On Tuesday the government is expected to approve the document, which summarises the Balkan nation’s key fiscal targets for 2011-2013 on which next year’s budget will be based.

The centre-right government plans to cut the fiscal shortfall — a key task for the European Union member — to 1.5 percent of GDP in 2012 and to 1.0 percent of GDP in 2013, the document showed.

“In order to comply with the European Union’s budget deficit ceiling, Bulgaria will target a deficit not higher than 2.5 percent in 2011,” the document said.

A prolonged recession, coupled with the uncovering of hidden deficits piled up by the previous administration, bloated the 2010 fiscal shortfall of the Balkan country to 4.8 percent of GDP.

The huge fiscal deficits could put pressure on the emerging economy’s currency peg to the euro. Bulgaria’s peg in effect leaves fiscal policy as its key tool for influencing the economy.

To achieve its fiscal goals, the government plans to keep spending at 40 percent of GDP and freeze public salaries and pensions in the next two years. It aims to keep taxes unchanged.

Earlier this year, Sofia froze public pay and pensions as part of its austerity measures to trim a widening shortfall.

The government sees the economy accelerating by 3 percent next year, after crawling out of recession by the end of 2010, mainly due to a rise in exports to the recovering EU.

The Bulgarian economy contracted 5 percent in 2009 as a real estate and construction boom turned to bust while foreign investors fled the country and domestic demand slumped. It shrank 3.6 percent in the first quarter.

The International Monetary Fund and many economic analysts expect Bulgaria to return to growth next year but say its recovery lags behind that of its east European peers and forecast growth of around 2.0 percent.

In April, Bulgaria had to abandon plans to join the euro zone quickly after it revealed dozens of unaccounted for procurement deals signed by the previous Socialist-led government that ballooned its 2009 deficit to 3.9 percent of GDP.

Brussels has expressed concerns about the quality of Bulgarian statistics following the revisions and plan to send a a mission from Eurostat, EU’s statistical office, to Bulgaria this autumn.

Story from Balkans.com

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• austerity measures, budget deficit, bulgarian economy, european union, fiscal policy, fiscal targets, forecast growth, foreign investors, gross domestic product, international monetary fund

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He highlighted that the confirmation comes after five consecutive downgrades for other European countries.

According to the report, “the ratings on the Republic of Bulgaria reflect Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ view of the government’s strong track record of appropriate fiscal policy and low gross debt, despite the severe recession; the country’s solid growth prospects in the medium term; and its EU membership”.

Offsetting these strengths somewhat are large external imbalances and related risks, given the adverse economic backdrop. We think these are bound to continue in 2010 and 2011, the report added.

S&P was also downbeat about Bulgaria’s economic growth prospects, expecting GDP to shrink by one per cent in 2010. The World Bank has projected 0.2 per cent expansion, while the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance (MoF) pegs the expected increase at one per cent.

“With exports seen at 53 per cent of GDP for the year, Bulgaria clearly has the capacity to reorient and react to external conditions unlike with other countries in the region such as Romania, where exports account for 22 per cent of GDP, and Greece with a share of exports in GDP of some 20 per cent,” Dyankov said. “The thesis is reinforced that the way out of the crisis is reorientation of exports,” he added.

On the negative side, S&P criticises the Bulgarian Government for the slow pace of reforms in health care and education, the Ministry of Finance said, pledging to publish the report on its website.

S&P expects Bulgaria’s government debt will climb by 3.7 percentage points in 2010 from 14.8 per cent at the end of 2009, which means more than 2.2 billion leva in real terms. This estimate matches plans by the government to attract foreign debt of up to 1.94 billion leva in order to plug this year’s deficit, a move approved in early July as part of the 2010 Budget Update.

Story from The Sofia Echo

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• bbb, bulgaria, bulgarian economy, bulgarian government, credit rating, downgrades, foreign debt, GDP, leva, Ratings agency

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The European banking system stress tests were organized according to a decision of ECOFIN and were coordinated by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) in cooperation with the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the consolidating national supervisors.

The BNB points out that the purpose of the tests was to evaluate the capacity of the European banking system to meet hypothetical future unfavorable developments in terms of credit, market, and sovereign risks, to refute any suspicions of weaknesses in the sector, and to restore lending in the interbank market.

A total of 91 banks from 20 EU member states participated in the tests – 26 large pan-European banking institutions, and 65 banks of key importance for their national banking systems; seven of the banks failed the stress tests. These banks comprise over 65% of the consolidated assets of the EU banking system. The stress tests were conducted on the highest consolidated group level by the banks themselves in close cooperation with the consolidating national supervisors.

