Financial news

Bulgarians working abroad sent home remittances amounting to nearly EUR 360 M in the period January-May. Only in May, the remittances sent by Bulgarians working abroad amounted to nearly EUR 83 M. Thus, remittances retain their levels with the corresponding figure in the period January-May 2014 being slightly lower than this year's one. The remittances sent by Bulgarians working abroad are comparable to the level of direct investments made in the country in May. However since the beginning of the year the investments have been twice the level of remittances. It should be noted that the statistics takes into account only the official bank transfers.

According to the Employment Agency's latest data, youth unemployment currently stands at a six-year low, Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivailo Kalfin said. He added that a total of 14,700 young people have found jobs during the past year. There are currently three programmes for youth unemployment and one more is yet to start. Around 19,000 young people have started work on the primary labour market since the beginning of 2015, and 5,000 have been included in subsidized employment, Kalfin explained. According to data, quoted by the Minister, Bulgaria's population has decreased by half a million between 2001 and 2011, while 175,244 people have emigrated. Kalfin said that in order for young people to stay in Bulgaria, they need higher salaries, prestigious education in the country and a good career-related future. According to him, wages in Bulgaria must go up. The Minister said that he is familiar with all the reasons of employers to be against increasing minimum wage, adding however, that given the current low salaries, businesses can not claim that they will become uncompetitive if the minimum wage is raised.

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Companies

Bulgarian farmers have suffered BGN 82 mln in lost revenue as a result of the Russian ban on food imports from the West, Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva said. Since Moscow banned food imports from the EU, the US, Canada, Norway and Australia in August 2014 in response to Western sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the crisis in Ukraine, Bulgarian dairy producers have lost BGN 44 mln, Taneva said. By end-June 2015 the Bulgarian growers of fruit and vegetables have lost BGN 22 mln, while the remaining losses from the Russian ban were recorded in the meat producing and processing sector. The food ban, which Russian President Vladimir Putin extended for a year in late June, includes beef, pork, fish, cheese, vegetables, fruit, milk and dairy products.

District Heating Shoumen EAD to be declared bankrupt. This was decided in a closed session by Shumen District Court. The Court further orders closure of the company, a general interdict and distraint of the property of the company. Powers of the governing bodies of the district heating company are terminated, the trader is deprived from the right to manage and dispose of the property. The court decision also informs for a meeting of creditors of the Company on 3 September. It will determine the order and way of realizing the assets of District Heating Shoumen, method and conditions of the valuation of the property, choice of assessors and determination of their remuneration. The court's decision is subject to appeal before the Varna Appellate Court within seven days of its entry in the Commercial Register.

Bulgaria holds the leading position worldwide in terms of lavender oil’s production. Our country is even ahead of the market leader France for each of the last three years. Our country has doubled its output since 2011 - from 60 tons to 120 tons this year. Climate and experienced workers, as well as disease on lavender in France also contributed to the fact that our country is a leader in the plant’s production. It is expected that this year the price of lavender oil will reach EUR 100 per kilo. The main markets for Bulgarian lavender are France, Japan and England.

Belgian private equity investor Pierre Louvrier, who claimed to have entered an agreement to buy 43 per cent in Bulgarian telecom carrier Vivacom, as well as majority stakes in several other companies, has now pulled out of the deal. In a statement Louvrier said that the assets have reverted to their previous owner as Louvrier exercised his right to “hand back the acquired assets under certain circumstances”, which was included in the original purchase agreement. “My reason for investing in these businesses was to facilitate the restructuring of what I believed to be a fundamentally strong group of companies. It has not been possible to get the agreement of all parties within an acceptable timeframe,” Louvrier said. The deal for Vivacom and other companies – including telecom infrastructure firm Nurts and multiplex operator First Digital, audience research firm Garb, as well as military plants Dunarit and Avionams – was announced in March. Louvrier’s Luxembourg-registered special-purpose vehicle LIC33 was to buy the stakes owned by Tsvetan Vassilev – the former majority shareholder in Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) – for one euro, promising to refinance debt worth 900 million euro.

