Financial news

Bulgaria’s unemployment rate stood at 9.3% in August, 0.1 percentage points down from a month earlier and 1.1 percentage points lower than in August 2014, the country's Employment Agency said on Monday. A total of 306,821 unemployed were registered with the agency’s offices at the end of last month, posting a decrease by 2,960 from July and 35,682 fewer than in August 2014, the agency said in a statement. The number of people who found a job in August totalled 14,186. The number of registered open positions in August was 15,239. Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in 2007, has a population of around 7.3 million

Bulgaria recorded zero inflation in August compared to the previous month, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said on Monday. Year-on-year, consumer price inflation also was zero, the statistical office said in a monthly inflation report. The inflation rate since the beginning of the year (August 2015 compared to December 2014) was negative at minus 0.3%. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose last month by 0.6% compared with July and prices of alcohol and tobacco were 0.2% higher, while prices of clothes and footwear were 2.4% lower. Transport prices also decreased, falling by 0.4% month-on-month in August as a result of lower oil prices.

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Companies

French merchant with chemical raw materials and materials Safic-Alcan acquired distribution activity of Bulgarian Chimsnab BG. The company has transferred part of its commercial enterprise to the French group, as for the purpose a new company under the name of Safic-Alcan Chimsnab with address registration in Ruse was registered. A total of 18 employees have already been transferred to the new company, as it is expected changes to be made in the management, as well. After the acquisition we focus on expansion and specialization in logistics and rent of warehouses, as well as on rendering of services, specific for the industry, the company’s CEO Plamen Petrov commented. The value of the deal is about BGN 1 million. Chimsnab BG is focused on distribution of polymeric compounds and specialty chemicals, and its turnover is over BGN 17 million. This takeover will be used as a basis for the ongoing extension of Safic-Alcan’s product portfolio with some selected polymers and compounds with high productivity that let the group service more customers in the region of Southeast Europe, Safic-Alcan’s CEO Marcial Loekke added. The company operates mainly in Bulgaria and has restricted export to the neighboring Balkan countries (2%). Chimsnab BG has offices in Sofia and Ruse.

Bulgaria's energy ministry signed with local company Control Engineering a contract worth BGN 174,800 for design, supervision and consultancy services on a project for the construction of a gas link with Serbia. The contractor will supervise the construction works in the Bulgarian section of the gas interconnector and will evaluate the compatibility of the design project with the project parameters. The Bulgarian section of the gas link will be 61.6 km long and will have an annual capacity of about 3.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas. It will receive EUR 49 million in EU financing. In June Serbian energy minister Aleksandar Antic said he expects that works on the construction of the gas interconnection with Bulgaria could start next year. The construction of the Serbian side of the gas interconnection could be completed by 2018 so that the gas could start flowing in 2019. The 150 km pipeline should have the capacity to carry 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas annually. Bulgaria and Serbia signed a memorandum for the construction of the gas interconnector in 2012.

Bulgarian gas and petroleum products trader Synergon Petroleum doubled its capital to BGN 1.1 million, its parent company Synergon Holding said. The holding company subscribed for 55,000 Synergon Petroleum shares with a nominal value of BGN 10 each. Synergon Petroleum was established in 2008 as part of Synergon Holding. Synergon Holding was set up in 1996 as a privatisation fund under Bulgaria's voucher privatisation programme. The fund was transformed into a holding structure the following year. It has more than 25 subsidiaries and affiliated companies operating in various sectors of the Bulgarian economy.

A mechanical-biological waste treatment plant worth BGN 346 million opened near the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the country's environment ministry said. The plant has an annual capacity of 410,000 tonnes of mixed waste, or some 1,300 tonnes daily. In a separate statement, the European Investment Bank (EIB), which has provided EUR 33 million in co-financing for the project, said the facility will enable Bulgaria to meet its international environmental and climate change obligations. The plant will produce refuse-derived fuel that can be used in cement kilns and by power plants such as the future Topoflikacia Combined Heat and Power Plant, the lender also said. Apart from the mechanical-biological treatment plant, the project includes the construction of a sanitary landfill, and bio-waste and green waste composting plants, it added.