The bank groups participating in the European survey are represented in Bulgaria by fifteen credit institutions. Out of them 4 are from Greece, 3 from France, 1 from each Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Slovenia, Hungary and the Netherlands. These institutions’ market share approximates 76% of the overall Bulgarian banking system.

This list includes Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria (a subsidiary of the Austrian Reiffeisenbank); CIBank (owned by the Belgian KBC Group); BNP Paribas, Sofia Branch; Emporiki Bank Bulgaria (owned by the French Credit Agricole); Societe Generale Expressbank (owned by the French Societe Generale; MKB UnionBank (owned by the German Bayerische Landesbank); United Bulgarian Bank (owned by the National Bank of Greece); Alpha Bank, Bulgarian branch (owned by the Greek Alpha Bank); Piraeus Bank (Greece); DSK Bank (owned by the Hungarian OTP Bank); the Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (in which the Allied Irish Bank is the major shareholder); Unicredit Bulbank (a subsidiary of the Italian Unicredit); ING Bank, Sofia branch (owned by the Dutch ING bank); NLB Banka Sofia (owned by the Slovenian New Ljubljana Bank), and Postbank (owned by the Greece EFG Eurobank).

Story from Novinite

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It has been announced at a news conference in the Golden Sands resorts that Hilton Worldwide has signed a franchise agreement with Helios Hotels EAD, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tetrareal AD, for a new Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Varna, Bulgaria.

It is the first Doubletree hotel in Bulgaria and the first Hilton-brand property in the country outside of the capital Sofia. The famous Doubletree chocolate chip cookie, an icon of the hospitality of the brand, has been introduced for the first time in Bulgaria during a special ceremony.

“The new Doubletree by Hilton, Varna is the fully refurbished luxury part of the former Helios Spa & Resort. We have undergone an extensive property improvement for the rebranding, by investing, among other features, in guest safety and sprinkler systems, top of the range entertainment technology and the Suite Dreams proprietary Doubletree mattresses, which are unique for Bulgaria in our property – a significant investment in an operating luxury hotel, which had already had a 5-star category, to achieve a product that is second to none in Golden Sands and on the Bulgarian seaside. We are very excited to pioneer yet again a world-class brand and service in Golden Sands. Hilton is consistently voted the strongest hotel brand by awareness in Europe and worldwide, and I am convinced that, with Bulgaria continuing to offer the best value for money in the European holiday destinations, this will be an instant success,” commented Dr. George Veltchev, chairman of the board of Tetrareal AD.

While bound by the Hilton franchising contract not to disclose the exact amount of the investment in the new Doubletree hotel, Veltchev told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) that the money invested to re-brand the hotel was about 35% of the original construction investment.

The converted Doubletree by Hilton Varna is located in the Golden Sands near Bulgaria’s major Black Sea city of Varna. It overlooks the greenery of the Golden Sands nature park and the Black Sea.

Doubletree by Hilton Varna offers 196 guest rooms, family rooms and suites, two restaurants, and three bars. The hotel will also have a fitness centre by Precor, sauna and steam bath, a direct access to the award-winning Aphrodite Beauty Spa & Health Clinic with its variety of beauty and health treatments, a unique facility for the Bulgarian Black Sea coast which is combination of a spa and medical center located on an area of 2 300 square meters.

“The 2010 opening of Doubletree by Hilton Varna reaffirms the stable development of the Doubletree brand in Europe. The European presence of the world hotel brand Doubletree by Hilton has seen considerable growth in the last few years,” said Claudio Sturm, the General Manager of the new Doubletree by Hilton Varna hotel in the Golden Sands resorts.

In his words, the first Bulgarian Doubletree hotel hopes to benefit from the loyalty of Hilton clients, as well as from the upcoming opening of a number of new Doubletree hotels around Europe – 4 in Russia, 3 in Turkey, and one in each Greece, Romania, and Norway.

Sturm has prior experience at senior management positions in leading hotel chains in Germany and Austria, and has also served as the Sales and Marketing Director of the Hilton Sofia.

Doubletree is one of Hilton Worldwide’s ten market-leading brands. With a growing collection of accommodations in more than 230 gateway cities, metropolitan areas and vacation destinations worldwide, Doubletree by Hilton hotels and resorts are designed to cater for business and leisure travelers.

