Business Industry Capital
Bulgaria
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BNB Exchange Rates
(16.07.2019) |
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EUR |
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1.95583 |
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GBP |
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2.17622 |
USD |
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1.73558 |
CHF |
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1.76662 |
EUR/USD |
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1.1269* |
ECB exchange rate |
Basic Interest Rate |
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as of 01.07 |
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0 % |
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Financial news |
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Bulgaria’s annual consumer price index (CPI) recorded 2.8 per cent inflation in June, a sharp drop from 3.5 per cent a month earlier, with prices declining by 0.6 per cent on a monthly basis, according to data released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on July 15. In monthly terms, it was only the second time that the CPI figure showed deflation in the previous 12 months, which also recorded one month of zero growth and nine months of consumer price inflation. Food prices were 1.6 per cent lower compared to May and non-food prices declined by 0.3 per cent, while services prices were unchanged. Compared to June 2018, food prices were 4.6 per cent higher, while non-food and services prices rose by 0.7 per cent and three per cent, respectively. The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by NSI for comparison with European Union data, was unchanged on a monthly basis, while the annual harmonised CPI inflation in June was 2.3 per cent, down from 2.9 per cent a month earlier.
Bulgaria’s registered jobless rate fell by 0.1 percentage points month-on-month to 5.2% at the end of June, the government's Employment Agency said. Compared to June 2018, Bulgaria’s jobless rate was 0.5 pp lower. A total of 169,659 people were registered as unemployed with labour offices at the end of June, of which 21,404 newly-registered during the month. The number of people who found a job in the sixth month of the year totalled 19,898. There were 19,623 registered job vacancies in June. The highest share of vacancies was registered in the manufacturing sector, 28.6% of the total. Source: investor.bg
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Companies |
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Headlights manufacturer odelo Bulgaria, a unit of Turkey's Bayraktarlar Group, has opened a research and development centre in Sofia, the Trakia Economic Zone (TEZ) said. The ongoing construction of odelo Bulgaria's production facility for Mercedes-Benz taillights located in TEZ, near Plovdiv, is almost completed. The R&D centre and the taillights plant are both part of a planned BGN 40 million investment by odelo Bulgaria. The company expects that its investment in the R&D centre will open 40 new jobs within three years, whereas some 400 employees will be hired in the plant. odelo Bulgaria is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Turkey's Farba Otomotiv Aydinlatma Ve Plastik Fabrikalari, part of Bayraktarlar Group. Source: economic.bg
One of the medium-sized leasing companies in Bulgaria - Allianz Leasing Bulgaria - will be entirely under the control of Allianz Bulgaria Holding. Currently, the minority shareholder of the company, the Austrian VHO Holding, which owns 9% of its capital, is preparing to step out of its share. This happens after reports of problems and seeking out of other investments of the Viennese conglomerate in Bulgaria. It stands behind the transport company SOMAT, Vienna Real Estate and the auto distributor Balkan Star. The deal for Allianz Leasing Bulgaria has been submitted for approval to the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) and a seven-day deadline for any objections from the parties interested in the merger is underway. The production of the anti-monopoly authority will examine the extent to which the acquisition of sole control of the leasing company by Allianz Bulgaria Holding would harm competition in the market. Source: Capital
Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency has signed a BGN 1.96 million deal with local Musala Soft for the upgrade of the agency's software systems. The deal includes analysis of the agency's existing information systems, supply and integration of a service-oriented architecture solution, development and integration of a digital services platform, ect. The contract was signed on June 13. Two companies tabled bids in the procedure for awarding the contract. Musala Soft is active in IT consulting, analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, integration and maintenance. The company has offices in Sofia, Ruse and Burgas, as well as in North Macedonia's capital - Skopje.
Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court has reinstated Saudi-led consortium Arkad as winner in a tender for construction of a leg of TurkStream gas pipeline in the country, upholding a decision of the local anti-trust body. The decision of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) is legitimate and must remain in force. The complaint against the competition authority's decision was filed by a consortium comprising Italy's Consorzio Varna 1 and the Bulgarian branch of Luxembourg-registered Completions Development, which Bulgarian gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz has named as winner after giving up its original choice of Arkad. Bulgatransgaz originally named Arkad group as winner of its tender for construction of a 484 km-long pipeline for transit of gas from the border with Turkey to the border with Serbia but subsequently dropped Arkad and named as winner the second-ranked consortium. CPC said that Bulgartransgaz had been unlawfully holding parallel talks with the Consorzio Varna 1 - Completions Development consortium after ranking Arkad first in the tender. Subsequently, the second-ranked consortium offered a price discount for the construction of the pipeline in violation of legal requirements. Arkad had proposed to build the pipeline for EUR 1.29 billion within 250 days, or for EUR 1.10 billion within 615 days. The Consorzio Varna 1 - Completions Development group initially offered to build the pipeline for EUR 2.41 billion and EUR 1.60 billion, respectively, but subsequently lowered its offer for the 615-day period to EUR 1.10 billion. Source: mediapool.bg
Wholesale stores operator Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria, a unit of Germany's Metro, said that its net profit increased to BGN 18.0 million in 2018 from 14.2 million levs in 2017. Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria's sales grew to BGN 756.7 million last year from 748.6 million in 2017. Cost of goods sold rose to BGN 644.4 million in 2018 from BGN 630.5 million the year before. Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria booked BGN 12.9 million in other operating revenue in 2018, compared to BGN 7.0 million in 2017. The company's selling costs remained flattish year-on-year at BGN 95.5 million. Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria's assets fell to BGN 257.3 million at the end of 2018 from BGN 280.7 million a year earlier. At the end of 2018, the company operated 13 stores across 11 of the country's major cities, employing 2,426 people. The company also operates a logistics centre for hotel, restaurant and catering deliveries.
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Bulgarian Industrial Association
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World
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Europe |
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Turkey’s relationship with the West suffered a fresh blow when the European Union decided to suspend contacts between high-level officials, as well as to pull financial aid, in response to Turkey’s gas exploration in Cypriot national waters. European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said they would suspend about $164 million in aid to Turkey and shelve talks on an aviation accord. They also asked the European Investment Bank to review its lending to the country, which amounted to nearly $434 million in 2018. Turkey has been benefiting from European Union funding as part of its now-stalled bid to join the bloc, while the aviation agreement that was under negotiation would have led to more passengers using Turkish airports, in particular the main international airport in Istanbul, as a transit hub. The European Union measures came just days after the country’s relationship with the United States took a hit, with the first shipment of a Russian-made surface-to-air missile system to Turkey, a NATO member. Source: New York Times
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America |
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The U.S. may approve licenses for companies to re-start new sales to Huawei in as little as two weeks, according to a senior U.S. official, in a sign President Donald Trump’s recent effort to ease restrictions on the Chinese company could move forward quickly. Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, was added to a Commerce Department list in May that prohibits U.S. companies from supplying it with new American-made goods and services unless they obtain licenses that will likely be denied. But late last month, after meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump announced American firms could sell products to Huawei. And in recent days, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said licenses would be issued where there is no threat to national security. Trump’s reversal, and rapid implementation by the Commerce Department, suggests chip industry lobbying, coupled with Chinese political pressure, may well reignite U.S. technology sales to Huawei. Two U.S. chipmakers who supply Huawei told Reuters in recent days they would apply for more licenses after Ross’s comments. They asked to remain anonymous.
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Asia |
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Dozens of South Korean small-business owners rallied in South Korea's capital on Monday calling for boycotts of Japanese consumer goods to protest Tokyo's move to tighten high-tech exports to its neighbor. Kim Sung-min, president of the Korea Mart Association, urged shop owners to boycott the distribution of Japanese products until Tokyo apologizes over the trade curbs and withdraws them. Other demonstrators held up signs that read, ''Our supermarket does not sell Japanese products.'' South Korea is concerned that the strengthened Japanese export controls of photoresists and other sensitive materials that are mainly used for manufacturing semiconductors and display screens could potentially hurt its export-dependent economy. Japan's measure, which went into effect earlier this month, has stoked public anger in South Korea, where many believe Japan still hasn't fully acknowledged responsibility for atrocities committed during its colonial occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. Source: Associated Press
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Indexes of Stock Exchanges 15.07.2019 |
Dow Jones Industrial |
27 359.16 |
(27.13) |
Nasdaq Composite |
8 258.18 |
(14.04) |
Commodity exchanges 15.07.2019 |
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Commodity |
Price |
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Light crude ($US/bbl.) | 59.55 |
Heating oil ($US/gal.) | 1.9500 |
Natural gas ($US/mmbtu) | 2.3900 |
Unleaded gas ($US/gal.) | 1.9300 |
Gold ($US/Troy Oz.) | 1 415.80 |
Silver ($US/Troy Oz.) | 15.37 |
Platinum ($US/Troy Oz.) | 845.40 |
Hogs (cents/lb.) | 73.90 |
Live cattle (cents/lb.) | 109.78 |
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