Economy Minister Bozidar Lukarski made the first sod of a new research and development center of the Bulgarian company Klaymmat Economic Zone in Sofia – Bozhurishte. Klaymmat is a subsidiary of Walltopia – the world leader in the development of artificial climbing walls, and is certified with class “A” under the investment promotion. Klaymmat stakes in project using high technology and applied science, which is among the priorities of the Ministry of Economy to support innovative businesses that create high added value. Lukarski wished success to the startup and development center, said his appearance is just one more example to the successful implementation of investment projects in Sofia Economic Area – Bozhurishte.

Europe

Tele Columbus AG Germany's third-largest cable network operator, said it has agreed to buy rival pepcom GmbH to create a combined company reaching 3.7 million homes, in a deal valued at 608 million euros, including debt. Tele Columbus currently provides its internet, telephony and Premium TV services to 2.8 million households in Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia while pepcom's customers are in Bavaria and Hesse, in the cities of Munich, Nuremberg and Frankfurt am Main. Tele Columbus Chief Executive Ronny Verheist said, "In future we intend to continue to pursue economically and strategically attractive growth opportunities to drive consolidation." Tele Columbus's two biggest rivals are Liberty Global's Unitymedia Kabel BW and Vodafone's Kabel Deutschland.

America

When Disney and other media stocks crumbled last month, the home of Star Wars seized on the opportunity to buy back its stock at what looked like dirt cheap prices. Disney went big, aggressively repurchasing $2.4 billion shares, Thomas Staggs, the company's chief operating officer, told analysts. In August, Disney stock plunged into a bear market -- down more than 20% from recent highs -- amid fears that even its vaunted ESPN network was being squeezed by customers cutting cable. "The market (gave) us an opportunity to buy the stock at meaningfully lower prices," Staggs said at Bank of America Merrill Lynch's media conference. "So we've taken big advantage of that opportunity," he said. It's almost an understatement. Disney's recent buybacks represent nearly half of the company's total repurchases of $5.6 billion in this fiscal year.

Asia

China has unveiled its long-awaited blueprint for restructuring its mammoth state enterprise sector, including partial privatization, as data pointed to a cooling in the world's second-largest economy. The guidelines, jointly issued on Sunday by the Communist Party's Central Committee and the State Council, China's cabinet, included moves to clean up and integrate some state firms. It did not elaborate. The guidelines were issued weeks after China's devaluation of the yuan in August and a plunge in stock markets since June have fueled fears of more economic shocks, although Premier Li Keqiang has brushed off concerns of a hard landing. Reform of underperforming state-owned enterprises is one of China's most pressing needs. But if not handled well, the restructuring could lead to hundreds of thousands of people being laid off and social instability.

16th birthday of Business Industry Capital

Today the online issue of the Bulgarian Industrial Association - ‘Business Industry Capital’ celebrates its 16th birthday. ‘Business Industry Capital’ is published by Bourse Information Company Capital Market – fully owned by Bulgarian Industrial Association, specialized in business information services. The company maintains the Bulgarian Enterprises Information System – BEIS.

During its 16 years of existence the issue became a preferred media and business partner to over 35,000 subscribers in Bulgaria and abroad. In the ocean of information offered by the Internet, ‘Business Industry Capital’ manages to briefly present every day the most important economic events in Bulgaria – financial, corporate, stock exchange and news by the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), in Bulgarian and English.

The main mission of our online issue has always been to promote the Bulgarian economy and business. Through the ‘Discover Bulgaria’ column, which quickly became favorite to both Bulgarian and foreign readers, ‘Business Industry Capital’ carries a wide campaign to popularize the cultural and natural sites and events in Bulgaria. Each day the column presents traditional Bulgarian holidays and the accompanying customs, famous Bulgarians and their brief biography, as well as information for beautiful places and sights in the country.

16 years is not a small period for an issue, for an online media. Our team has accepted the challenge to further develop ‘Business Industry Capital’ so that it may make even more friends and partners of Bulgaria, BIA and the Bulgarian business.

On our birthday, the team of ‘Business Industry Capital‘ would like to take the opportunity and thank all our friends and wishes for many more years of life and readers interest!

On that day:  The Leshten village The first school day