불가리아 주요 경제뉴스 (16 – 21 September 2011)

BULGARIAN ECONOMIC TOP NEWS DIGEST

WEEKLY REPORT (16 – 21 September 2011)

 

Sections/headline briefs:

 

 

MACROECONOMY:

IMF Forecasts 2.5% Economic Growth in Bulgaria

Foreign tourist number rises 8.7% y/y in summer 2011

Bulgaria climbs to 28th place in Fraser economic freedom ranking

 

 

INVESTMENTS:

Iran offers to build oil refinery near Varna - report

 

 

COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES:

 

CEZ will also leave Bulgaria

Aktor files cheapest bid to build 15-km Struma Motorway section

Bulgarian Telco Vivacom Says Wraps up Sale of Radio&TV Transmission Unit

Kozloduy N-plant posts January-July profit of 133 Mln BGN

Bulgaria Extends Again Deadline in Plovdiv Airport Concession Tender

BULGARIA : Swedish furniture giant Ikea lands in Bulgaria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Articles:

 

MACROECONOMY:

IMF Forecasts 2.5% Economic Growth in Bulgaria

Bulgaria's economy will improve by 2.5% in 2011 and by about 3% in the coming 2012, show the forecasts of the IMF. At the same time, Bulgaria's Ministry of Finance lowered their expectations for the growth of Bulgaria's economy to 3-4%. According to the IMF the world economy has entered "a new dangerous phase". The IMF decreased its forecasts for the economic growth in the Eurozone to 1.6% in 2011 and 1.1% in 2012. The economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe in 2011 will be 4.3%, the IMF forecasts. Outside the Eurozone, a lot of countries from CEE go through a big jump regarding economic growth after they had fallen into a recession. But the problems in the Eurozone may darken this respective, IMF predicts

 

 

Foreign tourist number rises 8.7% y/y in summer 2011

The number of the tourists, which visited the country this summer, has increased by 8.7% y/y, according to information of the national tourist chamber quoted by Money.bg. According to latest data of the statistical office, the foreign tourist number has increased by 5.8% y/y in Jan-Jul this year while in the period from May through July the growth has narrowed to 5.5% y/y, mainly due to deceleration to 2.6% y/y in July. In May, the economy ministry projected the summer tourist revenues from vacations on the Black Sea cost to increase by 10%, including 12% growth of revenues from foreign tourists and 5-6% from local tourist visits. 

Bulgaria climbs to 28th place in Fraser economic freedom ranking

Bulgaria climbed to 28th position (score 7.34, up from 7.31 last year) out of 141 countries in the economic freedom ranking of the Canadian Fraser Institute, from 34th place last year, according to the newly-issued Economic Freedom of the World report for 2011. The report uses data for 2009. The country improved in terms of access to sound money and regulation of credit labour and business. However, it did worse in size of government, legal structure and security of property rights, and freedom to trade internationally. The best performing country was Hong Kong with score of 9.01 out of 10, followed by Singapore (8.68) and New Zealand (8.20).

INVESTMENTS:

Iran offers to build oil refinery near Varna - report

Iran has offered to build a crude oil refinery near Bulgaria's city of Varna, on the Black Sea coast, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on September 20 2011. During a meeting between Iran's ambassador to Bulgaria, Gholamreza Bagheri Moghadam, and Varna's governor Dancho Simeonov, the diplomat said that his country was willing to build the refinery on its own, through a partnership or a contract. "We are ready to implement this project in a way that favours Bulgaria," the ambassador said. The ambassador said that Iran had significant experience in the oil processing industry. The country currently has 10 refineries and more facilities are in the pipeline. In addition, Iran ranks second in terms of crude oil reserves globally and is the second-biggest oil exporter among OPEC members, the ambassador said. In turn, Simeonov said he would notify the Government about his talks with Iran's delegation and the proposed refinery construction. Earlier on September 20, Simeonov and Vahid Jalalzadeh, governor of the West Azerbaijan Province in Iran, signed a memorandum of co-operation between the two regions. The Iranian province is keen to collaborate with Varna on transit, tourism, economy, exports of fruit juices and concentrates. The parties also discussed a potential launch of a bus service between Varna and West Azerbaijan's capital in the future.

 

COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES:

CEZ will also leave Bulgaria

Sofia. CEZ is planning to withdraw from the countries it has started business in during the past few years, including Bulgaria Czech PM Petr Necas, media reported. Necas criticized the company’s strategy from the past few years, focused on expansion of the company’s international operations. According to him CEZ should shift towards providing energy security in the Czech Republic, mainly by expanding its nuclear energy production. The intentions of the Czech company became clear one week after the German giant E.On also revealed plans to withdraw from Bulgaria. Duma daily wrote.

