Financial news

Government deficit of Bulgaria exceeded BGN 4.8 bln in 2014, which represented 5.8 % of the country's GDP. In 2014, the government debt of Bulgaria exceeded BGN 22.5 bln, which represented 27 % of the country's GDP. In this respect, Bulgaria registered the third lowest government debt to GDP ration in the 28 member states of the EU. The difference between the preliminary and final figures on Bulgaria's deficit is due to the reclassification of the Deposit Insurance Fund inside general government, which led to BGN 2.6 bln increase in deficit and BGN 0.13 B decrease in debt. The Deposit Insurance Fund has been responsible for the repayment of guaranteed deposits in the collapsed Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB). Overall, the government deficit of the 28 EU member states in 2014 decreased compared to 2013, while the government debt increased. According to the latest figures of Eurostat, the government deficit to GDP ratio of the EU-28 decreased from 3.3 % to 3 %, while the government debt to GDP ratio increased from 85.5 % to 86.8 %. Estonia had the lowest government debt to GDP ratio, followed by Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia and Lithuania.

Bulgaria needs faster, more inclusive, and more sustainable growth in order to boost shared prosperity, the World Bank said. The share of Bulgarians at risk of poverty remains high for an EU member state and income-enhancing opportunities are limited - particularly for the bottom 40% of the population, the World Bank said. According to a Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) study for the country, there are three policy areas with the potential to transform the economy and achieve faster, more inclusive, and more sustainable growth through strengthening institutions and policies - strengthening the institutional and legal framework for good governance; boosting the skills and employability of all Bulgarians; and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending.

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

Companies

Bulgarian hi-tech software company signed a contract with Kingdom of Bahrain during the international exhibition of high technology GITEX 2015 in Dubai. The contract is signed with Bahrain Association of Technology Companies-BTECH. By signing the contract CloudCart, which develops a platform for online stores makes its first step in extension its market in the Middle East. The company strives in becoming a leader in development of online stores in the Persian Gulf in 2016.

Luxoft Holding announced that it was ranked in the top 10 providers of outsourcing services in the ranking of Information Services Group (ISG). ISG specializes in the analysis of the technology sector, market research and consultancy services. For the third consecutive quarter Luxoft is among the top providers in the category “Outstanding Achievement in outsourcing services” (The Breakthrough Sourcing Standouts) for North and South America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. According to ISG Global Outsourcing Index rating of companies is based annual value of contracts concluded in the last 12 months. This is the 52nd quarter for which ISG Outsourcing Index ™ prepares independent analysis and indicate the trends of the latest data on the outsourcing sector. The information is presented to manufacturers, service providers, analysts and the media . The inclusion of Luxoft in the index is based on quarterly data submitted regularly to the company ISG.

Bulgarian fuel and building materials retailer Toplivo plans to acquire 100% of Synergon Petroleum, a fully-owned unit of Toplivo's majoriy-owner Synergon Holding, and then hike its capital. If the proposed deal gets the approval of Toplivo's shareholders, Toplivo will acquire the 110,000 Synergon Petroleum shares for a total amount of BGN 1.47 million. Toplivo's shareholders will also discuss a proposal to increase Synergon Petroleum's capital by BGN 20 million from BGN 11 million at present over the next two years. 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. Synergon Holding holds a majority stake of 73.42% in Toplivo.

