불가리아 주요 경제뉴스 (27 April – 4 May 2012)

BULGARIAN ECONOMIC TOP NEWS DIGEST

WEEKLY REPORT (27 April – 4 May 2012)

 

Sections/headline briefs:

 

MACROECONOMY:

       Business sentiment in Bulgaria continues improving in April 2012

       Bulgaria’s industrial PPI inflation slows to 4.5% y/y in March 2012

       Bulgaria's unemployment rate rises to 12.6% in March, above EU level

 

INVESTMENTS:

       China to Invest USD 1.5 B in Bulgaria, Chamber Chief Says

 

COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES:

       Bulgaria's telecom operator BTC remains in hands of creditors - report

       Bulgarias Sopharma Non-cons Net Profit Falls 19%

       US-based Ingram Micro opens office in Bulgaria - report

       Norways REC Signs Multiple Deals To Supply 20 MW of Solar Modules in Bulgaria

       Sofia Gets 11 Bids in Tender for Waste Recycling Plant Design, Construction

       Canadian Solar Supplies 3.3 MW of Solar Modules for PV Project in Bulgaria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Articles:

 

MACROECONOMY:

Business sentiment in Bulgaria continues improving in April 2012

The composite business sentiment indicator increased by 3.2pps in monthly terms to 18.53 in April, recovering to its levels from August and September 2011, the monthly survey of the national statistics institute shows. The improvement is recorded for a second consecutive month after the 2.3pps up-movements in March. In annual terms, the business climate also posted growth of 1pps after rising by 0.2pps in the previous month. In April, the sentiments in all sectors were more optimistic. The sentiments in the manufacturing sector improved by 1.8pps on the month. The construction sector sentiment was more optimistic by 8.7pps m/m due to more positive expectations regarding business activity in the mid-term. Sentiments in the retail and services sector improved by 2.3pps m/m and 1.5m/m in March, respectively. IntelliNews Comment: In March, the business sentiments indicator exceeded its 12-month average for the first time since October 2011. It is however still below its long-term average, indicating that economic growth will slow down in 2012, which is expected by the government and the international institutions as seen in the downgrade of their projections for this year. 

 

Bulgaria’s industrial PPI inflation slows to 4.5% y/y in March 2012

The industrial producer price index (PPI) increased by 4.5% y/y in March, decelerating further from 4.6% y/y posted in Feb and 5.3% y/y - in January and thus returning to the downward trend that prevailed in H2 2011, statistics office data shows. In monthly terms, producer prices inched up by 0.9% in March, after rising by 0.4% m/m in Feb and 1.7% m/m in Jan. The lower inflationary pressure in March was due to deceleration of the price increase in the manufacturing industry (up by 4.5% y/y in Mar as compared to 5% y/y in Feb).  Following upward corrections of natural gas prices as of Jan 1, the utilities sector continued to exert inflationary pressure although the price increase remained flat on the month. Prices in the mining industry returned to growth (o.7% y/y in march) after falling by 3.5% y/y and 3.4% y/y in Feb and Jan, respectively.  The broader index including export sales also slowed down to 3.4% y/y in March as compared to 3.6% y/y in the previous month. 

 

Bulgaria's unemployment rate rises to 12.6% in March, above EU level

The rate of unemployment rose by 0.2pps to a period average of 12.6% in March 2012, Eurostat data showed. This is considerably above the unemployment rate in the EU27 - 10.2%. The unemployment rate followed a stable upward trend in H2 2011 and is above the rate, measured in terms of registrations with the Bulgaria's labour agency. The latter was 11.5% at the end of March, unchanged from the previous month. In March, the number of the unemployed in the state labour agency rose by 0.2% m/m and by 6.4% in annual terms, reaching 376,577 registered jobless. The newly-registered unemployed during the month were 10% of the total. The trade sector accounted for the largest share of the new registrations (14.3% of the total), followed by the manufacturing (14.1%), and the state administration (12.1%). 

 

 

INVESTMENTS:

 

China to Invest USD 1.5 B in Bulgaria, Chamber Chief Says

China is going to invest some USD 1.5 B in the Bulgarian economy in the upcoming years, according to Viktor Azmanov, chair of the Bulgarian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Azmanov said the governments of Bulgaria and China have already signed an economic cooperation memorandum that will enable the opening of several factories in Bulgaria with Chinese investments, creating up to 500 jobs. "Chinese companies are interested in investing in energy, infrastructure, and agriculture," the head of the Bulgarian-Chinese Chamber stated, as quoted by Mediapool. He noted that one of the major joint projects provides for the creation of theBozhurishte Industrial Zone near Sofia, which has been in the making ever since the the government of center-right party GERB took over in Bulgaria in 2009-2010. According to Azmanov, the Bozhurishte Industrial Zone is to feature an industrial and logistics park, with Port Varna on the Black Sea being another option for the construction of a similar facility in Bulgaria with Chinese funding. Azmanov's announcement comes after last week Bulgaria skipped a major international economic forum in Poland's capital Warsaw, where Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao declared that his country plans to invested USD 10 B in Central and Eastern Europe. The head of the Bulgarian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry has pointed out that China aims at boosting the EU-China trade to reach USD 100 B, from USD 52.9 B at present, and that it is setting up an Investment Encouragement Agency at the Chinese Ministry of Trade. He also noted that Eastern European countries are eligible to seek Chinese funding through the Chinese Development Bank together with countries from Africa and Latin America. Azmanov revealed that a large-scale economic forum with Chinese investors is planned to take place in Bulgaria in November 2012.