 

Aktor files cheapest bid to build 15-km Struma Motorway section

Greece’s Aktor has offered the lowest price of BGN 55.98mn (EUR 28.6mn), VAT excluded, in the tender for the construction of a 15-km section of Struma Motorway between the southwest towns of Sandanski and Kulata, the state road infrastructure agency said on its website. A total of 42 companies and consortia bought tender papers, fifteen of which placed bids. The project is financed by the EU cohesion fund under the country’s transport operational programme. The indicative value of the project was set at EUR 53mn. The total length of the Struma motorway, linking the capital Sofia with the Greek border in the southwest of the country, stands at about 156 kilometres, 133 kilometres of which remain to be built. 

Bulgarian Telco Vivacom Says Wraps up Sale of Radio&TV Transmission Unit

Bulgarian telco Vivacom said on Tuesday it has wrapped up the sale of National Unit Radio and TV Stations (NURTS). BTC, the dominant fixed-line operator in Bulgaria operating under the trade name of Vivacom, has finalised the sale of its 50% stake in NURTS to Bluesat Partners, it said in a statement with the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, where it is listed. Vivacom also said that through this deal it has transferred the development of Bulgaria's infrastructure for nationwide terrestrial analogue radio and TV broadcasting to NURTS Bulgaria, a joint venture between Cyprus-based Mancelord Limited, which bought 50% of NURTS last year for 57 million euro ($77.8 million), and Bluesat Partners. NURTS leases out transmitters to electronic media and wireless carriers in locations where they don't have the necessary infrastructure.

 

Kozloduy N-plant posts January-July profit of 133 Mln BGN

By comparison, the plant's profit was 87,402,000 leva in January-July 2010, and 57,726,000 leva in the year earlier period

The financial effect of the policy of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant for conclusion of transparent contracts for electricity sale is a profit of 133,387,000 leva in the first seven months of 2011, Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov said. By comparison, the plant's profit was 87,402,000 leva in January-July 2010, and 57,726,000 leva in the year earlier period. The plant's priority is to meet the requirements of the regulated market to cater for the consumers' needs. Answering a question about alternative natural gas links, Traikov said that the roadmap for the interconnectors with Greece envisages deliveries to start early in 2014 and to become regular in the summer of that year. Traikov added that the team working on the Bulgarian-Greek project wants natural gas delivery to start as early as 2013. Traikov said that according to schedule, the underwater crossing of the Danube for the gas interconnector with Romania must be completed by the end of 2012. The realistic date for design and construction of the gas interconnector with Serbia is mid-2013. Traikov said the government is working on a project for a gas interconnector with Turkey. Agreement has been reached with Turkey's national gas operator and joint working groups will elaborate the technical, economic and commercial aspects of the project.

 

Bulgaria Extends Again Deadline in Plovdiv Airport Concession Tender Bulgaria is extending again the deadline in a tender for a 35-year concession of the Plovdiv airport's cargo terminal, a notice in the country's State Gazette indicated. In March, the government launched concession tenders for the airports in Gorna Oryahovitsa, in the central part of the country, and Plovdiv, in southern Bulgaria. In June the deadline for both tenders was extended to September 15. The offers for the Plovdiv Airport cargo terminal concession are now to be opened on December 12, according to an announcement published in the State Gazette on Monday. Earlier this month Transport Minister Ivailo Moskovski told reporters that so far, no investors have shown interest in the tender for the Plovidv airport's cargo terminal and that the ministry was considering expanding the tender and calling bids for the whole airport. According to the State Gazette announcement, however, candidates are invited to bid only for the cargo terminal concession.

 

 

BULGARIA : Swedish furniture giant Ikea lands in Bulgaria

Ikea, the world's biggest home-furnishing retailer, opened its first store in Bulgaria's capital Sofia on Tuesday, eyeing a 10 per cent market share in its first year of operation, officials said. The Swedish giant entered Bulgaria via its Greek franchiser, Fourlis Holdings, which plans to open in the coming years a second store in the Black Sea city of Varna. The Sofia store spanned 25,000 sq m and offered 7,500 products. It will aim to get a 10 per cent share in Bulgaria's furniture market of about 500 million leva (S$441.5 million) at the end of its first year in operation, store manager Teo Mouratidis said in a recent interview.

 

 

 

Reported by:

Georgi Iliev

KOTRA Sofia

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency

Commercial Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea