Financial news

Loans by non-banking financial institutions in Bulgaria staged a decline for a fifth consecutive quarter, slumping to BGN 1/7 billion between January and March 2010 from BGN 2.5 billion a year earlier, showed figures by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). The decline was coupled with a shrinkage in the share of the small consumer loans made by non-banking financial institutions - also known as “quick loans” - from Bulgaria’s GDP, which fell to 2.5% for the first quarter of 2010 from 3.8% for the corresponding period of last year. On a quarterly basis, quick loans contracted by BGN 63.2 million, extending the downtrend that began from the first quarter of 2009.

Bulgaria ranked on the 53rd place, in terms of competitiveness of the economy, in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010. This is 15 positions behind the 38th place we occupied in 2009. The countries have been studied on the basis of more than 300 criteria, divided into four groups: economic performance, government policies, business environment and infrastructure, which in addition to roads and highways includes science and innovation. The ranking is very prestigious and the final results are monitored closely by global investors. Bulgaria was included in the study in 2006. The research covers a total of 58 economies. This year, Romania, Argentina, Croatia, Ukraine and Venezuela rank behind us.

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

Concessions

Ministry of Economy will manage the underground resources in the country. This change in the Law on Mineral Resources was adopted on Wednesday by the government. At the moment, three institutions are dealing with the issue of exploration permits and mining concessions. The construction ministry issues mainly permits for the production of building materials; the economic - oil, coal, gas, metal and nonmetal minerals; the environment ministry offers all kinds of concessions, as deals exclusively with exploration permits. The proposal for a single governing body was made two years ago by the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology. For this purpose, a special department in the Ministry of Economy will be created.

Companies

Bulstrad and Allianz Bulgaria Life were declared insurers of the year for a second time during an official ceremony on the day of the insurer - May 18. At the end of 2009, Bulstrad was first in market share with 14.4 percent of the total premiums and has BGN 581 thousand profits from its main business. Allianz Bulgaria Life also was first in market share in life insurance with 21.9 percent of all collected premiums in last year. The company has BGN 11.06 million profits from its main business for 2009.

Three of the largest alcohol factories are under investigation in action "Excise". They are Vinprom Karnobat-1953 LTD, Vinprom-Targovishte-96 JSC and Vinprom - Peshtera JSC. So far three distributors of counterfeit alcohol without excise stamps have been detained. Employees of distribution companies are being question to specify the scheme, by which rakia, vodka and mastic have been pulled out of Bulgarian plants without excise stamps and then sold with fake stickers of paid duty. Interior Minister said that the objective is to discipline the producers and distributors. According to Tsvetanov, the anti-crisis action has an effect as it will increase budget revenues.

Greek company Aktor is the most likely winner of the tender for the construction of the Trakiya highway stretch that will link the Bulgarian cities of Nova Zagora and Yambol. The Bulgarian Transport Agency opened Wednesday all 11 bids for the construction of a new section of Bulgaria's Black sea highway. The offer of the Athens-based company is BGN 111.644 M for the entire strip of 36 km, which is surprising low when compared to the expected cost of the project of BGN 216 M. Aktor is one of the biggest Greek building companies. According to information published on its website, the company has constructed 80% of Athens's Olympic sites for the 2004 Summer Olympics, including the Olympic stadium and village as well as the International TV and Radio Center.

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has reacted and will always react to any case when an official political or public figure questions the good reputation and transparency of the capitals of the Bulgarian banking system. This is the case with the strange statement by US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Warlick who expressed suspicion in the transparency of the capitals of a bank operating on the Bulgarian banking market. This statement mars the immaculate reputation of the BNB as a supervisory body and the credit of the Bulgarian banking sector as a whole. The BNB explicitly states that there is not a single bank operating on the Bulgarian market whose owners are unclear.

Europe

Brussels has warned that Europe is facing water scarcity and droughts, and not just in the drier Mediterranean countries, with even the Czech Republic and Belgium at risk. However, the commission's main solution - higher prices for water - is already creating the new phenomenon of 'water poverty', researchers warn. Describing the problem as "a major concern for many areas in Europe," a European Commission report said that even the greater rains in the south last year did not halt the dwindling of water stocks. Some EU member states have begun to suffer permanent scarcity across the whole of their territory. The Czech Republic has reported areas with frequent water scarcity, and France and Belgium have reported over-exploited aquifers. In response, the EU executive reminded states of the need for "more efficient" water pricing, which they argue reduces demand, as well as water efficiency and water-saving measures.

America

The cost of living in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped in April for the first time in more than a year, signaling the world’s largest economy is recovering without causing prices to flare. The 0.1 percent fall in the consumer price index was the first decrease since March 2009, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Excluding food and fuel, the so-called core rate was unchanged, capping the smallest 12- month gain in four decades. Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are cutting prices to bolster sales as customers face almost 10 percent unemployment and rising foreclosures. The lack of inflation, which may be reined in even more by the European debt crisis, is one reason Federal Reserve policy makers have pledged to keep the benchmark interest rate near zero in coming months.

Asia

Ten US Senators pressed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to push China to release an IMF report they said could be the smoking gun proving Beijing manipulates its currency, the yuan. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer led the bipartisan group in writing a letter to Geithner just days before the treasury chief and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were due at high level talks in Beijing May 23-25. "Given China?s past intransigence on exchange rate reform, we are not similarly optimistic that these high-level meetings will generate any significant breakthrough on this issue," they wrote. The lawmakers charged that China was hiding evidence it manipulates the yuan by exercising its right, under International Monetary Fund rules, not to let an annual IMF staff report on its currency practices see the light of day.

Kumanitsa cave

The Kumanitsa cave is located in the Eastern part of the Troyan Balkan Mountain in the Steneto Reserve, in the narrowest and picturesque part of the canyon above the breathtaking waterfalls Golemiyat Kazan (The Big Cauldron). The cave was traveled over and mapped for the first time in 1962, as its research continues even to this day. The total length of the galleries is 1656 m, and the displacement – 104 m. The entrance of the cave is situated hardly a meter above the river and its dimensions are 2.5 to 2.5 m. In the spring, when the snow melts, and during downpours, entering the cave is impossible as a part of the enormous quantity of water that flows through the canyon enters the cave here. Two rivers, that join, float through the two main galleries. The river that starts from the entrance is small when dry, and even may run dry. The other one – the internal one, is big, and explorers suggest that a part of its main water come from the massif, and another part – from upper potholes of the Kumanitsa River. The cave has an upper level that is yet not totally explored.

On that day:  Ustra Fortress