Lot 2 of Bulgaria's Struma motorway running between the towns of Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad is expected to be launched today. The new section of the motorway has a length of 37.5 kilometres and the cost exceeded BGN 358 M. At present, 69 kilometres of the motorway have been completed with works on the section between Sandanski and Kulata still ongoing. The final design of the section between Blagoevgrad and Sandanski should be completed by the end of the year. This is the most complicated section of the motorway as it passes through the Kresna gorge, where combination of tunnels and viaducts are expected to be constructed. The first section of the western arc of Sofia Ring Road will also be launched on Thursday. The section running between Lyulin interchange and the bridge above Kakach river has a length of three kilometres.Both lot 2 of Struma motorway and the western arc of Sofia Ring Road are part of the European route E-79, which runs between Vidin and Kulata in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian internet and IPTV services provider ITD Network said on Wednesday it has completed its restructuring and will be renamed to Cooolbox. All resources of the company will now be focused on the development of services and their continuous improvement. The main objective of the restructuring, which took three years and absorbed BGN 5 million of investments, was to shift the focus to delivering services - based on Direct Fibre to the Home technology - to small and medium-sized companies and from providing integrated telecom solutions to corporate customers. Cooolbox added it is in the final stages of ensuring full coverage of household customers in Plovdiv whereas in Veliko Tarnovo this process has already been completed. According to the company's website, it also provides services on the territory of Sofia.

Europe

Credit Suisse Group AG shares fell as investors questioned Tidjane Thiam’s plan to reorganize the company along geographical lines, place the investment bank at the service of wealth management and hold an initial public offering of the Swiss business. The multi-year plan coincided with third-quarter results that missed analyst estimates, partly because of a bigger-than-expected drop in managing clients’ money, the business the company wants to expand. Credit Suisse will sell 6.05 billion Swiss francs ($6.3 billion) in shares to boost capital and meet regulatory requirements, it said Wednesday. The shares fell as much as 5.2 percent. Thiam, recruited as chief executive officer in July to rebuild investor confidence, is seeking to improve returns that are under pressure from tougher capital demands and record-low interest rates.

America

Coca-Cola Co. said revenue fell a worse-than-expected 4.6% in the third quarter despite logging growth in volume, as the beverage giant said currency fluctuations will dent its results for the year more than expected. Shares fell 1.5% to $41.65 a share in premarket trading, even as adjusted profit edged in above Wall Street expectations for the third quarter. The maker of Sprite soda and Dasani water, along with its namesake cola, has been hurt by weakening foreign currencies as it generates most of its profit abroad. Coke said it now expects foreign currencies to shave 7 percentage points off revenue for the year, an increase of one percentage point from its July guidance. Since then, local currencies weakened further in big Coke markets like Brazil, Mexico and China. Coke said it expects currency to represent an 8 percentage-point headwind on earnings before taxes, at the top end of its previous guidance, and an 11 percentage-point headwind on operating income.

Asia

Japan's annual export growth slowed to a crawl in September as shrinking sales to China hurt the volume of shipments, raising fears that weak overseas demand may have pushed the economy into recession. Ministry of Finance data showed exports rose just 0.6 percent in the year to September, against a 3.4 percent gain expected by economists in a Reuters poll. That was the slowest growth since August last year, following the prior month's 3.1 percent gain. The weak yen helped increase the value of exports, but volume fell 3.9 percent, the third straight month recording an annual decline. Wednesday's data was the first major indicator for September and is part of the calculation of third quarter gross domestic product. A third quarter contraction would put Japan into recession, following the second quarter's negative GDP result, and could force policy makers to offer further stimulus.

Archeological Reserve Abritus

The archeological reserve Abritus is located not far from the town of Razgrad, occupying an area of around 1000 decares. It includes a Roman military settlement, created sometime in the middle of the 1st century. In 251, during the battles with the Gothes, the Roman emperor Desius was killed on the territory of the settlement. Abritus developed rapidly during the ruling of Constantine the Great (306-377) and Justinian the Great (527-565). It was destroyed by the Avars in the end of VI century, but was restored by the Slavs and the Bulgarians over the period VIII-IX. The reserve offers a rich variety of Roman, Thracian and Medieval Bulgarian cultural monuments. The most interesting part of the reserve is the ancient town of Abritus, located on an area of 150 decares. It was found in 1954. Abritus is built in the style of the Roman towns – it has straight streets, and many public buildings, built in the centre around the town’s square. During the excavations, a lot of interesting exponents were found, the most famous being the Golden Pegas, and the biggest late-antique treasure found so far, consisting of 835 golden Roman coins from the V century.

On that day:  Kleptuza Lake The village of Debelt