Expats

Bulgaria EconMin to Give Heed to German Stance on ACTA [Feb 02, 2012] Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov will get acquainted with Germany's stance on the controversial ACTA trade agreement during the Bulgarian-German Cooperation Council in Germany. Last week, Bulgaria became one of the 21 EU member states to sign ACTA, while Germany is among the five bloc members that have not inked it. Upon asked whether Bulgaria will take into consideration Germany's ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Thinks Failed Oil Pipeline Won't Hurt Gas Talks with Russia [Dec 25, 2011] Bulgaria's "killing" of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, a joint project with Russia and Greece, will not affect the current Bulgarian-Russian natural gas supplies talks, according to Economy Minister Traicho Traikov. Traikov commented on the Bulgarian-Russian negotiations for new gas supply contracts as of 2012 between Bulgargaz and Gazprom on Sunday, a couple of weeks after the ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Calls Upon EU to Set Up 'Energy Schengen Agreement' [Oct 24, 2011] Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov has made a call for the forming of an "Energy Schengen Area", i.e. a set of rules for access to the energy market of the European Union by third nations. ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Begs Russia for New Nuclear Project Delay [Sep 27, 2011] Bulgaria has approached Russia with a request to extend the negotiations over Belene nuclear project by another four months as of October, the economy minister has said. At the beginning of July Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK and Russia's Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Rosatom, signed an annex extending by three months their contract for the construction of two 1,000 megawatt nuclear ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Confirms: New Owner to Resell Bulgarbatac [Sep 27, 2011] Russia's second-biggest bank VTB, which recently acquired a majority stake in Bulgaria's cigarette maker Bulgartabac, is highly likely to resell the holding's assets, the economy minister has said, confirming earlier media reports. "This may happen any minute as the contract bans the resale of the holding in the next ten years, but does not ban a change in the ownership of the new owner BT ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Govt Steers Clear of Russia's Lawsuit over Belene [Jul 26, 2011] Bulgaria's government will not meddle with attempts to settle the troubled ties between the state utility NEK and Russia's state nuclear company, the economy minister has said. "The National Electricity Transmission Company (NEK) will respond to the claim by Atomstroyexport to the best of its interests," Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov told reporters on Tuesday. Minister Traikov ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria to Appoint Tourism Attache in Germany [Jul 26, 2011] Bulgaria will appoint a tourism attache in Germany, it was announced Tuesday. Currently, the post is open to competition, deputy Economy Minister Ivo Marinov said during a meeting between the Ministry's trade representatives abroad and the Bulgarian business. Once a candidate is selected for the job, Germany will become the second state in which Bulgaria will have its special tourism attache ... [via YahooNews] More >>

A Phoenix Rising: Bulgaria's Electric Vehicles Industry [Jul 18, 2011] An international conference on electric cars organized in Bulgaria's capital Sofia in February 2011 turned into a much more high-profile event than anybody expected. It was then that Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Economy Minister Traikov made it clear that Bulgaria hopes to become a "major player" in the development and production of electric cars. The conference was surprisingly ... [via YahooNews] More >>

