31-08-2010

Construction

Bulgarian construction sector marks an increase in Q2 2010 - report

A serious rise in the Bulgaria's construction sector was recorded in the second quarter of 2010, compared to the preceding three months, the National Statistics Institute announced on August 23 2010. Data reveals that construction permits increased by 46 per cent, while actual construction soared by about 70 per cent. Despite this trend, on an annual basis this still represents a 21 per cent decline, the report said. Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv and Bourgas are the four cities with the most active ongoing construction projects at the moment, the report said. In total, 1441 real estate buildings were ...

31-08-2010

Real Estates

Buying an office in Bulgaria costs the same as leasing - Creditex

There is no difference between the expenses incurred in buying an office in Bulgaria using a mortgage and leasing an office, according to non-banking financial institution Creditex, part of the Bulgarian unit of Dutch-based TBI Financial Services. The company anticipates a pick-up in the Bulgarian business property market due to changes in the ratio between selling prices and rents, it said. About 16 percent of Creditex’s loan portfolio covers investment properties. While lease prices are lower than in 2008 and loan interest rates are higher, the purchase of an office through a bank loan costs ...

31-08-2010

Interesting

Bulgaria's Pironkova Reaches 2nd Round at US Open

Bulgaria's best female tennis player, Tsvetana Pironkova, has qualified for the second round of the last for this year Grand Slam championship US Open. The 22-year-old Bulgarian, who was seeded as number 32, managed to defeat Renata Voracova from the Czech Republic by 6-3, 6-4. In the second round, Pironkova will face the 24-year-old Mandy Minella from Luxembourg, who defeated the Slovenian Polona Hercog by 6-4, 7-5 in the first round. If she manages to get ahead, in the third round th Bulgarian will have to play against Venus Williams, who suffered what international media around the world has ...

31-08-2010

Tourism

Burgas Airport Welcomes 1.5 Millionth Passenger

Olga Andreevna, who arrived at Burgas Airport on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast Saturday night 22.27 EET from Moscow, turned out to be the airport's 1,500,000th passenger for 2010. This year Burgas airport welcomed its 1 millionth and 1.5 millionth passenger within one month. On August 4 23-year-old German Eileen Nischik flying in from Cologne became Burgas Airport’s millionth passenger. Russian traveler Andreevna came to Burgas Saturday night with her husband and little daughter for a two-weeks’ holiday in Sunny Beach north of Burgas. The lucky traveler and her family were serviced in the airport's ...

31-08-2010

Culture

Bulgaria's Varna to Host Film Festival 'Golden Rose' in Oct

The 29th edition of the festival for Bulgarian feature film “Golden Rose” will be held October 2-8 in the Black Sea city of Varna. The organizers will be the Agency “National Film Center”, supported by the Ministry of Culture, the municipality of Varna, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and the Festival and Congress Center in Varna. For the first time the Varna company “Artin Vision”, which is specialized in organizing musical and film events, will be a co-organizer of the “Golden Rose. This year's edition of the festival will include all Bulgarian feature films that have been made in the ...

31-08-2010

Ecology

Eco Activists Collect 2.5 T Trash from Seven Rila Lakes

The campaign for cleaning up the area of the famous Seven Rila Lakes in Bulgaria resulted in 2.5 tonnes of waste collected. 80 volunteers from across the country, as well as from Poland, Britain and France participated in the August 24-29 campaign launched by “For the Earth” environmental organization. Trash was collected from hidden dumps in the area, as well as around the lakes themselves, which, due to easy access, are frequented by many tourists and holidaymakers. That was the opinion of “For the Earth” environmentalists, who deplored the launch of a new lift leading to the Seven Lakes in ...

19-08-2010

Construction

Eurostat: Construction sector in Bulgaria shrinks by a further 17.5%

Bulgaria is among the three countries in Europe with the steepest decrease in the construction sector – for the tenth month running, according to Eurostat data revealed on August 18 2010. The construction sector in Bulgaria deflated by further 17.5 per cent in June on annual basis. The only two countries that fared worse in that respect were Hungary and Slovenia with 19.6 and 16.9 per cent respectively. Bulgarian has performed among Europe's "worst three countries" since September 2009. The worst month for the Bulgarian construction was December 2009, where it shrank by 33.3 per cent. This latest ...

19-08-2010

Real Estates

Subway Districts Most Popular in Bulgaria's Sofia

Apartments in the neighborhoods along the subway are the most wanted for renting in the Bulgarian capital. According to the real estate agency “Address”, the most desired Sofia neighborhoods for renting are Mladost, Darvenitza, Iztok and Lyulin. The monthly rent for a two-room apartment varies between EUR 190 and EUR 280. The most deals are sealed with about EUR 200. However, about 10% of all the contracts are signed in BGN, instead of EUR, the real estate agency has stated. “The landlords would decrease the price of the rent by EUR 10-35 if they like the tenants. Another method for lowering the ...

19-08-2010

Real Estates

Sofia Europe's Costliest Capital for Residential Property

Sofia, Bucharest and Warsaw are the three most expensive capitals in Europe when measured by the ratio of how much the average resident earns versus the cost of housing, a survey shows. The average yearly salary in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria is only sufficient to buy a mere one or two square meters in the respective centers of each of the three countries’ capital cities, according to data of the Polish real estate company Home Broker. With the average yearly salary, a Bulgarian citizen can buy no more than 1.7 square meters in the center of the capital, the sales price being set at EUR 1759 ...

19-08-2010

Finance and Taxes

Emigrants Send to Bulgaria EUR 702 M in a Year Alone

Bulgarians benefit twice more from their relatives working abroad than from the EU funds The Bulgarians who live and work abroad have sent to their families in Bulgaria a total of 702.5 million euro over the past twelve months until June 2010, while our compatriots have sent abroad only 7.5 million euro. Thus, the net revenues from emigrants amount to 695 million euro, Investor.bg says, quoting data of the national bank. For comparison for the twelve months until May 2009, our compatriots working abroad sent back 693.3 million euro. Then, they sent back a total of 713.9 million euro, but the money ...

19-08-2010

ABOUT BULGARIA

Bulgaria is the 38th best country to live in

Finland, Switzerland and Sweden top the ranking Newsweek magazine made a ranking of the countries with the best living conditions in the world. The criteria used by the media are: healthcare, economic dynamism (the openness of the economies and the size of the corporate sector), education, political environment and quality of life. Bulgaria comes at 38th position among 100 countries with good key figures for education, healthcare and quality of life, but with a low coefficient for economic dynamism. Finland, Switzerland and Sweden top the ranking. Bulgaria outranks Romania, Kuwait and Panama, ...

19-08-2010

EU Marks World Humanitarian Day

The European Commission is marking Thursday the second-ever World Humanitarian Day by paying tribute to the life-saving effort carried out by aid workers around the globe. The campaign aims at attracting attention to the safety and security of humanitarian workers and to the need of adherence to the humanitarian aid principles. On December 11, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly of the United Nations adopted in its Plenary Session the Swedish sponsored Omnibus Resolution on “Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance of the United Nations”, that carried the historic ...

17-08-2010

Economy

Forbes Bulgaria to Hit the Market in November

Bulgarians will enjoy a special annual edition of the Forbes magazine in November, which will set the beginning of the first Bulgarian edition of Forbes. Attica Media Bulgaria has announced that the special edition will be on the market on November 10. It will present the world famous list of international, as well as Bulgarian, billionaires and it will feature analyses of current economic and financial issues in the country. In January 2009, Attica Media Bulgaria announced the beginning of the project for a Bulgarian edition of Forbes. The magazine was expected to be on the market in October ...

17-08-2010

ABOUT BULGARIA

US president Obama accepts new Bulgarian ambassador

The new Bulgarian ambassador to Washington Elena Poptodorova received her accreditation letters from US president Barack Obama during an official ceremony in the White House on August 12 2010, a Foreign Ministry media statement announced. During the meeting, Poptodorova outlined the strong bilateral relations between Bulgaria and the United States, noting that among the topics of priority for the future are the lifting of the visa requirements for Bulgarian nationals travelling to the US. She also said that the United States should aim to increase its investments in the country, particularly in ...

17-08-2010

Interesting

Laetitia Casta "Knew" about Johnny Depp's Visit to Bulgaria

Speculations that Johnny Depp is on an incognito visit to Bulgaria's southern coastal city of Burgas received a much awaited boost on Monday after they were confirmed by a member of the movie team working here with French top model Laetitia Casta. “Laetitia Casta knew about Johnny Depp's arrival in Burgas and where he would stay,” Adriana Mihaylova from the team of the Bulgarian director Kamen Kalev told journalists in Burgas. Even though reports about a meeting between the two stars on Bulgarian ground were not officially confirmed, it is very likely that it has taken place on Sunday, according ...

17-08-2010

Interesting

Four Hours Siesta

Offices and plants stop working in the afternoons for the heat The siesta will rescue the Bulgarians from the scorching heat. Companies and factories will stop functioning for four hours in the afternoon, suggest trade unions and work inspectors. The time from 12.30h to 16.30h is the most dangerous, especially if owners and mangers have not provided normal temperatures at the working place, experts from the Confederation of the Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria said yesterday. The General Labour Inspection Service also appealed for the introduction of more flexible working hours.The business ...

17-08-2010

Tourism

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast Enjoys More Tourists in July, August

There were about 10% more tourists at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in July and August in comparison to the same period last year. The statement was made by Elena Ivanova, head of the Union of Owners of Nesebar. “The interest towards the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is due to the fact that the resorts offer prices that are similar or even better than those in Greece and Turkey,” Ivanova said. She has also stated that in August tour operators registered an increased number of Bulgarian tourists at the south Black Sea coast. “All the places in Nesebar, Sunny Beach and St.Vlas are full. The hotels have ...

17-08-2010

Tourism

40% increase in Russians visiting Bulgaria in 2010

The Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry has reported a surge in the number of Russian holidaymakers visiting Bulgaria and spending their summer holidays in the country this year, a media statement revealed on August 16 2010. Reportedly, the increase amounts to 40 per cent more Russian nationals visiting Bulgaria. Consulates in Moscow, St Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk have accounted for a total of 262 078 visas to date, or a 40 per cent increase on the same period in 2009. In Moscow alone 200 000 visas were issued, the report said. Source: sofiaecho.comImage: google.bg To see the presentation ...

12-08-2010

Real Estates

Forton International: Retail rents in Bulgaria the lowest since 2002

Sofia's main streets are offering the lowest rents since 2002, according to consulting company Forton International. As of August 2010, prices are around 55 euro a sq m for a store on some of Sofia's elite streets, as opposed to 120 euro in 2005, when prices were at their peak. Rents have gone down by a further 30 per cent in the second quarter of 2010 in Sofia, while in other cities across the country, the decline is between 43 and 50 per cent, Forton said in a report. Meanwhile, 163 000 sq m of new retail area was made available on the market with the launching of several new malls, such as ...

12-08-2010

Real Estates

Wildfires Cause More Russians to Eye Bulgarian Properties

The raging wildfires in the Moscow region are said to have a reflection on the demand of Russian buyers for Bulgarian real estate properties. Residents of Moscow who are extending their stays in Bulgaria as a result of the environmental problems in Russia caused by the forest fires are increasingly eying Bulgarian properties, especially along the Black Sea coast, according to a report of a Bulgarian real estate agency cited by BTA. The company’s report says that 83% of the Russian-speaking buyers of Bulgarian properties in 2009 came from Moscow. The Russian customers are said to be paying an average ...