불가리아 주요 경제뉴스 (18 - 25 February 2011)

 

BULGARIAN ECONOMIC TOP NEWS DIGEST

WEEKLY REPORT (18 - 25 February 2011)

 

Sections/headline briefs:

 

 

MACROECONOMY:

Ø  Serbia confirms interest in Belene nuclear project

Ø  Bulgaria's soft drinks consumption fell 7.5% in 2010 – BSDA

Ø  Bulgaria’s wine export up 10%

Ø  Middle East Crisis Brings Record-high Gas Prices to Bulgaria

 

INVESTMENTS:

Ø  Hungary's Elmib to Build EUR 30 M Solar Park in Bulgaria

Ø  Qatar to Invest 500 Million Dollars in Bulgaria

Ø  Bulgaria, China's Jiangsu to Ink Economic Cooperation Memorandum

 

 

COMPANIES:

 

Ø  Twelve companies file documents in tender for Maritsa Motorway segment

Ø  EVN to restart construction of hydropower complex Gorna Arda in 2013

Ø  Solvay acquires fluorspar mine in Chiprovtsi

Ø  M-Tel to Invest 100 M Euro in Infrastructure

Ø  Several companies interested in local bourse privatisation

 

 

 

 

 

Articles:

 

MACROECONOMY:

 

Serbia confirms interest in Belene nuclear project

Serbian PM Mirko Cvetkovic confirmed in a conversation with Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov during his visit in Sofia that Serbia is still interested to take part in the construction of the 2,000 MW Belene nuclear power plant by the Danube River, the Bulgarian government informed on its website. In December 2010, the maximum price for the construction of the nuclear power plant was set at EUR 6.298bn and Rosatom, Finnish utility Fortum Corp and French technology consultancy Altran Technologies were listed as investors in the project. NEC is to control 51% of the project company, which is still to be established. Earlier this month, the international press rumoured that Rosatom is considering withdrawing from the project. Rosatom declined comments but confirmed for local Dnevnik Daily that such an option existed and would be taken into consideration in case of failure to reach a new additional agreement with their Bulgarian counterparties. The last annex expires by end-March and Rosatom said last week that it will have no legal reasons to continue with the project. In February 2008, AtomStroyExport, part of Rosatom, signed a EUR 4bn preliminary contract to build the plant and a few months ago requested an increase of the price by EUR 2.5-3.5bn.

 

Bulgaria's soft drinks consumption fell 7.5% in 2010 – BSDA

Consumption of soft drinks in Bulgaria dropped by 7.5 per cent on the year to 1.581 billion litres in 2010, according to Bulgarian Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) data on February 22. In money terms, soft drink sales were 1.3 billion leva in 2010, 152 million leva less than ih 2009. Ice tea and soluble powdered drinks were the only products to register growth in 2010, of 17.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively. According to the report, the steepest decline of 18 per cent was recorded in sports and energy drinks consumption, followed by a 14 per cent drop in sales of fruit juices and nectars. Sales of carbonated drinks went down 6.4 per cent on the year, while consumption of bottled water, which accounted for 44 per cent of total soft drinks sales in the country, fell 7.5 per cent in 2010. The country's soft drinks market started to deteriorate in 2009 when consumption dropped by seven per cent, following 12 years of bumper growth.

Bulgaria’s wine export up 10%

Plovdiv. Bulgaria has posted a rise of 10% in its wine export in 2010 against 2009, announced Executive Agency on Vine and Wine Director engineer Krasimir Koev during the opening of 2011 Vinaria International Exhibition of Vine Growing and Wine Production in the southern city of Plovdiv, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food announced. More than 57,6 million liters of wine was exported, with more than 80% of it in bottles. The main export is earmarked for Russia. The rise here is 20% on an annual basis. Other markets for the Bulgarian wine are Poland, Britain, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Germany, said Koev. He also noted the recent upward trend in vine growing in Bulgaria.

 

Middle East Crisis Brings Record-high Gas Prices to Bulgaria

The effect of the sharp increase of oil prices triggered by mass protest and turmoil in a number of Middle East countries is felt in Bulgaria where gas prices are the highest in the last two years.

In the course of just several weeks, gasoline is up by BGN 0.1 per liter, and BGN 0.3 per liter, or the staggering 10%, since the beginning of the year.A liter of A 95 is currently BGN 2.4 while diesel is BGN 2.4The oil price hike has the most negative effect on Bulgaria's farming and transport with some companies already upping the prices of their products and services in order to compensate for the expenses.

Meanwhile, economic experts, cited by the Bulgarian daily Dnevnik, say they are not worried about a serious inflation over the Middle East crisis and the "oil shock" will be temporary. They, however, warn a prolonged crisis will accelerate inflation, shrink demand, and slow down economic recovery.

 

 

INVESTMENTS:

Hungary's Elmib to Build EUR 30 M Solar Park in Bulgaria

Hungarian company Elmib is investing EUR 30 M in a photovoltaic park in Eastern Bulgaria. The investment will be handled by Elmib Bulgaria, the Bulgarian subsidiary ofHungary's Elmib, announced Elmib CEO Peter Reicher, the Budapest Business Journal reported citing the Vilaggazdasag business daily. Reicher told the newspaper that the company expects to complete the 15 MWsolar park in the Eastern Bulgarian town of Sungurlare within a year and a half. once up and running, the electricity produced by the solar park will be fed into the Bulgarian national grid, thus saving 11 400 tons of carbon-dioxide emissions.

 

Qatar to Invest 500 Million Dollars in Bulgaria

A joint venture between Bulgaria’s "National Company Industrial Areas" and Qatar’s investment service will develop projects in the sectors of agriculture, real estate, tourism and finance. Qatar will contribute at least half a billion US dollars to the joint venture’s capital. The memorandum between Bulgaria and Qatar regarding the establishment of the joint venture, signed in March 2010, was passed at a second reading in Parliament. The document provides options for the establishment of other joint ventures, which to function in different sectors of the economy.

Bulgaria, China's Jiangsu to Ink Economic Cooperation Memorandum

The Bulgarian government has accepted a draft memorandum oneconomic cooperation with eastChina's Jiangsu province. Exchanging information on investment policies, opportunities for establishing joint industrial projects and joint ventures, and opening offices and branches will be the key activities Bulgaria and Jiangsuwould promote from now on, according to the memorandum. Jiangsu is one of the most economically vibrant Chinese provinces, home to many of the world's leading exporters of electronic equipment, chemicals and textiles. It has also been China's largest recipient of foreign direct investment since 2006. In 2010,Jiangsu's nominal GDP was USD 612 B, making it the second biggest GDP of all the provinces and an annual growth rate of 12.4%. In November 2010, Bulgaria's Finance Minister Simeon Djankov declared that the Bulgarian government will intensify its efforts to attract Chinese companies, try to attract Chinese investors and boost the economic relations between the two countries. Currently, the size of Chinese investments in Bulgaria is relatively small. However, Chinese company Great Wall Motor Co is building an EUR 80 M car manufacturing plan in Bulgaria, near Lovech.

 

 

COMPANIES:

 

Twelve companies file documents in tender for Maritsa Motorway segment

A total of twelve companies and consortia have submitted documents to take part in the tender for additional planning and construction of the 31.4km segment of the Maritsa Motorway between Orizovo and Dimitrovgrad, the regional ministry informed on its website. A total of 44 companies and consortiums purchased documents for the tender. The indicative value of the project is set at EUR 104mn. It will be financed under the country’s transport operational programme. The winner in the tender should build the segment 25 months after the contract has been concluded. Regional minister Rosen Plevneliev expects the winner to be selected by the end of March and field works to start at the end of June. Maritsa Motorway will link Trakia Motorway with the Turkish border. Its total length will reach 117 kilometres.

 

EVN to restart construction of hydropower complex Gorna Arda in 2013

Austrian energy company EVN plans to restart construction works on the 174.2MW hydropower complex Gorna Arda in south-eastern Bulgaria in January of 2013, Trud Daily reported. The previous plans of the company were to launch construction in early 2012. We remind that last year, Bulgarian national power grid operatorNEC and EVN signed a shareholder agreement for the completion of the complex and will control 70% of the project company. Gorna Arda will comprise three hydropower generators with an average annual production of 440 GWh. Construction works are expected to take between 5 and 8 years. The project will create some 3,000 permanent jobs as well as some 4,000 - 5,000 in the construction phase. The total investment is expected to reach EUR 500mn, up from the original EUR 310mn, planned several years ago. When completed, the project is expected to provide electricity to 100,000 households or 500,000 people.

 

Solvay acquires fluorspar mine in Chiprovtsi

Belgian industrial group Solvay has acquired a fluorspar mine in Chiprovtsi in the north-west part of the country from N&N Group, Solvay said on its website. The transfer of all concession and exploration rights is also part of the agreement. The takeover, which has been approved by the government on January 13, will secure “Solvay’s fluorinated specialty polymers and fluorinated special chemicals production at a competitive cost". Solvay intends to increase the volume of the annual production of the mine to reach at least 50,000 tons by the end of this year. The mine employs a total of 107 workers at present. Solvay considers the investment as strategic to its activities. The price of the deal has not been unveiled.

 

M-Tel to Invest 100 M Euro in Infrastructure

Mobil-Tel is planning to invest 100 million euro in the Bulgarian economy by the end of 2011, the lion’s share will be invested in the development of an optical network. This became clear from a speech of M-Tel CEO Andreas Maierhoffer, delivered in Austria’s capital Vienna. To be sure that our investments will pay off we insist on a predictable regulatory policy in Bulgaria’s telecommunications sector, he said. The development of an optical network has become one of M-Tel’s priorities, following the acquisition of internet providers Megalan and Spectrum Net, which have already merged into a single venture, M-Network. The company is planning to build its own optical network and, where possible, to acquire the existing infrastructure. According to M-Tel’s annual report for 2010, the number of the company’s costumers using mobile internet increased twofold to over 126,000 people, while the operator's subscribers increased in number by 200,000 up to 3.4 million people. Mobil-Tel’s pretax revenues for 2010 are 564.5 million euro (124.1 million euro after tax).

 

Several companies interested in local bourse privatisationTranslation powered by Google Translate en

Several companies have shown interest to take part in the privatisation of the local bourse, Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), BSE said in a statement on its website. BSE says it has held initial research among strategic investors that are leading bourse operators. The bourse has also had preliminary talks with several companies but refuses to name them yet. In December, Austrian daily WirtschaftsBlatt reported citing Wiener Boerse CEO Heinrich Schaller that the Wiener Boerse has not lost interest in BSE. In September, the shareholders of the BSE voted in favour of transferring control of the bourse to the state via a capital hike. Thus the state-owned stake was increased from 44% to 50% plus one share. The shareholders also voted to make the stock exchange a public company and to float its shares in order to make the bourse more attractive for strategic investors. The IPO prospectus was approved at the end of 2010. Earlier this week finance minister Simeon Dyankov said in an interview for Reuters that five companies are interested to take over the state stake in BSE and that the state plans to sell it by the end of this year or early next year.