Financial news

Bulgaria’s trade with the EU in the first nine months of 2015 recorded a growth, as there was an increase both in the number of imports and exports between the country and the Union. Between January and September, Bulgarian exports to the EU amounted to BGN 21.7 B, registering an increase of 9.2 % compared to the same period in 2014. The main trading partners of Bulgaria were Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece, France and Belgium, which together accounted for 69.4 % of all Bulgarian exports to the EU. In September alone, exports to the EU exceeded BGN 2.4 B, which represented an increase of 4.5 % compared to the same month last year. In the first nine months of this year, Bulgarian imports from the EU amounted to BGN 24.3 B, recording an increase of 5.9 % compared to the same period in 2014. The largest volume of goods was imported from Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and Greece. In September alone, Bulgarian imports from the EU exceeded BGN 2.6 B, dropping by 2.9 % compared to the same month in 2014. The balance of trade in the first nine months was negative and exceeded BGN 2.5 B.

According to the preliminary seasonally adjusted data, in October 2015 the turnover in ‘Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ at constant prices has increased by 0.1% compared to the previous month, Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute announced. In October 2015 the working day adjusted turnover in ‘Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ decreased by 1.3% in comparison with the same month of the previous year. In October 2015 compared to the previous month the turnover increased in the ‘Retail sale of textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods’ by 2.6%, in the ‘Retail sale of audio and video equipment; hardware, paints and glass; electrical household appliances’ by 0.7% and in the ‘Retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco’ by 0.2%. Decrease was registered in the ‘Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet’ - 1.6%, in the ‘Dispensing chemist; retail sale of medical and orthopaedic goods, cosmetic and toilet articles’ - 0.9%, in the ‘Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software; telecommunications equipment’ and in the ‘Retail sale in non-specialised stores’ - 0.8% and in the ‘Retail sale of automotive fuel’ - 0.5%.

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

Companies

Shareholders in the joint project company ICGB – Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD and IGI Poseidon S.A. will sign a final investment decision on the construction of intersystem gas connection Greece – Bulgaria. The ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 10, at 12 pm in the Council of Ministers at the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for European Funds and Economic Policy Tomislav Donchev, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and Energy Minister of Greece Panos Skurletis. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is also invited to attend the ceremony. Signing the final investment agreement initiates a process of construction of the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria. Gas interconnection Greece - Bulgaria is designed to transport natural gas between the two countries by connecting to the national gas network of Bulgartransgaz EAD, near the town of Stara Zagora and the transmission network of DESFA S. A. - Greece near the town of Komotini. The project is implemented by a joint investment company ICGB – Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD (50%) and Greek investment company IGI Poseidon S.A. (50%).

The yet-to-go-live Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) signed the first contract for participation in the organized power market. By signing the contract with Maritsa East 2, the largest thermal power plant in Bulgaria has become the first real participant in this market segment. Maritsa East 2, a subsidiary of the state-run Bulgarian Energy Holding, has an installed capacity of 1,600 MW. IBEX was developed in partnership with Norwegian-based Nord Pool Spot. Elsewhere in the region, day-ahead power exchanges are also planned in Croatia and Serbia. The launch dates for both projects have been pushed back to early 2016 after initially targeting to go live in late 2015. The Croatian power exchange project, CROPEX, also involves Nord Pool Spot.

Request from Viva telecom Luxembourg to acquire nterV Investment, a company registered in the same country has been handed out in the Commission for protection of competition. The first company is under the control of Rusev, possibly in partnership with VTB Capital, while the second company holds 100% ownership of BTC. The deal came after a bridge loan of EUR 150 mln, which was not serviced and thus VTB Capital sold the collateral. At an auction in London on 20 November Rusev won the bidding with an offer of EUR 330 mln. Competitor was Greek Panos Germanos in partnership with an American hedge fund. The deadline for CPC’s decision is a month’s time, unless the regulator starts detailed study.

UK-headquartered palletised freight distribution network Pall-Ex Group has expanded operations in Europe by signing a partnership deal with Econt, one of Bulgaria’s largest providers of transport and logistics solutions. Pall-Ex will start operations in Bulgaria by the middle of next year. Econt operates over 40% of the parcel market in Bulgaria. The new network will have its central hub based in Plovdiv, in southern Bulgaria and will cover all territories next day as standard. Тhe partnership deal with Pall-Ex aims to offer a specific solution for the developing pallet distribution market in Bulgaria. Members of Pall-Ex Bulgaria will have access to Pall-Ex’s growing continental network spanning the UK, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Italy, France, and shortly the Benelux region. With 520 offices and 14 logistics centres supported by its headquarters in Ruse, in northern Bulgaria, Econt also works across Greece and Romania – further expanding Pall-Ex’s network. In September, UK-based Palletways Group announced an expansion to its pan-European operations by adding Bulgaria and Romania.