 

COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES:

 

Bulgaria's telecom operator BTC remains in hands of creditors - report

Creditors of Bulgaria's telecom operator BTC have turned down the offers for the purchase of the company, Capital daily reported, citing unnamed sources. Turkey's cell-phone operator Turkcell, was considered to be the likely winner in the competition for the sale of 94% of the telecom. Turkcell has also reportedly made the best price offer but the its requirements for blocking a large portion of the sum until state's claims against the former owner are fully clarified, broke the deal. A new attempt to sell BTC could be undertaken in one or two years at the earliest, the daily informs. Last year, the creditors of BTC asked Morgan Stanley to raise bids for BTC by end of March 2012. BTC is owned by Cayman Island-based Bridge Partners after the company's previous owner, insurer AIG, agreed to sell parts of its asset management and investment advisory business to Bridge Partners in December 2009. 

 

Bulgarias Sopharma Non-cons Net Profit Falls 19%

Bulgarian drug maker Sopharma said on Wednesday its non-consolidated net profit fell by an annual 19.5% to 8.44 million levs ($5.68 million/4.31 million euro) in the first quarter of 2012. The companys non-consolidated sales revenue fell to 50.5 million levs in the first quarter of 2012 from 52.3 million levs in the first three months of last year, Sopharma said in a statement filed with the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Sopharma (www.sopharma.bg) exports its output to 28 countries. It employed a total of 1,849 people at the end of March.

 

US-based Ingram Micro opens office in Bulgaria - report

US-based Ingram Micro Inc. will launch an office in Bulgaria and open over 200 new jobs in the country, Standart News reported. The new location is linked to closing of offices in France and Belgium, which is the reason why the information has not been released officially yet, the daily informs. Ingram Micro Inc., a Fortune 100 company, is a technology distributor and sales, marketing and logistics company for the IT industry worldwide. It currently has sales offices in 26 countries and 105 distribution centres worldwide. 

 

 

 

Norways REC Signs Multiple Deals To Supply 20 MW of Solar Modules in Bulgaria

Norwegian PV modules manufacturer Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) said on Thursday it has signed multiple agreements to supply 20 megawatts (MW) of modules for solar power plant installations in Bulgaria. REC signed a deal with Bulgarias ALMA-D Ltd for the supply of 10 MW of modules, which will be used for the construction of a 6.0 MW plant in Kamenar and a separate 4.0 MW plant in Kameno both located near the Black Sea coast, the company said in a statement. The Norwegian company also signed three separate contracts with local Bulgarian partner Elektro-Solar Systems Ltd. for 2.0 MW, 3.0 MW and 5.0 MW, respectively. All three projects will be built in the second quarter of 2012, when they secure the necessary feed-in tariff incentives from the Bulgarian State Energy and Water Regulation Commission. Together with Elektro-Solar Systems Ltd., REC has won several projects in Bulgaria. These latest contracts bring the total amount of REC modules installed in Bulgaria to 50 MW - increasing REC's share in Bulgaria's solar energy market to 15%, the statement said. REC produces polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules for the solar industry, and silicon materials for the electronic industry. The company also engages in project development in selected PV segments. Founded in Norway in 1996, REC employs around 3,500 people globally with revenues of more than 1.7 billion euro ($2.23 billion) in 2011.

 

Sofia Gets 11 Bids in Tender for Waste Recycling Plant Design, Construction

The Bulgarian capital's local government said a total of 11 companies and consortia filed bids in a tender for the design and construction of a municipal waste recycling plant. The winner will be named in October, as the project is due to be completed in 21 months, the municipality said in a statement on its website. The estimated value of the contract is 208.3 million levs ($141.4 million/106.5 million euro), inclusive of Value Added Tax. Back in 2010 Sofia picked German-Bulgarian tie-in HUT-Stanilov to build the plant. However, the procedure was cancelled due to changes in the project's technical specifications requested by the European Commission. The eligibility requirements in the current procedure include a combined turnover of at least 250 million levs for 2008, 2009 and 2010 and prior expertise in the construction and commissioning of at least one mechanical-biological treatment system with a capacity of over 200,000 tonnes per year. Sofia's 2.0 million residents produce some 390,000 tonnes of waste annually.

 

Canadian Solar Supplies 3.3 MW of Solar Modules for PV Project in Bulgaria

Canadian Solar Inc. said on Thursday it has supplied 3.3 megawatts of solar modules for a photovoltaic project in Bulgaria. The solar power plant was built in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city, on the grounds of the leading Bulgarian food and beverage company Philicon 97 SA and was connected to the grid in February, Canadian Solar said in a press release. "The project in Plovdiv is an important milestone for our growth strategy in Southeast Europe. Our leading position in the market and our high quality and cost advantages allow us to cooperate with the best partners in the respective target market and to offer them tailor-made solutions for their region," chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar Shawn Qu said in the statement. "Southeast Europe and in particular Bulgaria offer great potential for development, as high radiation levels and the feed-in tariff that are guaranteed for a period of 20 years offer attractive returns for investors," he added. Canadian Solar Inc. (www.canadiansolar.com) is a vertically integrated provider of ingot, wafer, solar cell, solar module and other solar applications. The company designs, manufactures and delivers solar products and solar system solutions for on-grid and off-grid use to customers worldwide.

 

 

 

Reported by:

Georgi Iliev

KOTRA Sofia

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency

Commercial Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea