Business Industry Capital
Bulgaria
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BNB Exchange Rates
(20.06.2019) |
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EUR |
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1.95583 |
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GBP |
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2.19707 |
USD |
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1.74519 |
CHF |
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1.75003 |
EUR/USD |
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1.1207* |
ECB exchange rate |
Basic Interest Rate |
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as of 01.06 |
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0 % |
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Financial news |
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GDP per capita, expressed in Purchasing Power Standard, in Bulgaria was the lowest in the European Union in 2018, at half the EU average. This is according to figures released by EU statistics agency Eurostat. The Purchasing Power Standard (PPS) is an artificial currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries. Thus one PPS buys the same volume of goods and services in all countries. This unit allows meaningful volume comparisons of economic indicators across countries. In 2018, GDP per capita expressed in PPS ranged between 50 per cent of the EU average in Bulgaria and 254 per cent in Luxembourg. Bulgaria also ranked bottom in the EU in Actual Individual Consumption (AIC), a measure of material welfare of households. AIC consists of goods and services actually consumed by individuals, irrespective of whether these goods and services are purchased and paid for by households, by government, or by non-profit organisations. In international volume comparisons of consumption, AIC is often seen as the preferable measure, since it is not influenced by the fact that the organisation of certain important services consumed by households, like health and education services, differs a lot across countries.
Labor costs in Bulgaria increased on average by 12.9% in the first quarter of 2019, according to Eurostat data. For the private sector alone, the growth rate is 12.3%. For reference, during the period October - December last year, the annual growth rate for the whole economy was twice as low. Thus, Bulgaria ranked second in the EU after the traditional leader - Romania, where it was recorded plus 16.3%. Third and fourth place are Slovakia with 8.7% and Latvia with 8.5%. In most of the countries in the region, including Bulgaria, there is a factor in the increase in minimum wages due to the attainment of average European incomes and the shortage of people. Thus, labor cost growth rates in Central and Eastern European countries continue to be several times higher than in the euro area countries where the increase in the first quarter was 2.4%. Source: Capital
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Companies |
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The Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) will act as a financing institution for the InvestEU plan, the European Union's program, which is a continuation of the Juncker Plan and will work in support of the private sector. InvestEU is expected to generate over EUR 650 billion of additional investment across the EU. InvestEU, which will be launched in 2021, has new priorities - climate change, circular economy, digitization, artificial intelligence. Source: investor.bg
Doverie-Invest JSC, a subsidiary of Doverie United Holding JSC, acquired 13.73% of the shares of Moldindconbank S.A. as a result of a mandatory tender offer, having previously acquired 63.89% of the Moldovan bank. The amount paid is MDL 240.74 per share or a total of MDL 164.26 million. This is BGN 15.75 million at the rate of MDL 10.42 for BGN 1. Thus the total share of Doverie-Invest JSC reached 77.62% in the Moldovan bank. In March of this year the first 63.89% was acquired for BGN 77 million. The ambitions of the management of Doverie United Holding JSC and Doverie-Invest JSC are related to the development and modernization of Moldindconbank and the strengthening of its distinctive market positions . "B.C. Moldindconbank S.A. is one of the leading banking institutions in the Moldovan market. As at 31 December 2018, the bank's assets amounted to approximately BGN 1.668 billion," Doverie United Holding JSC said. The main shareholder of Doverie United Holding JSC is Sopharma JSC with a share of 33.31% as at 31 March 2019. Source: investor.bg
The Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) has signaled a number of state institutions for the decision of the Energy System Operator (ESO) to pay millions of BGN for cold reserve of TPP Varna, the majority owner of which is the honorary chairman of MRF Ahmed Dogan. According to the ACF, the technical fitness of the TPP is questionable, which is a prerequisite for a possible threat to energy security as part of Bulgaria's national security. In this regard, the Fund has filed a signal with SANS, the Ministry of Energy and the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC). The NRA has been approached because of tax evasion doubts in the acquisition of the plant by Dogan. ACF director Boyko Stankushev said the institutions have already confirmed that they have received the complaints. According to Stankushev, "the thorough analysis of the history of TPP Varna - from the privatization in 2006, to 2017 when a Varna-based company without any experience in the energy industry became the new owner, to August 2018, when Dogan acquired a majority share – raise questions about the ability of the state institutions to protect the public interest in situations involving important material interests of influential individuals." Source: Sega
Bulgaria's The Mall said that forty new stores will open doors at its premises on June 20, growing the number of brands present at the shopping centre to over 240. The new stores include names like JYSK, Billa, Pepco, Mat Star, Paula Venti, and others. Local news outlet Investor.bg reported on Monday that the new openings follow an investment of EUR 24 million in renovations by The Mall. Balkan Retail, a subsidiary of UK-based investment company Hystead Limited, acquired the owner of The Mall - Bulgaria's AP Retail I, for EUR 156 million in 2017. Hystead Limited is majority-owned by South African real estate investment company Hyprop Investments.