Veltchev told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) he expected that the opening of the Doubletree by Hotel Varna will break the trend of relying on tour operators to find customers which is currently prevalent among the Bulgarian Black Sea hotels and resorts.

In his words, over 90% of the foreign tourists using Bulgarian Black Sea hotels are recruited through tour operators. In contrast, he expects that the specific features of the Doubletree brand will allow the new hotel to bring this number down to 20%-30%.

Veltchev further announced his company plans to open another Hilton brand facility – the Hilton Varna.

Story from Novinite

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“A joint meeting of the governments of Bulgaria and Greece will be held on July 27 and presided by the prime ministers of the two countries Boyko Borisov and George Papandreou,” the ministry spokesperson Vessela Cherneva said on Wednesday.

She pointed out that agreements in the fields of defense, economy, energy and sports are expected to be signed in the framework of the visit.

According to media reports Greece’s prime minister is planning a diplomatic initiative in order to “revive” the stalled Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project in which his country is a partner together with Bulgaria and Russia. He is likely to ask his Bulgarian counterpart to unfreeze the project, unofficial information says.

Greece, which the European Union is saving from defaulting on its foreign debt, has repeatedly called for the plan to move ahead as soon as possible in anticipation of investment and future transit fees.

The Greek government even plans to adopt a law, which will ease the implementation of the project by simplifying all technical procedures.

The Greek initiative comes a month after Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov unexpectedly said that his country was “giving up” on Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project decision, and that construction on the planned Belene nuclear power plant had been suspended.

In a dramatic twist that left all of Europe confused, Borisov retracted his statements shortly afterwards, saying that the Bulgarian government hasn’t made a final decision regarding the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and Belene nuclear power plant.

After it took office in July 2009, Bulgaria’s new center-right government of the GERB party made it clear it was going to reconsider the country’s participation in the three large-scale energy projects – South Stream gas pipeline, Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, and Belene Nuclear Power Plant.

Construction of the line has been on ice even since after Bulgaria’s government balked at the potential environmental damage that the pipeline could inflict on its resort-dotted coastline.

Three Bulgarian Black Sea municipalities – Burgas, Pomorie, and Sozopol – have voted against the pipe in local referendums over environmental concerns.

Municipalities neighboring Pomorie and nearby Burgas are also harboring fears that the pipeline could damage their lucrative tourism business, while environmental NGOs have branded the existing plans to build an oil terminal out at sea a disaster waiting to happen.

Bulgaria, Greece and Russia agreed to build the pipeline between Burgas and Alexandroupolis, taking Caspian oil to the Mediterranean skirting the congested Bosphorus, in 2007 after more than a decade of intermittent talks.

The agreement for the company which will construct the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil transit pipeline was signed by Bulgaria during Russian President Putin’s visit to Bulgaria in 2008.

The 280-kilometer pipeline, with 166 kilometers passing through Bulgaria, would have an initial annual capacity of 35 million tonnes, which could be later expanded to 50 million tonnes. Its costs are estimated at up to USD 900 M.

Story from Novinite

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• borisov, bulgarian capital, bulgarian government, foreign debt, george papandreou, greek government, greek prime minister, nuclear power plant

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Gray spoke in an interview for radio Deutsche Welle Wednesday, just one day after the EC published its annual report on Bulgaria’s and Romania’s progress in justice and home affairs.

“Is is interesting the population, the citizens of both countries want to see effort and reforms, and until this becomes a reality, the monitoring mechanism will be in place. There is no deadline, we are not getting ready to halt it until the two countries accomplish what they promised to do,” Gray is quoted saying.

According to the EC spokesperson, the reports on Bulgaria and Romania are very different because in Bulgaria the EU noticed strong political will for progress in the last year, incomparable to anything before, which must be applauded. Gray gives as example the criminal charges and some guilty verdicts in particular cases, however, he points out the verdicts are “maybe not enough, but an important step in the right direction.”

The spokesperson further noted Bulgaria’s clear strategy regarding the judicial system reform, another first, even though not “yet perfect.”

“There are many things to be done. We extended numerous recommendations, but as far as Bulgaria is concerned, we have the impression the chosen direction is the right one. In 2008 the report on Bulgaria was very harsh; EU funds were frozen. Now the country is on the right track,” Gray said.

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The Bulgaria property market has been struggling since foreign buyers stopped purchasing homes in Bulgaria at the time of the credit crisis. Residential prices across the country have plummeted, making them even more affordable.

