Business Industry Capital
Bulgaria
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BNB Exchange Rates
(01.03.2019) |
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EUR |
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1.95583 |
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GBP |
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2.27859 |
USD |
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1.71324 |
CHF |
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1.72548 |
EUR/USD |
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1.1416* |
ECB exchange rate |
Basic Interest Rate |
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as of 01.03 |
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0 % |
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Financial news |
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According to preliminary data, the cash-based consolidated fiscal program (CFP) as of February 2019 is expected to be positive at the amount of BGN 1.5 billion or 1.3% of the projected GDP. This was announced by the Ministry of Finance. For comparison, the surplus in the treasury in January is BGN 1 billion or 0.9% of the projected GDP. The excess of revenue over expenditures in January is due to a national budget surplus amounting to BGN 944.1 million and a surplus on EU funds of BGN 61.7 million. According to the forecast, the CFP's revenues and aid by February 2019 are expected to amount to BGN 7.2 billion, which is 16.5% of the annual estimate. Compared to February 2018, revenues grew by more than BGN 1 billion, with both tax and non-tax revenues, as well as the proceeds of aid and donations, where grants from EU programs and funds are mainly made available by the Ministry of Finance. Source: investor.bg
The total producer price index in January 2019 decreased by 0.4% compared to the previous month, but compared to a year earlier the increase was by 1.4%, the National Statistical Institute reported. The data show that prices in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply significantly increased by 0.9% compared to the previous month and by 5.3% compared to January 2018. In the manufacturing industry prices decreased by 0.9% for the month and in a year the increase is 0.5%. The mining industry reported a monthly increase of 0.2% and an annual decline of 3.6%.
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Privatization |
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The Privatization and Post-Privatization Control Agency (PPCA) will check whether the cigarette factory Blagoevgrad-BT will start working after March 1, as declared by Bulgartabac Holding at the end of its production in early January 2019. At the same time, the PPCA will check if the company did not violate its privatization contract, according to which it has no right to suspend the activities of all its companies at the same time. This was said by the member of the Supervisory Board of PPCA Rusi Statkov. Suspension of production in Blagoevgrad-BT led to the layoff of almost all of its 200 workers. The reason behind the closure of the factory was not clear. According to the privatization agreement signed in 2011 with the registered in Austria BT Invest, which is no longer the owner of the tobacco holding company, the company must maintain its main production and trade activity until 2021 and has the right to stop work for a total of 12 months for the ten-year period of the contract conditions, Statkov said. Source: mediapool.bg
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Companies |
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Bulgarian company Sin Cars builds a high-tech factory for production of electric and hybrid cars in Ruse. The company has already begun implementation of the project and the production line should start in 2020. The initial investment is over BGN 10 million and will provide between 50 and 100 new jobs. The optimized production process will allow for quick and easy assembly of different platform alternatives using standard materials. The new L-City production line is designed with an annual capacity of 20,000 cars to be targeted at the European market. After that production may increase. One of the leading goals in creating the L-city project is engaging in the cause of protecting the environment, reducing emissions in cities and creating a healthier living environment. Source: Monitor
Bulgartransgaz has resumed its tender for construction of a 484 km natural gas pipeline worth an estimated BGN 2.29 billion after a complaint against the procedure was withdrawn. Bulgartransgaz extended the deadline for submitting offers to March 6 from February 15. The tender was suspended on February 14 after power plant equipment maintenance and repair services company Atomenergoremont filed a complaint to the Commission for Protection of Competition challenging Bulgartransgaz's clarifications on issues raised by persons interested in participating in the procedure. Bulgartransgaz's clarifications cover 15 questions by interested parties, mainly related to how the contract will be financed and the payment time frame. Last week, Atomenergoremont withdrew its complaint and the Commission for Protection of Competition said that Bulgartransgaz can resume the tender process. The tender is part of a larger project for building new infrastructure for transit of natural gas to Europe through a branch of TurkStream pipeline that will cross Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.
The profit before taxes of JYSK Bulgaria, a unit of Danish bedding and furniture retailer JYSK, soared by an annual 354% to BGN 4.5 million in its fiscal year 2017/2018, the Sofia-based company said in a statement upon unveiling its 26th store in the country, in the town of Dimitrovgrad. JYSK Bulgaria's revenue grew by 68.6% to BGN 43.3 million in its fiscal year ending September 30, exceeding its expectations for a 52% rise. The company intends to open three more stores in the country by the end of June. JYSK Bulgaria is also due to unveil its distribution centre near Sofia, following an investment of over EUR 105 million. The hub will service deliveries to Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Jysk Group, which entered the Bulgarian market in 2005, generated revenue of EUR 474 million on turnover of EUR 3.58 billion. The group ended 2018 with over 2,700 stores in 51 countries.