Competitors of commercial chain, which has left the country started takeover of its stores in Bulgaria. Billa Bulgaria is opening three new stores. All three of them are ex-stores of Peny. Both companies are part of a joint concern-German Rewe Group. Question was which locations will be taken by Billa and which of them will remain for competitors of the retailer. On the 16th of December three ex-sites of Peny will open under the brand of Billa. Two of them are in Sofia and one in Varna. With them total number of stores of the retail chain will become 96, as 34 of them are based in Sofa. In September Billa Bulgaria’s CEO announced plans of the company to further expand its stores to 150 in the country.

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Europe

The European Commission published two new legislative proposals to simplify and promote access to digital content and online sales across the EU. The JRC supported them with research on the economic impact of cross-border e-commerce. One of the Digital Market Strategy's pillars is to ensure better access for consumers and businesses to online goods and services across Europe. E-commerce is growing, but its full potential remains untapped both for businesses and consumers in Europe: only 12% of EU retailers sell online to consumers in other EU countries, while three times as many (37%) do so within their own country. Similarly, only 15% of consumers purchase online from another EU country, while roughly three times as many (44%) do so from their own country. The Commission today adopted two proposals: one on the supply of digital content (e.g. streaming music) and one on the online sale of goods (e.g. buying clothes online). The two proposals will tackle the main obstacles to cross-border e-commerce in the EU: legal fragmentation in the area of consumer contract law and resulting high costs for businesses – especially SMEs- and low consumer trust when buying online from another country.

America

The House of Representatives has voted to tighten visa-free travel to the US following the Paris attacks. The measures would bar people who travelled to Iraq and Syria after March 2011 from the visa waiver programme. People who have visited Iran and Sudan - which the US accuses of supporting terrorism - would also need a visa. The White House-backed bill was proposed because the Paris attackers could have travelled to the US without a visa. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for far greater restrictions, proposing that all Muslims be barred from entering the US until further notice. But his comments - made after a deadly mass shooting in California by Islamist sympathisers - have been condemned by politicians from across the political spectrum. The House voted 407 to 19 in support of the proposed change to visa-free travel. "In an abundance of caution, we will now require those individuals to apply for a visa and go through the formal visa screening process," said House Republican Candice Miller, the bill's main sponsor.

Asia

China’s consumer inflation picked up last month, boosted by price gains for food and services, signaling demand in the world’s second-largest economy is stabilizing after accelerated fiscal stimulus and a year of interest-rate cuts. The consumer-price index rose 1.5 percent in November from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday, compared to the 1.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and 1.3 percent in October. The producer-price index fell 5.9 percent, compared to a projected 6 percent drop, extending declines to a record 45 months. "We expect inflation to rise going into 2016," Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in Singapore, wrote in a report. He said he isn’t overly concerned by factory deflation because "with the price of domestic goods holding up better, many firms should actually benefit from these lower input costs." Inflation firmed with help from a 2.1 increase for services, while slower declines in imports signal demand is stabilizing after six central bank interest rate cuts since November last year and expanded government spending.

Pleven Public Holiday

The earliest traces of life and human activity around these lands date back to the end of 5-th millennium BC. Numerous archeological finds are the proof for the high material and spiritual culture of Thracians who dwelled in these areas for millenniums. Among them is the biggest golden treasure ever discovered in Bulgaria – the Valchi Tran treasure. At the beginning of the new era these lands became part of the Roman Empire . On the way from Eskus to Philipopolis at today's Pleven is build the Roman road station “Storgoziya” and later on a fortress with the same name. One of the most valuable archeological monuments is the early Christian basilica of IV century, the second largest in Bulgaria after the Tsars basilica in Pliska. During the Medieval Ages the settlement was a strong fortress. During that time the Slavs gave the present name of the town – Pleven. During the Renaissance the first secular girls' school opened gates in the town and Bulgaria. In the progress of the Russian-Turkish liberation war Pleven gained a strategic importance and focused the attention of the world public for 5 months. Huge military troops of the two Empires were concentrated around the town. The outcome of the War was decided here. On 10 December 1877 the Russian army defeated and captured the army of Ossman pasha. The day was chosen as Pleven’s official holiday.

On that day:  Kostenets