Financial news

Bulgaria’s unemployment rate decreased negligibly in March 2010, largely thanks to the hiring of seasonal workers. According to the Bulgarian Employment Agency, the March unemployment rate was 10.14%, down by 0.12% from February 2010. However, it has increased significantly year-on-year compared to March 2009 when it stood at 6.88%. Thus, the total number of unemployed in Bulgaria dropped by 4 637 people down to about 375 000. However, a total of 35 000 Bulgarians lost their jobs in March.

Bulgaria’s credit rating may be upgraded within 12-18 months despite the gap in the budget’2009 which turned to be bigger than the preliminary assessments, international rating agency Moody’s informed. "However, a ratings upgrade is conditional upon fiscal consolidation that stabilises the government's debt burden, as well as the re-emergence of sustainable economic growth.” The upgrade of the rating depends on Bulgaria’s strict fiscal policy and the restoration of economy, Moody’s reckons. In January, Moody’s corrected the prospects for the rating Baa3 for Bulgaria from stable to positive. This was due to the strong fiscal result of Bulgaria’s cabinet in times of global crisis.

Is the new reform in Bulgarian higher education radical enough? Teodora Kamenova According to Sergey Ignatov, Minister of Education and Science, the new law with regard to higher education is "the biggest reform undertaken in the past 20 years". Will this initiative get Bulgaria closer to the European goals of "smart, sustainable and inclusive growth" or is it too small of a step considering the problems that the country's educational system is facing? Full text of the analysis You may send your comments to: bic@bia-bg.com

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Companies

The government adopted a decision for the acquisition of shares and claims from a company, which provides Technoexportstroy JSC to transfer to the Ministry of Finance 100% of the share capital of Project Company Oil Pipeline Bourgas-Alexandroupolis - BG JSC. The solution lies in implementing the government's intention to consolidate the state share of construction of the pipeline. For this purpose, the cabinet ruled in March the Minister of Finance to take over the coordination and supervision of the Bulgarian participation in the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis and allocated BGN 50 000 from the state budget for the acquisition by the state of the 500 shares of Project Company Oil Pipeline Bourgas- Alexandroupolis.

German-owned power distributor E.ON will pay around BGN 1.6 million in dividend to the Bulgarian government against its 33% minority stake in the company. Speaking at a public discussion on electricity prices in the parliamentary economic committee, energy minister Traycho Traykov said that the power firm will hand out BGN 5 million to shareholders, while retaining the balance of BGN 15 million from its profit. The company rejected a proposal by the government for a dividend of at least 80% of its profit. Bulgaria’s other power distributors - Austria's EVN and CEZ of the Czech Republic - are yet to make up their minds on the dividend payout to the government, Traykov said. This is the distributors’ first dividend payout since they went private in 2004.

The lawsuit filed by minister of economy Traycho Traykov for restoring the state's majority interest in International Fair Plovdiv may have an opposite effect and legalise the company's acquisition by Paldin Tourinvest. Lawyers say the chances are against the ministry's case. Liability could be sought from separate individuals for violations but the state will hardly regain its majority ownership.

The International monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested that banks and other financial institutions pay two new taxes, which will finance anti-bankruptcy measures. According to the IMF all financial institutions should be charged with a bank tax, initially equal for all, and an additional tax on profit and salaries. The accumulated financing will be managed by a special fund, governed by the state, which will aid banks on the verge of bankruptcy.

Six companies have taken part in the first stage of the competition selecting a consultant in Belene NPP project, Minister of Economy and Energy Traycho Traykov told journalists. He named some of them – HSBC and Societe General. “The best offer has not appeared yet. The first stage passed. It concerned the technical skills. There were no price bids,” he added.

Bulgaria’s blue-chip energy construction company Enemona has put pen to paper with Slovenia’s Slovenske Elektrarne to join the construction of two reactors at the Mochovce nuclear power stations. The Bulgarian developer will work on the electric monitoring devices and measuring equipment to be installed at the new units. Enemona outbid international competitors to clinch the three-year EUR 55.5 million agreement, said Prokopi Prokopiev, the company’s corporate policy head. He explained its experienced marketing team has been the best feather in the company’s cap. Furthermore, Enemona has already teamed up on previous projects with Italy’s Enel, which owns the Slovenian company.

Dutch logistics company Jan de Rijk has opened its largest international office in the central Bulgarian town of Sevlievo. Jan de Rijk plans to invest at least EUR 3 M in its logistics hub in Sevlievo over the next three years. The Dutch logistics company has 27 offices, 15 of which are international. It has created 142 new jobs in Sevlievo at the administration and the transport services provided by its new center. The company management is quoted as saying that it intends to develop further its base in Bulgaria, and has praised the taxation policies of the Bulgarian government. Jan de Rijk Logistics Bulgaria registered a 2009 turnover of BGN 12 M, and plans to reach a turnover of BGN 36 M in 2010.

For the first trimester of 2010 the income from sales of vignette stickers exceeded BGN 115 million, the National Road Infrastructure Agency announced yesterday. Most of the sales were realized by the “Vignette Stickers Distribution” consortium between EIBank and VIP Security. For the past year the total income from vignettes stickers was BGN 200 million according to Investor.bg.

Europe

A Citigroup note to clients has warned that the eurozone is likely to fall apart unless the European Union's member states fuse both on the fiscal and political level. "Europe needs to stand up and decide if it is going to be a ‘United States of Europe' or a ‘patchwork quilt' of independent states," reads a note by Tom Fitzpatrick, chief technical analyst at Citigroup in New York. The financial services firm, the largest in the world and one of America's big four banks, says that if such integration is not on the cards, the euro area is "doomed" even if the current Greek crisis is resolved. In February this year, hedge fund wizard George Soros also warned the eurozone was bound to break up without fiscal union.

America

Google Inc is in talks to acquire airline IT and services provider ITA Software Inc. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based ITA Software may seek about $1 billion. With tools that help users find flight information online, ITA Software may help Google compete with travel search features offered by Microsoft Corp, the news agency said. In March, Google stepped up its assault on Microsoft productivity software business with the acquisition of a small start-up company that allows Microsoft users to edit and share their documents on the Web. Both Google and ITA Software could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

Asia

Central bank governors in India and Brazil backed a stronger Chinese yuan, siding with U.S. President Barack Obama before a meeting of the Group of 20 nations this week. Exports from China to India have grown faster than Indian shipments to its northern neighbor “and that obviously is a reflection of differences in the exchange-rate management,” Reserve Bank of India’s Duvvuri Subbarao said. Brazil’s Henrique Meirelles told a senate hearing it was “absolutely critical” that China should let its currency appreciate. Obama, who considers the yuan “undervalued,” is seeking to gain broader support from finance officials of the G20, who will discuss outlook for the global economy in Washington for three days starting April 22.

April 22 - International Earth Day

International Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 in USA and Canada. The day became an international feast in 1990. Bulgaria has been celebrating the day since 1993. The goal of this celebration is to unite people from all over the world in their efforts to protect the environment. The National Museum “Earth and Men” in Sofia is one of the biggest mineralogical museums in the world, revealing the richness of the bowels of Earth. It was established in 1985, and in 1987 its exhibition halls were opened for visitors. The museum consists of a restored and adapted building, which was built in the end of the XIX century and has been declared a national monument of culture.

On that day:  The Rocks of Belogradchik Aladja monastery