EU Danube Strategy Paves Way for Bulgaria's Bright Future - Regional Devt Minister [Jun 30, 2011] The EU Strategy for the Danube Region is expected to contribute in a number of crucial ways for Bulgaria's development, Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev has declared in Ruse. Plevneliev hosted a news conference on a boat in the Danube River off Ruse's coast on Thursday, together with Hungarian Ambassador to Buglaria Judit Lang, Bulgaria's Deputy Economy Minister in charge of ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Gives Up on Trying to Make Gas Pipe to Turkey Part of Nabucco [Jun 24, 2011] The Bulgarian government is no longer trying to make the future gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Turkey a section of the EU-sponsored gas transit pipeline Nabucco, Economy Minister Traikov announced. The gas pipeline connecting the natural gas networks of Bulgaria and Turkey could be ready by 2014, and through which Bulgaria could be receiving up to 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria's Economy Minister Upbeat about Bulgartabac's Privatization [Jun 24, 2011] The privatization of the Bulgarian state-owned cigarette produce Bulgartabac will be successful thanks to the privatization criteria, according to Economy Minister Traicho Traikov. Answering MPs' questions in Parliament Friday, Traikov defended the way the government is going about the sale of Bulgartabac Holding in spite of criticism by the opposition Socialists that it is unclear who will be ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Wants to Freeze Belene Nuclear Project Again [Jun 17, 2011] Bulgaria has demanded that Belene nuclear project is frozen for another three months as of July, the energy and economy minister announced on Friday. "We have proposed a three-month delay so that we have time to catch up with the so-called back office work," Minister Traicho Traikov said at a conference about the energy infrastructure, which is taking place in Sofia. "We need additional ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria's Kozloduy NPP Among World's Most Tested - EconMin [May 20, 2011] Bulgaria's Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is among the most scrutinized NPPs in the world, according to the country's Energy and Economy Minister, Traicho Traikov. Four of the total of six units at Kozloduy were closed due to EU safety requirements, Traikov pointed out during the European Nuclear Forum in Prague, featuring European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger. The 440-MW Soviet-era ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Set for Highest Growth of Russian Tourists Ever [May 13, 2011] Bulgaria expects an year-on-year growth of some 70% in the number of Russian tourists for the 2011 summer season, according to consular officials. A total of 10% more foreign tourists are expected in Bulgaria in 2011 as a whole, Deputy Economy Minister in charge of tourism Ivo Marinov forecast in Ruse Friday, as cited by BNR. In his words, most of the foreign tourists in Bulgaria will be from ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Minister: Gray Economy Better than No Economy [May 11, 2011] In a highly controversial statement, Bulgaria's economy minister has defended, though half-heartedly, the flourishing gray sector in the country, saying that still it generates growth. "If we have to choose between grey economy and no economy, Bulgaria will defnitiely be better off to have gray economy," Minister Traicho Traikov told the morning broadcast of bTV channel. "Grey or not, these are ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria's NEK Head Fired over Blunder in Nuclear Talks with Rosatom [Apr 05, 2011] Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov has fired the head of the National Electric Company NEK Krasimir Parvanov over a blunder in the negotiations with Russian company Rosatom for the construction of the Belene NPP. Expect details... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Socialist MP Left High and Dry with No Salary [Apr 03, 2011] Socialist Rumen Ovcharov, Bulgaria's former Energy and Economy Minister, who left the previous government in the wake of a corruption scandal, has been dealt an unexpected blow by a dead foe. At the beginning of the month Ovcharov was unpleasantly surprised to find out that his latest salary as member of the Bulgarian parliament has not been transferred to his bank account, as it was frozen upon ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria, Georgia to Have Direct Flights [Mar 30, 2011] Bulgaria and Georgia have signed an agreement for establishing direct flights as a Bulgarian delegation has made it clear the Balkan country wants to see Georgia in the EU. The agreement was signed Monday by Georgian Economy Minister Vera Kobalia and Bulgarian Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Minister Alexander Tsvetkov, Trend News reported. The signing ceremony was also ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Bulgaria Encourages Turkmenistan for Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline [Mar 18, 2011] The construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline will greatly benefit both Turkmenistan and Europe, Bulgarian Economy Minister Traicho Traikov told his Turkmenistan counterpart Byashimmyrat Hodzhamammedov in Sofia. Hodzhamammedov is in the Bulgarian capital as part of a Turkmenistan government delegation. Bulgaria?s Economy Minister Traikov has underscored that Turkmenistan and the EU should ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Toshiba May Invest EUR 350 M in New Thermal Power Plant in Bulgaria [Mar 15, 2011] Japanese corporation Toshiba has declared interest in building two new thermal power facilities in Bulgaria's Maritsa East TPP complex, Economy Minister Traicho Traikov has announced. Traikov was in the state-owned Maritsa East 2 plant on Monday with Japanese Ambassador to Bulgaria Makoto Ito where the two of them opened the rehabilitated unit 8 of the TPP, whose repairs were completed by ... [via YahooNews] More >>