Following a slump in residential demand, many mortgage lenders withdrew home loan offers specifically aimed at overseas nationals buying property in Bulgaria. But with consumer confidence starting to improve, mortgage lenders are keen to start lending again, according to Tihomir Toshev, executive director of credit consultant Credit Center.

UniCredit Bulbank has just launched a new mortgage product aimed at foreigners and Bulgarians working overseas.

Russians are generally the most active overseas buyers in Bulgaria. They typically buy property along the Black Sea Coast. The Russian embassy in Bulgaria estimates that around 100,000 Russians have now purchased property along the Bulgarian coast.

However, overseas demand for property in Bulgaria initially came from the British and Irish homebuyers, many of who may be tempted by more competitive Bulgaria property mortgages.

Story from A Place in the Sun

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It said that in the first quarter of 2010, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia posted an average growth of 0.8 percent, up from a 2.1 percent slump in the last quarter of 2009.

“Nevertheless, the recovery is weak,” the World Bank said in a summary of a report to be published next week.

“It will take until next year before real output in the 10-nation region regains its pre-crisis level, and for a few it is likely to take slightly longer.”

The World Bank publishes a report on the EU’s 10 newest members three times a year, monitoring economic developments and analyzing key policy issues.

The full July report will be available on the bank’s web site next week.

In the summary, the World Bank said growth is returning more slowly to western EU nations. Output there rose by only 0.6 percent on average in the first quarter of 2010.

Growth in eastern EU countries will likely accelerate to 1.7 percent in 2010 and 3.6 percent in 2011 — more than double the forecast for western EU members.

However, the upswing in Eastern Europe is uneven, the World Bank cautioned. In the first quarter, it was strongest in the Slovak Republic and Poland, less so in Hungary and the Czech Republic. Economies contracted in Latvia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, and Estonia.

“What remains essential for the region’s recovery is to safeguard financial market stability, and increase fiscal efficiency,” said the World Bank.

Story from The Associated Press

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Kostov spoke in an interview for the largest Bulgarian private TV channel – bTV, explaining the Bulgarian EU Commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva, who is known as a top World Bank expert, had also been present at the meeting and all 3 agreed Bulgaria should apply for a loan from the International Monetary Fund, but not until 2011.

“We must keep the fiscal reserve. If it falls under a certain level, we will then have to take loans, but this will be a bad time – if they see you are weak, they want more. One needs to apply for a loan at the time when one is strong. If we do it now – we will have a 6% interest rate. Next year – the rate will be 12%,” Kostov said.

The right-wing leader praised Borisov for reacting timely and correctly to the aggressiveness of the Members of the Parliament from the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, pointing as example the PM’s surprise visit to the Parliament on Thursday, but adding that the head of the government must deal with other things and not just waste energy on his MPs.

Kostov reminded the right-wing still demands the resignation of the Chair of the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee, Desislava Taneva, over her numerous attempts to pass lobbyist texts that protect the interests of big land owners.

Story from Novinite

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• agriculture committee, finance minister, imf, imf loan, international monetary fund, ivan kostov, world bank expert

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The move would have to be a compromise between governments and the European Parliament, which wants to give the new agencies more power to overrule national supervisors. The Parliament has delayed a key vote on the new oversight structure until the fall.

Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders — whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency — said he aimed to strike an agreement with the assembly this month, which could allow a parliament vote in September.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he was confident that “even if we don’t reach a deal with the parliament today, then in the summer so that we have financial oversight on Jan. 1, which is the goal.”

Finance ministers are also discussing details of banking stress tests due to be published on July 23 that they hope will assure markets that the region can cope with more shocks to the economy.

EU Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn called on governments to ready financial help for any banks if the simulations show that they would run into trouble if economic growth drops, financial conditions tighten and borrowing costs soar.

Governments were more upbeat. Austria’s Proell said he thought the tests “will show that the European banking industry is robust and can withstand future crises.”

It is unclear how much detail banking supervisors will make public on the 91 banks they are testing. They have never published the results of individual banks in earlier tests, giving only a general thumbs up for the entire banking sector.

EU finance ministers also formally criticized Bulgaria, Denmark, Cyprus and Finland for running deficits above the bloc’s 3 percent deficit limit and told Bulgaria and Finland to reduce the budget gap by 2011. Cyprus has a 2012 deadline and Denmark has until 2013.

Story from The Associated Press

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Tihomir Toshev, executive director of credit consultant Credit Center, said interest in this type of loans was zero at the time when the crisis was at its worst, forcing lenders to withdraw such offers.

