Financial news

Employers can grand a delay to the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) and provide more time to reduce electricity prices for companies. So far, employers insisted KEVR return to the old prices of electricity starting from the beginning of the next month. However, now they will most likely insist that to happen by the New Year. "January 1 is an achievable deadline, because then expire three months after the last decision of the commission and by law only then it can set new prices. However, this will be specified with partners from other employers' organizations", said Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) Kamen Kolev. In his words, employers and the government have reached agreement on part of the demands of business, but implementation takes time.

Bulgaria's gross external debt was EUR 34,199,200,000 (79.4 per cent of GDP) as at September 30, 2015, decreasing by EUR 5,157,200,000 (13.1 per cent) compared with December 31, 2014. The total amount of the gross external debt included EUR 26,274,000,000 in long-term liabilities (76.8 per cent of the gross external debt or 61 per cent of GDP), decreasing by EUR 3,047,700,000 (10.4 per cent) year-on-year. Short-term liabilities amounted to EUR 7,925,300,000 (23.2 per cent of the gross external debt or 18.4 per cent of GDP), decreasing by 1,272,000,000 (13.8 per cent) compared with September 30, 2014. As at September 30, 2015, general government's gross external debt amounted to EUR 5,748,200,000 (13.3 per cent of GDP), increasing by EUR 933,000,000 (19.4 per cent) compared with September 30, 2014. Banks' external debt was EUR 4,176,400,000 (9.7 per cent of GDP), decreasing by EUR 1,561,200,000 (27.2 per cent) compared with September 30, 2014.

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Companies

148 licensed electricity traders have registered to conduct business in the energy market, said Deputy Energy Minister Nikolay Nikolov. The start of work on the exchange has shifted to December 11, it is clear from his words. Initial plans were first trading session, even though a test one, to be on December 8. Nikolov commented that legislative changes would be necessary in order to liberalize the energy market. He predicts that changes to the Energy Act will be made at the latest in early 2016. By the end of this month the energy ministry expects an interim report by the World Bank on the state of the energy market in Bulgaria. The final report will be ready in the spring. From the analysis of the bank will depend what model of compensation will be selected at the launch of the market. Nikolov expects that the protection of the most vulnerable consumers will be maintained and in liberalization the government to continue to grant energy aid.

A leading French company has intention to build a factory for assembly of eco cars in Burgas. Investors said that they are interested in market on the Balkan Peninsula. Besides in countries of the EU they have the ambition to export cars in Macedonia, Kosovo, Turkey and the other countries of the ex-Yugoslavia. At present Burgas municipality is preparing papers for purchasing two electric vehicles, which will be used by its employees. Funds for the vehicles will come from the National Trust Eco Fund. Furthermore, in Burgas two more stations for charging of eco-cars will be built. Currently the Black Sea town has two similar sites. They are located in the parking lot on Gen. Gurko Street and the underground parking of the Opera. The fund currently has BGN 1 million currently and will furtherly expand its resources. The idea is that private firms and individuals are encouraged to invest in environmentally friendly vehicles.

The manufacturer of aluminum profiles Etem Bulgaria is the first Bulgarian company that won funding for a project by the program for Innovation and Science of the EU "Horizon 2020" in the section on energy efficiency. It will be implemented in partnership with other companies, universities and research institutes from Bulgaria, Germany and Spain, and the total value is less than EUR 5 mln, the amount shall be distributed among all participants. From Bulgaria, besides Etem are also involved the Central Laboratory of Solar Energy and New Energy Sources, BAS and architectural studio Architectonika. The project is entitled "Industrial production of glass with circulating water flow" and complicated name stands behind the idea to develop a façade system with "water" glass, which makes the building almost energy independent. The project officially started in September and will last for three and a half years. The idea is to develop a solution that utmost to absorb the energy from sunlight.

At a sitting of National Corporate Governance Committee that took place on the 25th of November it became clear that Bulgarian Stock Еxchange will head the committee for a term of 18 months. BSE will take over the management from outgoing President of the Committee Professor Dr. Stefan Petranov. "Bulgarian Stock Exchange will continue to work hard for the establishment of best practices in corporate governance, as it is the basis of the formation of the appearance on the market and greatly affects the sentiments of investors.", Ivan Takev CEO of BSE commented on the occasion. NCGC has existed for seven years, as the organization is under the auspices of the Bulgarian Stock Еxchange and the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) and its activities receive assistance from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

