Financial news

The price of natural gas prices in Bulgaria is predicted to up in the summer of 2010 although it is unclear yet by how much, according to the chair of a state regulator. “There will be a hike in natural gas prices by end-year, we just have to calculate the precise amount of the hike. Luckily, the summer is coming up so the gas price increase will not affect the heating prices immediately,” explained Angel Semerdzhiev, Chair of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC), quoting documents that he received from Bulgarian state natural gas monopoly Bulgargaz. Last week Semerdzhiev announced he expected the gas price to go up by 10-15% as of July 1, 2010. However, on Thursday he clarified that this forecast had not factored in the recent collapse of the exchange rate of the euro, which hit a four-year low against the dollar earlier in the week.

Bulgaria and Tunisia have signed a number of agreements to drive cooperation in tourism, bolster ties between small and medium-sized enterprises and waive visas for travelers with diplomatic and other special passports. Bulgarian economy minister Traycho Traykov said Bulgaria could become Tunisia’s “fifth gate” for EU exports. “Tunisian investments in Bulgaria are currently the equivalent of an apartment in central Sofia,” according to the minister. Official statistics place Tunisia at number 34 in Bulgaria’s exports and 72 in imports for 2009. Trade between the two countries slumped by 64% year-on-year to USD 83.9 million last year. company will seek a spike of more than 34%.

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Companies

Brussels has finally approved additional compensations of 300 million euro for the pre-term decommissioned four units of Kozloduy NPP. Yesterday, with 518 votes "pro" the EP agreed that Bulgaria should receive the additional compensations till 2013. Some 180 million euro will cover the taking out of operation of the decommissioned reactors while the rest 120 million euro will go for energy efficiency and saving of energy resources.

Christofor Pavlov, Chief Economist of UniCredit Bulbank, voiced expectations that Bulgarian banks might lose between BGN 3, 6 and BGN 5 billion due to the so-called “bad loans” they have issued. According to him, the number of unserviced loans will peak in 2011 to a level of 11%. Stoyan Alexandrov, CEO of D Commerce Bank, commented that it would be very difficult to estimate the exact sum, as the banks do not reveal the actual volume of overdue credits. In his words, this is due to their attempts to restructure the bad loans or even reduce the interest on them. He stated that the development of the banking market will from now on depend on the successful implementation of the measures undertaken by the government.

Every attempt to shake Corporate Commercial Bank’s (CCB) market position would directly affect the competitiveness of the Bulgarian defensive industry, that provides the income of 40 000 workers, the Bulgarian Defensive Industry Association (BDIA) stated in a declaration. The smear campaign led by some economic circles against a private financial institution represent a direct threat to the stability of the Bulgarian bank system, the declaration states further, determining the suggestions that CCB is exclusively involved in offering services to state-owned companies as “unsubstantiated”. The BDIA stated that CCB has been their long-term reliable partner.

This summer tourist seasons Bulgaria’s Consumer Protection Commission will put accent on check-ups of the registries of hotels at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, Commission chairperson Damyan Lazarov announced at a meeting with representatives of the tourism sector in coastal Varna and the region. Lazarov explained that the Commission will keep vigilant eye on whether the hotels are accounting the visitors and night stays correctly, as otherwise it will be too hard for consumers to file complaints against bad services, if needed. This year there will be polarization at the hotels – full ‘all inclusive’ or free packages, and thus the categorization of the hotels will be very important.

The negotiations between NEK and Austrian company EVN for the construction of the Gorna Arda hydropower cascade are expected to finish by the end of the year, said yesterday Peter Layr, Member of the Management Board of EVN AG. According to him, the technical assessments of the project should be clear by the end of 2010. Afterwards, the process of issuing building permits should be initiated. According to EVN forecasts, the construction of the cascade could cost about €400 mln. The technology, as well as environmental requirements, have changed in the last 10 years and we will have to comply with EU requirements while we try to optimise the project, said Layr.

The bondholders of Alen mak’s second debt issue have insisted that the company audited its distribution contracts. The creditors obliged United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) – the trustee bank of Alen mak’s second bond issue – to request the contracts with Euro Supply and Eufag.

Bulgaria’s bus line operator Etap Adress has extended its bond by six months until November 2011 after the proposal got the thumbs-up by bondholders, the company said. The bond will be repaid in three tranches, including principals of BGN 1.25 million and interest. The first payment is scheduled for August 2010, with the total amount of BGN 4 million due to be repaid by November 2011. Bondholders also raised the bond interest rate from 7.325% to 9% a year. They also banned Etap from purchases of companies or stocks and from implementing new investment projects without securing their approval. Etap spent the BGN 5 million bond on a mineral water factory and a spa complex in Barzia. Another portion went into the construction of an office building in downtown Sofia.

Europe

As European citizens come to terms with the array of austerity measures being doled out across the union at the insistence of EU and international lenders, MEPs have agreed to increase the money they use for expenses. Voting in Strasbourg, the euro deputies argued the extra money was needed to help them cope with the additional work created under the Lisbon Treaty, the EU's new rulebook which came into force on 1 December 2009. In approving the report by Slovakian Social Democrat MEP Vladimir Manka to top up the parliament's 2010 budget with an additional €9.4 million, the plenary said it was determined to meet its additional co-decision responsibilities and greater legislative workload. The money can only be used to increase staff salaries, or take on new employees. Staff budgets for each MEP are currently €17,540 per month, prior to any increase.

America

Symantec Corp agreed to buy VeriSign Inc's widely used technology for securing payments over the Internet in a deal worth $1.28 billion. The acquisition gives Symantec, the world's biggest maker of security software, VeriSign's Internet security business including its crown jewel -- the SSL technology for securing electronic payments and other Internet transactions by scrambling the data when it travels over the Web. It comes less than a month after Symantec agreed to spend $373 million to buy two other makers of technology for encypting data: PGP Corp and GuardianEdge. Together the three acquisitions are part of a strategy by which Symantec is focusing on protecting content, rather than taking its traditional approach of securing the equipment where information resides.

Asia

Dubai World, the state-owned holding company, reached an agreement with its main creditor group to restructure $23.5 billion of liabilities as it seeks to resolve a debt crisis that roiled global markets last year. Dubai World will pay $4.4 billion of the loans in five years and another $10 billion over eight years, the company said. Dubai’s government, which pledged $1.5 billion in March for the restructuring, will convert $8.9 billion of its loans to Dubai World into equity. “Putting closure on the Dubai World issue is a good thing, but we need to get clarity on Dubai and global sovereign debt in order for a true turnaround to unfold,” said Sameh Hassan, director of research at Rasmala Investment Bank Ltd. in Dubai.

Pazardjik public holiday

Pazardjik was founded 5 centuries ago, in 1485. In 1934, the town was given the name of “Tatar Pazardjik” by the leader of the Tatars, who founded the town – Sultan Bayazid II. From a trade center, it gradually turned into an important economic and administrative center. One of the reasons for this was the fact that the road Istanbul – Sofia – Western Europe passed through the town. Many Bulgarians settled there and its ethnic image changed completely. It reached its zenith in XIX century. In 1865, the population of the town reached 25 000 people. Many churches were built in it in this period. The names of many important figures from the Bulgarian Revival are related to Pazardjik – bishop Dionisius Agatonikiiski, who established the first Bulgarian school in 1823 using his own funds, Hadji Tatyana – the first female teacher in the town. Vasil Levski’s first revolutionary committee was organized in There are over 150 cultural monuments in Pazardjik. Of all individual cultural monuments, 4 have the statute of architectural monuments of art of national importance: the church St. Virgin Mary, the house-museum Stanislav Dospevski, the house-museum Konstantin Velichkov, and the house of Nikolaki Hristovich. 14 km south from the town is located the place where Aleko Konstantinov died. 10 km easth from the town are the Besapara banks. Following archeological research, specialists found the major Thracian town of Besapara was once based in this place.

On that day:  Troyan Monastery May 21 – St. Constantine and Helena