Financial news

In January - May 2015 Bulgaria’s exports to the EU has increased by 12.2% compared to the corresponding period of 2014 and amounted to BGN 11.6 billion, show the data of Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute. Bulgaria’s main trade partners were Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece, Belgium and France which accounted for 70.1% of the exports to the EU Member States. In May 2015 the exports to the EU has increased by 12.0% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year and amounted to BGN 2.3 billion. Bulgarian imports from the EU in January - May 2015, on the other hand, has increased by 8.0% compared to the same period of 2014 and reached BGN 13.3 billion at CIF prices. The biggest exports were reported for the goods imported from Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and Greece. In May 2015 the Bulgarian imports from the EU Member States have increased by 9.4% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year and amounted to BGN 2.6 billion at CIF prices.

Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia will receive a combined EUR 212.4 million from the European Commission to manage migration. The European Commission has approved 23 multi annual national programmes worth EUR 2.4 billion for EU member states dealing with high migratory flows under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) for the period 2014-2020. The Commission has worked intensively with member states to ensure that the EU funds are released urgently. EUR 72 million and 760 thousand will be allocated to Bulgaria against illegal immigration and border protection. Money will be allocated stepwise in the coming five years.

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

Companies

At present Gorubso Kardzhali is working solely in Chala deposit. The company extracts there 80 thousand tons of ores annually. They are processed in the Kardzhali-based enrichment plant by gravity method of enrichment and leaching. Gorubso Kardzhali has closed entirely the cycle from the mine to the golden or silver product. The company’s market is mainly in Bulgaria, as ongoing processing of products is made in KCM-Plovdiv. At present the company is working on three more investment intentions for development of deposits Kitnitsa, Momchil and Nadezhda. The project is still in its initial phase, though. The aim is Gorubso Kardzhali to enter EIA procedure. Deposits Kitnitsa and Nadezhda are located in Ardino ore field, near the villages of Kitnitsa and Macedontsi. In Nadezhda deposit annual production of 100 thousand tons of ore is planned for a period of 20 years over an area of 166 acres. In Kitnitsa deposits reach 2.9 million tons of gold-silver ore, as 100 thousand tons annually will be extracted. The company plans to change all machines and equipment. For the last five years in the factory in Kardzhali over EUR 10 million has been invested. More than EUR 2 billion has been invested in environmental projects from the company’s own funds and bank loans.

State-owned Bulgargaz said on Monday it plans to cut natural gas price for consumers by 13.65% in the fourth quarter of the year due to an expected drop in the price of gas supplies. Bulgargaz  will propose to the energy regulator KEVR to set a price of BGN 418.14 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas in the last quarter of 2015, a decrease of BGN 66.12 compared to the third quarter. The price doesn’t include excise duty and Value Added Tax of 20%. Bulgargaz, which sets gas prices quarterly, is obliged by law to announce publicly what prices it will ask the state energy regulator KEVR to approve for the next quarter a month before submitting its final proposal to KEVR. In June, Bulgargaz asked KEVR to cut gas price by about seven percent in the third quarter.

The share capital of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) will be increased by BGN 239.4 mln., Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova decided. The amount comes from the profit of the holding, which includes the largest state-owned energy companies. So instead of money to go to the state budget in the form of dividends, they will be used by the company itself. After the increase the company’s main capital will become BGN 3.18 billion.

Zlaten Lev Holding JSC has sold holdings of 1,680 shares, or 60% of Golden Lev Brokers LTD. The sale is conducted at a price of BGN 148.21 per share, or a total of BGN 248 992.80. The public company allot BGN 0.64 gross dividend per share (a net of BGN 0.61 to individual shareholders) in 2014. Zlaten Lev Holding’s profit was year was formed mainly from sale of assets. The holding company sold 2.08% of Biovet’s capital for BGN 1.74 million and 595 560 shares that represent 94.63% of the capital of Carat Electronics JSC to a company called AQ Group AB in August at a price of BGN 5.1888 per share.

