry into force, seek from the court an extrajudicial procedure to determine a suitable compensation. Banja Luka is the capital of the Serb Republic, one of the two autonomous entities that form Bosnia. The Muslim-Croat Federation is the other.

Mutual Fund Invest Classic has sold 671,000 shares of BGI Group AD. The shares were sold on 14.07.2015 and constitutes 10.07% of the capital. After the transaction, Mutual Fund Invest Classic remains with 11.31 percent of the shares, respectively with the same number of voting rights in the capital of BGI Group AD. The buyer is Mutual Fund Invest Active. Its participation after the deal has risen to 17.84% of the authorized capital of BGI Group AD.

Global furniture chain IKEA will sell in Varna, too. On the 23rd of July a center for orders of the global furniture chain will be opened in the Black sea city. It’s part of the company’s strategy to facilitate access to people all over the country to IKEA’s products via new channels for sale. At an area of 2000 square meters locals will be able to see large part of the assortment of the furniture chain and to order the desired goods. It will be delivered from the store in Sofia, without payment of any taxes for transportation. Orders may be made from a catalog. Similar centers for sale in cities, where the chain do not have stores are opened in Greece, Norway, Spain and Finland. Such an investment is several times lower than opening huge stores. IKEA plans to open one more center next year, as the choice will be made between Plovdiv, Burgas and Stara Zagora. The center for sales in Varna will be located on Republica Boulevard. About 20 employees will be hired there. From April 2015 IKEA launched an e-store, too.

The six biggest Bulgarian brewers invested a total of BGN 19 million in the first half of the year, the Union of Bulgarian Brewers (UBB) said. The UBB members control a combined share of 91% of the local market in terms of sales volume. Their combined capital investments in 2014 added up to BGN 73 million. Beer sales in the first half of the year totalled 2.54 million hectolitres (hl), unchanged from the same period of last year, the UBB added. In March, the UBB said its members’ combined sales fell 5.0% to 4.9 million hl in 2014 due to the cooler and rainy weather. The members of UBB are Kamenitza, owned by StarBev, Carlsberg Bulgaria, part of Danish brewer Carlsberg, Zagorka, part of Dutch group Heineken, as well as locally-owned brewers Boliarka VT, Britos and Lomsko Pivo.

Europe

Inflation in the euro zone softened in June, the European Union's statistics office confirmed on Thursday, as energy costs weakened and price rises of food and services eased after a spike in May. Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro were unchanged month-on-month in June for a 0.2 percent year-on-year reading, confirming its earlier estimate. Inflation in May was 0.3 percent. Eurostat said that in June more expensive restaurants and cafes, tobacco and rents had the biggest upward impact on the overall year-on-year inflation value, while cheaper gas, heating oil and automotive fuel pulled the index down. Energy costs as a whole were down 5.1 percent, against a 4.8 percent drop in May. Excluding the most volatile components of unprocessed food and energy - what the European Central Bank calls core inflation - prices were flat percent month-on-month for a 0.8 percent year-on-year increase, against a 0.9 percent rise in May.

America

Uber picked up a hefty tab Wednesday when a judge fined the taxi-alternative's California subsidiary $7.3 million for refusing to give state regulators information about its business practices, including when its drivers turn down ride requests and how accessible vehicles are to disabled riders. The fine was part of a ruling by an administrative law judge at the California Public Utilities Commission, the regulatory agency that allowed Uber and its competitors such as Lyft to operate in the state as long as the companies reported aspects of their activities.The judge agreed with utility commission staff who said Uber's California subsidiary, Rasier-CA, has not filed all required reports, specifically about how often it provided disabled-accessible vehicles, places where drivers tend to turn down ride requests, and the causes of accidents. Uber's app allows passengers to request a ride directly from drivers in the area — and allows drivers to decline the request. The utilities commission wants to see whether drivers are accepting fares evenly.

Asia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has cut its 2015 and 2016 growth forecasts for China and the rest of Asia, largely as a result of the slower than expected growth in the region's largest economy and in developed economies elsewhere. Developing Asia is now expected to grow 6.1 percent and 6.2 percent this year and in 2016 against the ADB's March forecast of 6.3 percent for both years, the bank said in its 2015 outlook supplement released on Thursday. Growth in East Asia is still seen as subdued with lower-than-forecast output across the region. China's growth is seen moderating to 7.0 percent this year and 6.8 percent in 2016 compared to March estimates of 7.2 percent and 7.0 percent, the bank said. The ADB raised slightly its 2015 forecast for South Asia to 7.3 percent against 7.2 percent in March, as an expected strong outturn in Bangladesh offsets weak growth in disaster-hit Nepal and with India's economy seen supported by strong farm growth and fresh investments.

July 17 – the public holiday of Sozopol

Sozopol, one of Bulgaria’s oldest towns, celebrates its public holiday on July 17. Sozopol is situated 35 km southern direction of Bourgas and spreads on a small peninsula. The first settlement here was founded in the end of 4th or the 3rd millenium BC. Later on some trekkers of Mala Asia, impressed by the peninsula, the bays, and the islets, settled here. Above the ruins of the tracian village, they built Apollonia, a city-state, example of the ancient Greeks democracy. They named the city after Apollo – the god of sun and god of all creative arts. The town rose as trade and transport center. In the 4th century AD Apollonia was renamed to Sozopol – salvation town. During khan Krum’s rule, Sozopol became a major Bulgarian Black Sea port. Even after Bulgaria was invaded by the Ottoman Turks, the town kept its Christian character. However, the medieval churches were ruined down and on their places the natives built only small chapels. By the end of the 18th and the 19th century the renowned Sozopol houses were built, expressing wealth and cultural progress. Today, the historical inheritance, combined with the modern sound of contemporary seaside resort, make Sozopol one of the most popular Bulgarian tourism centers. In addition to its glorious beauty, the town also attracts tourists with the biggest cultural event in the country – the annually held arts holidays Apollonia.
On July 17 the Orthodox Church commemorates St. Marina. All the people called Marin and Marina have their name days celebrated then. Congratulations!

On that day:  Dog Days July 17 – day of St. Marina