LafargeHolcim Ltd. plans to raise to raise CHF 3.5 billion next year from selling off cement assets around the world as the recently merged Franco-Swiss building-materials group adjusts to tough conditions in important markets like China and India. The company announced the portfolio review after missing third-quarter sales and earnings expectations as the stronger Swiss franc and lower prices weighed on its first results since its creation through the merger of France’s Lafarge with Switzerland’s Holcim this year. The Jona, Switzerland-based company has started discussions with interested parties, including private-equity firms and industry rivals about some of the assets, with the proceeds set to be returned to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks. On the other hand LafargeHolcim said the volume of its cement and clinker sales in Bulgaria in the first nine months of the year rose by 5.1%. The company holds a factory in Beli Izvor. The volume of aggregates sales in Bulgaria in the nine-month period surged 23.3%. Cement prices in Bulgaria edged up 0.7% and price of aggregates prices rose by 2% in the period under review.

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Europe

Hungary’s Central Bank (MNB) bought back a majority stake in the country’s stock exchange in an effort to boost weak trading volumes after years of sharp decline. The MNB bought a stake of 68.8 percent from two Austrian firms, CESEEG and OeKG, for 13.2 billion forints (EUR 42.5 million), raising its overall holding to 75.8 percent. Trading volumes tumbled in 2014 to USD 6 billion from USD 34 billion seven years earlier, after the Hungarian government raised corporate taxes and seized pension-fund assets to prop up state finances, Bloomberg reported. Trading volumes are a ninth of those in regional rival Poland and less than half a percent of the London Stock Exchange, there were 28 new listings in Warsaw and one in Budapest last year. “The intervention of the state in the bourse was necessary because the number of listings has become so small that the capital market is no longer playing its necessary role,” the MNB said.

America

Anglo American Plc could raise more than $10 billion by selling its De Beers diamond business, according to HSBC Holdings Plc. “De Beers would likely attract a premium valuation,” HSBC said in a note to investors Wednesday. “A partial sale through IPO could be, under the right market conditions, a powerful price-discovery mechanism in addition to being significant cash boost.” Anglo, which owns 85% of De Beers and is the second-worst performer in the benchmark FTSE 100 this year, is seeking to raise $3 billion by selling assets and cutting jobs to trim costs and reduce debt. Anglo has already raised about $2 billion this year by offloading its tarmac business, two copper mines in Chile and platinum assets in South Africa. This comes after a China-led collapse in commodity prices undermined Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani’s efforts to turn around the fortunes of a business that mines everything from platinum in Africa to iron ore in Brazil. De Beers has been one of Anglo’s best-performing businesses, with the world’s biggest diamond producer accounting for more than one-third of the company’s first-half underlying earnings.

Asia

Facebook Inc. is laying the groundwork to expand its Instant Articles service in Asia, underscoring the extent to which it considers populous emerging markets as it implements new features. The world’s largest social network has in recent weeks advertised job openings via its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore for contractors who will work with “new publishers to begin developing Instant Articles” and “provide direct support to publishers” who use the service. The jobs call for candidates who can speak Thai or Vietnamese. Instant Articles allow media companies to publish material directly on Facebook, rather than as links to their sites. Facebook says these articles load ten times faster than standard articles on mobile phones. The company launched Instant Articles in the U.S. in May and in India last week. “We always planned to launch this program globally, and hope to get to a place where every publisher who wants to participate will have the choice to do so,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. India, Vietnam and Thailand are attractive markets to Facebook as more people gain Internet access through low-cost smartphones, analysts say.

The Royal Palace in Sofia

There was a town-hall before the Palace, where the Ottoman administration and the law-court were situated. In 1816 the building was burned to the ground. The construction of the Palace consisted of two basic stages. The first one started in 1882 during the reigning of Knyaz Battenberg. Then the West part of the Palace was built – a ground administrative floor with offices and a large ball-hall above it. The third floor was for the servants. The second stage of the construction was during the reign of Knyaz Ferdinand. Then royal apartments, service premises and an elevator were set up in the East part of the Palace. By order of the Knyaz, a special balcony, from which he can show himself to the people during the public holidays, was built. In the past the garden around the Palace was enclosed by a high iron fence. There was the first small zoo on the Balkans in the royal park. There a black vulture, several pheasants, two bears and a deer were bred. The Royal Palace was left standing the air-raids during the Second World War and was functioning till the end of the monarchy. Then, during the government of Georgi Dimitrov, the gates and the iron fence were taken apart, and the royal garden was destroyed. In 1946 the National Art Gallery and the Ethnographic Museum were established in the Palace. Today there are more than 3000 art works in the Gallery. The largest collection of medieval icon-paintings is there as well.

On that day:  Roman Villa Armira