Bulgaria Air will hardly launch flights to China, as it announced in the autumn of last year. The Ministry of Transport announced that it is in the process of cancellation of the decision of the Council of Ministers of September 19, 2014, by which it was designated the air carrier to operate international air services between Bulgaria and China, agreed with the agreement. The reason is that in the statutory period of six months from the date of appointment of the carrier, it is required to start operation of the line. The airline has declared its intention to begin to operate regular flights in question, by failing to state the reasons why not take advantage of its state-granted rights. In the competition for selecting the carrier to China other candidate was BHR, which previously said it wants to launch direct flights to US and it has right plane for the purpose, but it was left with less points. Bulgaria Air gave up conducing announced flights to Belarus, as well.

Europe

The new Concorde Mark 2 will travel four times the speed of sound. The airbus can reach London from New York in an hour. The patent for the model had been filed at US Patent Office. Concorde Mark 2 will be the successor of another hi-tech VIP plane, Concorde. The earlier Concorde was the first plane to travel faster than the speed of sound. It had the longest engine test in history before being allowed to transport passengers. Only the upper class was able to afford the flight, where vintage champagnes were served and gourmet dishes were presented on fancy Royal Doulton China. The official patent mentions an "ultra-rapid air vehicle", which will cruise at an altitude of more than 100,000 feet and carry a maximum of 20 passengers or two to three tons of cargo for a distance of approximately 5,500 miles. According to the patent document, power will come from three different types of engines. Flights in the conceptual aircraft are expected to be jaw-dropping as a rocket motor will be combined with conventional jets.

America

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to buy Precision Castparts Corp., the maker of equipment for the aerospace and energy industries, in a deal valued at USD37.2 billion, including debt. Buffett’s firm will pay USD 235 a share in cash. The deal is one of the largest by Buffett, who has been building his Omaha, Nebraska-based firm in recent years with the acquisition of industrial companies such as Iscar Metalworking in 2006 and chemical maker Lubrizol in 2011. It will also help work down a cash pile that climbed to more than USD 66 billion at Berkshire as of June 30. The target company uses advanced engineering technology to make metal industrial components for jet engines and power plants as well as pipes for the oil and gas industry. It employs about 30,000 people and produced USD 2.6 billion of pretax operating income on USD10 billion of revenue in its last fiscal year. Precision Castparts said in July that it expects USD 10 billion to USD 10.4 billion of sales and an operating margin of about 27 percent in its current fiscal year, which ends in March. Last year, 70 percent of its sales were made to the aerospace industry, with another 17 percent going to the energy market. The company’s customers include General Electric Co., Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE.

Asia

China is shipping ever more steel into world markets as its economy slows, leading to lower prices, reduced earnings at global producers and more trade disputes. Mills in the country that produces half the world’s steel are maintaining output as domestic demand falters, exporting the surplus. Overseas sales surged 9.5 percent to 9.73 million metric tons in July, the highest level in six months, customs data showed. Exports expanded 27 percent to 62.13 million tons in the first seven months, the highest ever for the period. Chinese mills face declining domestic demand for the first time in a generation amid a property slump. Steel demand will drop this year and next to extend the first annual contraction since 1995. The steel shipments were a bright spot in the country’s trade data, as China’s overall exports in fell 8.3 percent last month from a year earlier in dollar terms. Chinese imports of iron ore climbed 15 percent in July to 86.1 million tons, the highest level since December, as mills in the world’s largest buyer replenished inventories that had fallen to the lowest level in 19 months. Purchases were little changed at 539 million tons in the first seven months.

Kremenski Lakes

The Kremenski Lakes are a group of five lakes in the northern part of Pirin Mountain. They are situated terraced in the Kremenski circus, at the altitude of 2304-2356 m. They have a glacial origin and their geology base is of granite. In the summer the water has a temperature of 12.5 – 14.5оC. The Kremenski Lakes flow away from one to another into the Retizhe River. The biggest lake is the Lower Kremensko Lake. It springs eastern from the Ostrets summit (Sivriya). It has a prolonged shape, and covers an area of 98 decares, which makes it the second biggest lake in Pirin. Southwestern direction from the Lower Lake lies the Upper Kremensko Lake with an area of 66 decares (335 long, and 270 m wide). The highest Kremensko Lake is located to the south of Osterts summit, and has an area of 10 decares. The two lakes, lying to the lowest, are not yet studied.

On that day:  The Varna Dolphinarium