Other consultants say that banks are imposing new requirements, such as targeting borrowers from specific nationalities and financing the purchases of a property whose construction the lender has backed.

UniCredit Bulbank said on July 13 2010 that it had launched mortgages for foreigners and Bulgarians working abroad, who could choose from among a list of 22 projects financed by the bank.

Story from The Sofia Echo

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The annual inflation eased slightly to 1.4% in June from 1.9% in May, the National Statistical Institute said. However, the latest increase was the seventh in a row. Year-to-date, prices increased 1.5%.

On an annual basis, prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages dropped 2.8%. Meanwhile, alcoholic beverages and tobacco recorded a 26.9% increase in prices. Clothing and footwear prices was down 2.4% and prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels declined 1%. Transport costs recorded a notable increase of 7.4% annually.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices declined 0.9%. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages recorded a 2.7% decrease on a monthly basis. Prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco as well as transport recorded an increase, while clothing and footwear prices fell. Prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels remained unchanged from previous month.

The harmonized index of consumer prices, calculated according to EU methodology, rose 2.5% year-on-year and on a monthly basis, HICP dropped 0.4%. Year-to-date, HICP increased 2%.

Official data suggests that the Bulgarian economy had shrunk 3.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, slower than 5.9% contraction in the final quarter of 2009.

Story from RTT News

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The report refers to prices according to offer, not according to actual transactions.

For the first half of 2010 prices in Veliko Tarnovo have dropped with 10.84%, and those in Sofia – with 7.55% of prices for the second half ot 2009.

Some regions have nevertheless retained a marginal increase of prices, like southern cities of Stara Zagora (up by 1%) and Burgas (up by 0.58%), according to the report.

Last week a conflicting report was issued by real estate agency Address, quoting a 1.46% increase of prices in Sofia.

Foros reports a medium profit rate for real estate transactions of 5.9% for the overall country, with 9.03% for Tarnovo, 6.06% for Stara Zagora, 5.7% for Varna and 5.45% for Sofia.

According to Foros, the secondary market consists mostly of real estate purchased for investment purposes 2007-2008. The analysis notes a considerable drop of demand and a rise in the number of offers, due to the economic crisis.

The report mentions that the most sought-after properties are two- and three-room residential apartments, at prices EUR 44-45,000 and up to EUR 85,000 respectively for the two categories.

Story from Novinite

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• economic crisis, real estate agency, real estate prices, real estate transactions, residential apartments

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Borisov participated in a summit in Dubrovnik, during which the EU and the Balkan leaders have discussed EU integration and the challenges facing the EU in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.

According to the Bulgarian PM, the joining of all Balkan countries to the EU will guarantee prosperity and stability in the region.

“Southeastern Europe can offer market, workforce, and a lot more color to the European Union,” Borisov claimed.

However, he said that this goal requires a lot of hard work and self-criticism by all the Balkan countries and added that they should stop demanding money from the EU.

“As soon as we, within our own countries, manage to reach the necessary effect and reforms, then Europe would want to help us,” Borisov said.

He added that most of the countries in the region can learn a lot from the advanced democracies.

“Some of the Balkan countries have a long way to go with respect to their judicial systems, combating organized crime and corruption, smuggling and international relations,” Borisov said.

According to him, the destiny of the Balkan countries is in the hands of the Balkan political leaders.

“As long as we keep competing who is greater, bigger, or stronger, we have no chance as united Balkans,” Borisov said.

Story from Novinite

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• balkan countries, balkan leaders, balkans, crime and corruption, democracies, european union, global economic crisis, judicial systems, novinite, political leaders, southeastern europe

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In news that may interest individuals looking to rent out real estate to travellers, the Bulgarian Embassy has encouraged tourists to experience the European destination.

Desislava Naydenova, from Press and Cultural Affairs at the embassy, said that the country offered visitors a diverse mix of culture, while also being one of the best value-for-money places to visit.

Ms Naydenova was speaking in response to recent research from Tesco Travel Money, which highlighted the eastern European destination as a bargain spot for potential holidaymakers.

“The results of the research highlight one of the main advantages of Bulgaria as an attractive tourist destination, namely – the combination between high quality and wide variety for tourism on one side, and reasonable prices on the other,” she said.

The news may lead to an increase in the number of investors looking for homes for sale in Silistra, with the region boasting some interesting historic landmarks.

Story from Property Showrooms

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• bargain, bulgaria, bulgarian embassy, cultural affairs, european destination, homes for sale, investors, real estate, showrooms, tesco, tourism, tourists

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