Bulgaria's Zlatna Panega Cement, a unit of Greek building materials manufacturer Titan Group, turned to a non-consolidated net profit of BGN 2.7 million in 2018 from a net loss of BGN 6.8 million in 2017. Zlatna Panega Cement's sales revenue increased to BGN 90.5 million last year from BGN 83.8 million in 2017, as cement sales grew to BGN 74.1 million from BGN 63.3 million in 2017. Cost of goods sold fell to BGN 77.4 million in 2018 from BGN 80.3 million the year before. Administrative expenses declined to BGN 8.9 million last year from BGN 10.2 million in 2017. Zlatna Panega Cement's assets fell to BGN 164.2 million at the end of 2018 from BGN 175.2 million a year earlier, following a decrease in inventory.
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Bulgarian Industrial Association
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World
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Europe |
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UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation increased 2.0% year-on-year in May 2019, down from 2.1% in April 2019 reports the ONS. The data means inflation is currently sitting on the Bank of England's 2.0% target, with the release coming just a day ahead of the Bank's June policy meeting. "Decent news for the Bank of England and consumers as consumer price inflation dips to 2.0% in May from 2019-high of 2.1% in April, helped by sharp monthly drop in air fares as impact of later Easter this year drops out," says Howard Archer, Chief Economic Advisor to the EY ITEM Club. The impact on Sterling of the data has been negligible as markets had been expecting a reading of 2.0%. But while market expectations were met, other data sets suggest inflation pressures are growing. Core CPI - which strips out variables such as fuel and therefore gives a better reading of true underlying price pressures - read at 1.7%, ahead of expectations for 1.6%. Source: Associated Press
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America |
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U.S. oil output from seven major shale formations is expected to rise by about 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July to a record 8.52 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its monthly drilling productivity report. The largest change is forecast in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, where output is expected to climb by 55,000 bpd to a fresh peak at 4.23 million bpd in July. Production in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken shale basin is also expected to climb by 11,000 bpd to a record 1.44 million bpd, the data showed. Output from the nearby Niobrara basin is expected to rise by 10,000 bpd to a record high of nearly 730,000 bpd. A shale revolution and production increases particularly from the Permian basin and the Bakken have helped make the United States the biggest crude oil producer in the world, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Russia. However, the EIA has revised lower its total U.S. crude oil production growth forecast.
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Asia |
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Apple has asked its major suppliers to evaluate the cost implications of shifting 15% to 30% of their production capacity from China to Southeast Asia as it prepares for a fundamental restructuring of its supply chain. The California-based tech giant's request was triggered by the protracted trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, but multiple sources say that even if the spat is resolved there will be no turning back. Apple has decided the risks of relying so heavily on manufacturing in China, as it has done for decades, are too great and even rising. "A lower birthrate, higher labor costs and the risk of overly centralizing its production in one country. These adverse factors are not going anywhere," said one executive with knowledge of the situation. "With or without the final round of the $300 billion tariff, Apple is following the big trend [to diversify production]," giving itself more flexibility, the person added. China has been the production base on which Apple's global success has been built over the past two decades.
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Indexes of Stock Exchanges 19.06.2019 |
Dow Jones Industrial |
26 504.00 |
(38.46) |
Nasdaq Composite |
7 987.32 |
(33.44) |
Commodity exchanges 19.06.2019 |
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Commodity |
Price |
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Light crude ($US/bbl.) | 54.43 |
Heating oil ($US/gal.) | 1.8400 |
Natural gas ($US/mmbtu) | 2.2800 |
Unleaded gas ($US/gal.) | 1.7500 |
Gold ($US/Troy Oz.) | 1 382.10 |
Silver ($US/Troy Oz.) | 15.22 |
Platinum ($US/Troy Oz.) | 812.00 |
Hogs (cents/lb.) | 83.00 |
Live cattle (cents/lb.) | 104.55 |
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Thracian megalithic culture in Strandzha |
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The area of the park "Strandzha" and its contact zone represent a unique collection of monuments of spiritual and material culture from international, national and local significance. Almost anywhere cultural evidences from the Eneolithic and Bronze Age, Thracian megalithic culture, antiquity, Middle Ages, the Bulgarian Revival and the Bulgarian most recent history, and what is more, such dense concentration is rare in Europe. Unique of its kind phenomena are the sunk settlements in the Bulgarian aquatory of the Black Sea. Sites of marine origin are located in the adjoining territory of the park, in the bays of Varvara, Ahtopol, Sinemorets, Silistar and north of the mouth of the river Rezovska, which are direct evidence for a developed Thracian civilization with active navigation, shipbuilding, economic and trade relations, far before the Greek colonization. So far, more than 450 monuments have been found on the territory of the park, of which 20 dolmens, 24 mound necropolises, 11 independent tumuluses, 2 unique dome tombs, 13 ancient medieval villages, 17 fortresses, ancient roads, 83 chapels and a historical place of national importance - the site Petrova Niva (Peter’s Field). The territory of the park has 280 architectural and artistic cultural monuments, of which 18 churches and 268 Bulgarian Revival houses and 4 historical monument indicating the Ilinden-Preobrazhensko Uprising.
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