Bulgarian diversified group Stara Planina Hold said that its consolidated net profit excluding minority interest fell by an annual 4.26% to BGN 7.5 million in 2018. The group's after-tax profit, including minority interest, added 3.6% year-on-year to BGN 20.4 million last year. The difference in Stara Planina Hold's profit before and after minorities is to a large extent due to the fact that it owns just 30.61% of hydraulic equipment manufacturer M+S Hydraulic, which generated a consolidated net profit of BGN 15.1 million in 2018. Revenue amounted to BGN 244.7 million in 2018, up from BGN 219.5 million the year before. Total expenses rose to BGN 222.1 million last year from BGN 197.5 million in 2017, after an increase in expenses for materials and cost of goods sold. Stara Planina Hold consolidates the results of six subsidiaries and four affiliates. Stara Planina Hold owns majority stakes in machine engineering company Hydraulic Elements and Systems (HES), car battery manufacturer Elhim Iskra, socks manufacturer Fazan, vinegar maker Vinprom, and two companies which have halted operations indefinitely - Slavyana and Dionisiy. Source: Capital
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Bulgarian Industrial Association
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World
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Europe |
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Google, Facebook and Twitter have fallen short of their pledges to combat fake news, three months before key European elections, the European Commission said on Thursday. The tech companies and trade bodies representing the advertising industry signed up to a voluntary code of conduct in October to tackle the spread of fake news, aiming to stave off more heavy-handed legislation. Brussels is keen to address the threat of fake news or foreign interference during campaigning for the European Parliament elections in May and also for national elections in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine in the coming months. Europe’s Security Commissioner Julian King criticized the lack of progress on cracking down on fake news made by the three companies based on their monthly reports. “Sadly they have fallen further behind. They need to live up to the standards we are asking of them, and that they signed up to,” King said in a tweet. Facebook has not provided details of its actions against political ads in January nor the number of fake accounts deleted due to malicious activities targeting the European Union, the Commission said.
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America |
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At least 8 tons of gold were removed from the Venezuelan central bank’s vaults last week, an opposition legislator and three government sources told Reuters, in the latest sign of President Nicolas Maduro’s desperation to raise hard currency amid tightening sanctions. The gold was removed in government vehicles between Wednesday and Friday last week when there were no regular security guards present at the bank, Legislator Angel Alvarado and the three government sources said. “They plan to sell it abroad illegally,” Alvarado said in an interview. The central bank did not respond to requests for comment. Alvarado and the government sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say where the central bank was sending the gold. They said the operation took place while central bank head Calixto Ortega was abroad on a trip. In 2018, 23 tons of mined gold were transported from Venezuela to Istanbul by plane, according to sources and Turkish government data.
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Asia |
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Factory activity in China contracted to a three-year low in February as export orders fell at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, highlighting deepening cracks in an economy facing weak demand at home and abroad. The gloomy findings are likely to reinforce views that the world’s second-largest economy is still losing steam, after growth last year cooled to a near 30-year low. Even with increasing government stimulus to spur activity, concerns are growing that China may be at risk of a sharper slowdown if current Sino-U.S. trade talks fail to relieve some of the pressure. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell for the third straight month, dropping to 49.2 in February from 49.5 in January, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast the gauge would stay unchanged from January’s 49.5. “Unless the trade war truly turns into an extended truce, the weakening trend may not end quickly,” Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING, said.
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Indexes of Stock Exchanges 28.02.2019 |
Dow Jones Industrial |
25 916.00 |
(-69.16) |
Nasdaq Composite |
7 532.53 |
(-21.98) |
Commodity exchanges 28.02.2019 |
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Commodity |
Price |
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Light crude ($US/bbl.) | 57.51 |
Heating oil ($US/gal.) | 2.0400 |
Natural gas ($US/mmbtu) | 2.7900 |
Unleaded gas ($US/gal.) | 1.7600 |
Gold ($US/Troy Oz.) | 1 313.50 |
Silver ($US/Troy Oz.) | 15.54 |
Platinum ($US/Troy Oz.) | 873.60 |
Hogs (cents/lb.) | 55.88 |
Live cattle (cents/lb.) | 129.85 |
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Baba Marta |
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This is a wonderful holiday celebrated in Bulgaria, on the first of March. Martenitsa - usually in the form of a wrist band, woven by combining red and white colored threads - are worn on that day and through March, until a stork or a bloomed tree is seen, symbolizing warmer weather and well being. Older Bulgarians call it Birch Month, because it is around this time when birch trees start growing leaves and give sap. There is much folklore about Grandma March Day and the character of Baba Marta herself.
The greeting exchanged on this day is 'Chestita Baba Marta' (Happy Grandma March). There are various theories and suggestions (even several legends, involving real historical figures) about the symbolism of these two particular colors - red & white, from which Martenitsa are made. An obvious explanation and perhaps a common belief people share, is that "red" stands for "life/birth" and "white" denotes "anew/on clear grounds". Combined together, they mean "newborn", "rebirth", "a new beginning"; a celebration of Life and Survival. Another popular explanation is that white stands for wisdom and red for good health, which means that anyone giving you a Martenitsa is wishing you both throughout the new year.
In March, these amulets, worn around one's wrists and on their attire, can be seen almost everywhere in Bulgaria and in the neighboring regions. Being a purely pagan ritual by origin, Baba Marta Day is one of the oldest, still existing traditions in Christian Europe.
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