Terrorist Politics Begins In Bulgaria?

Is there political unrest looming in already? Some people don’t like what’s happening and now seem to be using terror tactics to try and change things. Is this the start of things to come in Bulgaria with reforms on crime and corruption? On a previous post it wasn’t too sure whether Sertvo had gone, this now confirms that he has, Boyko the PM has accepted his resignation. Not unexpected I might add.

One of the best protected buildings in Sofia ? the offices of the State Agency for National Security received a bomb threat yesterday (Ed. 3rd August.) The threat was received just a day after the SANS?s director officially resigned his post. On Monday Bulgaria?s Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov accepted the resignation of Petko Sertov and announced the nomination of Tsvetlin Yovchev as the new head of the specialized agency.

Source: http://paper.standartnews.com
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Severe Storms In West Bulgaria

Hot and humid temperatures normally are ended with violent thunderstorms and a deluge of rain in Bulgaria. We have seen warning on television about this coming and as forecast the storms came with localised flooding reported in many areas. The East of Bulgaria escaped the worse although I got soaked on my cycle ride yesterday the morning!

There are thunderstorms raging in the Western part of the country, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology with the Bulgarian Academy of Science announced for FOCUS News Agency. There are still cumulonimbus clouds. The intensive rain in Western Bulgaria will continue throughout the whole day with separate breaks.

The temperature in Western Bulgaria will be around 10°C lower that yesterday and will vary between 23-27°C.

It will be sunny, without rain, in the Eastern part of the country. The temperatures will be high - of up to 35°C.

Source: www.focus-fen.net
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Major Earthquake In NE Bulgaria

A big earthquake rocked the whole of Bulgaria this morning. Some reports say this was a 5.1 on the Richter scale although this report says 4.7. In all instances there is some major damage made in many areas and after shocks no doubt will come about as the fault settles down again. Again, this was a big one luckily lots of earthquakes makes is safer than not getting any at all.

A 4,7 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale has been registered on the territory of Bulgaria at 10:49 am Wednesday.

The tremor's epicenter was at 41 kilometers South-East of the Romanian city Constata, and 15 km West of the town of Mangalia, again in Romania, at 30 kilometers deep in the ground.

The earthquake has been felt on the entire territory of Bulgaria - in the Black see cities of Burgas and Varna, in the bigger cities in Northern Bulgaria, Ruse and Pleven, and even in Western Bulgaria, where the capital Sofia is situated.

Source: www.novinite.com

Bulgarian Home Values Go Back To 2005 Prices - So What?

So my Bulgarian home is worth the same as it was when I first bought it in 2005. I don’t care how much my home is worth it is a home and that’s it. Whether its worth a few thousand pounds or 1 million is it still a place where I will live for the rest of my life. I didn't it as an investment and I no intention of selling for profit. That’s how most Bulgarians feel about their home, but that is changing. The value of the home is incidental here and only seen as a profiteering asset from western eyes. Pity the whole real estate industry is built on the assumption that property is bought for profit.

The number of real estate deals in Bulgaria has declined substantially in the first half of 2009 to the extent that the market is back to the 2005 before it experienced a steep growth.

The number of real estate purchases dropped by 42% for all of Bulgaria, and by 58% for the capital Sofia in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, according to data of the Raiffeisen Real Estate company.

The conclusions of the company are based on official data from the National Statistical Institute, and a survey of real estate firms and entrepreneurs.

The trends that started in the third quarter of 2008 have continued to deepen in the first half of 2009, according to Ani Angelova, Manager of Raiffeisen Real Estate, and CEO of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria, as quoted by BTA.

Most of the real estate buyers in Bulgaria are in a waiting position expecting a continuing decline of prices, and only the investors with a high-risk profile have remained active on the properties market.

According to Raiffeisen Real Estate, no large-scale property investment deals have taken place in Bulgaria since the beginning of 2009, except for the planned expansion of the large retail chain stores.

The time for selecting properties and negotiating deals has increased from an average of 20 days to an average of 60 days, and almost always involves achieving a substantial discount.

Source: www.novinite.com

Why Is Bulgaria Selling A Proifit Making Industry?

I’m not quite sure why this major cigarette industry is being sold. If it makes a profit and is a viable business why sell? I know tobacco is a sensitive subject and usually put on a political tight rope, but cigarettes are a major source of income to the government in tax. Surely they should nationalise the company, raise the duty on the products and that’s more money for the government and another deterrent to smokers with raised prices. That’s what most countries do, but hard on smokers I know.

Bulgaria hopes to carry out the delayed sale of its dominant cigarette maker, Bulgartabak Holding BTHG.BB, by the end of the year, the energy and economy minister Traicho Traikov said on Monday.

This will be the fourth attempt by the country to dispose of the former tobacco monopoly, whose key assets are the cigarette mills Sofia BT SOFBT.BB and Blagoevgrad BT BLABT.BB.

"The best moment for the sale of the company was irretrievably missed and at present the company is losing its market share," Traikov told reporters. "But we still can have a positive effect from the sale," he said.

Traikov said there was investor interest and that a deal could be sealed by the end of the year.

He said the holding could be sold at auction with open bidding, and bidders would have to agree to certain commitments, including certain levels of local tobacco purchases.

Previous attempts to sell the company had failed due to political wrangling and, some analysts said, because vested interests were benefiting from cigarette smuggling and lucrative state-financed contracts with Bulgartabak.

British American Tobacco (BATS.L) offered 200 million euros ($284.9 million) for the two mills in 2005, but the deal was blocked by the ethnic Turkish MRF party, a junior coalition partner in the former Socialist-led government, and BAT withdrew its proposal.

The sale was also politically sensitive because many of the Balkan country's ethnic Turks, who make up about 10 percent of the population of 7.6 million, were tobacco growers. Now many of them have found alternative jobs.

Industry insiders say the holding was not likely to attract higher bids than BAT's, as competition has eaten into Bulgartabak's share since 2007, when the country joined the European Union and its liberalised market.

Bulgaria, where half of the adult population smokes, has also committed to ban smoking in all public places, including bars and restaurants as from next year. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Ilieva, editing by Will Waterman) ($1=.7019 Euro)

Source: www.reuters.com
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