03-09-2010

Real Estates

Cash is King as Bulgaria Hotels Seek to Change Hands

 As sellers of property, hotels included, are going through hard times in Bulgaria, most deals are a result of cash payments, experts say and forecast that cash will remain king. “Due to the restricted financing, deals can be concluded only by investors with money at hand. The forecasts for 2010 can best be described as “cash is the king,” Anna Rizova-Clegg, Country Managing Partner in the Sofia office of DLA Piper, the international legal practice, said in an interview for Novinite.com. A survey of the hotel and hospitality industry by DLA Piper found that 22% of all respondents – executive directors ...

03-09-2010

Real Estates

Russian Real Estate Website Enthusiastic about Bulgaria

 Bulgaria is a worldwide leader in residential and commercial real estate and will remain to be so, writes Russian real estate analytic portal RWay.ru Thursday. The website lists the following five pluses of buying in Bulgaria: legislation favorable to non-resident investors, low prices and prospects for increase in worth. The article states that in spite of a considerable drop of prices since 2008 and various other drawbacks such as property with unserviced loans, unfinished construction and overconstruction, there is a significant positive outlook for Bulgarian real estate. It claims, largely ...

03-09-2010

Real Estates

Bulgarian Govt Refashions Notorious Army Building Project in Sofia

 Bulgaria's Cabinet has decided in favor of the partial completion of a controversial construction project of the Defense Ministry in downtown Sofia. The so called National Army Complex is known also as the "military NDK" because it is likened to NDK (i.e. the National Palace of Culture) as it is located close to it in downtown Sofia, and is just as huge. The construction of the National Army Complex has come under much criticism in the Bulgarian media since its inception in 2004-2006 with critics arguing that the Bulgarian Army and Defense Ministry do not need such a costly and enormous project, ...

03-09-2010

ABOUT BULGARIA

Advertising campaign of Bulgaria as year-round tourist destination starts on leading Pan-European channels

 The advertising campaign of Bulgaria as a year-round tourist destination started on September 6 on Eurosport, Euronews, National Geographic Channel, and Discovery Channel. The first stage of the campaign will finish by December 26, 2010. The next stage will be launched on January 31 and will continue until March 27. The aim of the campaign is to show 608 million households in Europe that Bulgaria offers magnificent opportunities for tourism and vacation. The advertising spots will be 30 seconds long and will be shown in the prime hours in 5 languages – Bulgarian, English, German, French, and ...

03-09-2010

Tourism

Bulgarians Increased Trips Abroad in Q2

 The total number of trips Bulgarian citizens have made within the country and abroad dropped by 11% for the second quarter of 2010, according to preliminary data from Bulgaria's National Statistics Institute. However, Bulgarians made about 23% more trips abroad in the second quarter this year, in comparison to the period April-June 2009, while the trips within the country dropped by 17%. According to the data, vacations and trips have been the most common reason for the Bulgarians to travel abroad. The average money spent on a trip in Bulgaria in the second quarter of 2010 was BGN 158, while ...

03-09-2010

Tourism

Bulgarian Economy Minister Backs Eco Tourism against Mafia

 Bulgaria's system of mountain huts and cabins should remain intact to preserve environmentally friendly tourism, said Bulgarian Minister of Economy Traicho Traikov Sunday. “No mountain hut should be closed or replaced by apartments or hotels,” stated Traikov, who is also the minister in charge of tourism in Bulgaria. Traikov was speaking at the top of Cherni Vrah summit nearby Sofia at a gathering of more than 4000 hiking enthusiasts to mark the 115th anniversary of organized hiking, mountaineering and tourism in Bulgaria. The economy minister's statement comes as a response to worries recently ...

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 ...