Faced with a deep economic crisis at home, at least 11,000 Greek companies have found a safe haven in neighbouring low-wage Bulgaria -- the poorest member of the European Union. "We have stability here: reliable taxation, sound legislation and a positive environment," said Ioannis Politis, manager of Greek hygiene products company Septona, which established a plant in the northern Bulgarian city of Ruse 10 years ago. Some 120 large Greek businesses set up in Bulgaria in the 2000s in sectors such as retail, metallurgy, fuel distribution, construction and real estate. And if the Greek crisis put an end to the big-business migration in 2009, a rising number of small and medium Greek companies -- especially ones that trade with Europe, the Balkans and Russia -- have continued moving to Bulgaria to take advantage of its lower taxes.

Europe

Nokia has agreed to buy its smaller French rival Alcatel-Lucent in a 15.6 billion Euro all-stock deal, likely to close in the first half of next year. The combined entity, to be called Nokia Corporation, will become the second largest mobile equipment manufacturer in the world with an estimated market share of 35%, close behind Swedish giant Ericsson which has an estimated 40% share. Alcatel-Lucent’s CEO Michel Combes stated in an interview following the deal announcement that Nokia had initially approached Alcatel to buy only its wireless business but, after getting rebuffed, agreed to buy the whole company. In addition to positioning it as a top player in the telecom gear market, the deal will help Nokia expand its product portfolio in the domains of optical transmission and Internet Protocol (routers and switches), which are essential components in building a complete network.

America

Anthem Inc. struck a deal to buy rival Cigna Corp. for $48.4 billion, wrapping up almost a year of contentious negotiations and potentially creating the largest health insurer in the U.S. Anthem will pay $188 a share in cash and stock for Cigna, based on Anthem’s May 28 closing share price, the Indianapolis-based insurer said Friday in a statement. That’s 22 percent more than Cigna’s closing price on Thursday. The deal combines the second- and fourth-biggest insurers in the U.S., measured by members. The acquisition extends a wave of consolidation sweeping over the health-care industry, potentially reducing the ranks of the biggest insurers from five to three. Aetna Inc. agreed to buy Humana Inc. for $35 billion earlier this month, a day after Centene Corp. struck a $6.3 billion deal for Health Net Inc. President Barack Obama’s 2010 health-care overhaul is helping drive the mergers, in part by imposing tougher rules and limits on the industry’s profits.

Asia

The preliminary China Caixin purchasing managers index (PMI) surprised markets by dropping to a 15-month low in July, with analysts pinning the hit on the recent stock market crash and weak export demand. The index, released Friday, fell to 48.2, coming in well below the 49.7 forecast from a Reuters poll and the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. "The PMI came as a big surprise for the market, which was expecting an increase," Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist at Credit Agricole private bank, said. "I believe the reading reflects the negative impact of the stock market crash, the weaker outlook for consumption and the worsening of availability of funding for investment," he said, noting that initial public offerings (IPOs) were suspended in the wake of stock market turmoil. After the data, the Australian dollar dropped as low as $0.7292 - its lowest against the greenback since May 2009, during the Global Financial Crisis - from $0.7345 before the release. China is among Australia's largest trading partners, offering a market for resources exports.

July 27 – Day of Cyril and Methodius and Their Five Disciples

On July 27, the Christian world celebrates the memory of the two brothers Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples. On this day in 916, the last one of the seven Slavonic enlighteners – Clement Ohridski, died. Besides the two brothers and St.Clement Ohridski, on this day people also celebrate the memory of the other four disciples – Gorazd, Naum, Angelarius, and Sava,. Clement took part in the preparation of the Moravian mission and accompanied Cyril and Methodius in Moravia, Panonia and Rome. In Bulgaria, he carried out massive literary work. Naum worked as a teacher in Preslavand Kutmichevitza. In the end of his life, he lived in a monastery he built on the shore of the Ohrid lake. Gorazd was a highly-educated man of letters, he knew Greek, Slavonic and Latin language. Angelarius used to lead a fight with the German priesthood in Moravia, and later on, together with Naum and Sava, came to Bulgaria, where he was warmly welcomed by the Bulgarian ruler Boris I. The tradition of paying homage to all seven enlighteners together is very old. Their names are earliest mentioned in the Extensive Passional of St. Clement Ohridski by archbishop Teofilactus, which was written sometime in the end of XI century. In XIII century, the cult of Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples became popular in the Bulgarian lands.

On that day:  July 27 – Day of Cyril and Methodius and Their Fiv Sozopol Becomes World’s Second Jerusalem The Church Cyril and Methodius and Their Five Disciples in Sofia