Bulgarian, Russian and Romanian tourists are offsetting the decline in German and UK bookings at Bulgarian Black Sea resort Albena but the company said it still posted a loss of 11.7 mln levs in Q2, slightly wider than the year-ago loss of 12 mln levs.

Scandinavian and Eastern European tourists are unchanged from last year, shows the Q2 financial statement.

Bulgarians made the biggest number of resort bookings in H1.

Total bookings are down 5% over the January-June 2007 period with the slower business in May doing much of the damage.

The company said it has registered Visit Bulgaria, a subsidiary in neighboring Romania which will operate as a travel and real estate company.

Services generated 7.7 mln levs for the company by the end of June, up 30% over Q1.

Operating income was reported at over 20 mln levs while operating costs rose to 3.6 mln levs.(Dnevnik)

Several of Bulgaria's leading banks hiked their rates on mortgage and consumer credit programs in July, shows data of fincity.bg, the Bulgarian comparison shop portal for financial products and services.

The increase in mortgage rates is 0.1% to 0.5% while the cost of consumer loans edged up 0.1% to 1.45%.

Borrowers continue to shun euro-denominated loans despite the superior terms in comparison with programs in the local currency.

'This is due to the persistent belief that the lev is depreciating because of the high inflation,' said Nikolai Staikov, the FinCity executive director.

Demand for euro-denominated consumer loans is expected to pick up over the next couple of months as borrowers take the bait of lower interest rates.

The reverse trend is shaping demand on the mortgage lending segment where euro-denominated loans have the upper hand.

The survey found the home buyers are looking for the maximum term of maturity and the lowest percentage of co-financing on the part of the borrower.(Dnevnik)

Bulgaria's household electricity tariffs will increase in 4.5% increments through 2015 under a schedule set in the nation's energy strategy through 2020.

Bulgarian households will be paying 10 eurocents/kWh without taxes in 2015.

The strategy was posted on the website of the energy ministry and should be submitted to the government for review by the end of November.

The scheduled electricity hikes will not exceed the GDP growth pace.

The government has forecast a GDP growth of 6.4-6.9% through 2011.

The document says Bulgaria's regulated household and industrial electricity tariffs are among Europe's lowest.

The price levels are leading to underinvestment in the quality and reliability of electric supply and in environmental standards, said the document.

The current power tariffs are not cost-based while the regulation policy pursued by the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission discourages business efficiency.

The strategy calls for the construction of 7,000MW in new power capacity by 2020 with nuclear and hydro power as mainstays.

Bulgaria also plans to complete the hydro power facilities Gorna Arda, Nikopol-Turnu Magurele and Slistra-Calarasi, the Belene nuclear power plant and to add two new units to the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.(Dnevnik)

Bulgargaz, the state-controlled gas distributor, has warned Kremikovtzi it will discontinue supplies August 1 unless the debt-ridden steel maker pays its 7.5 mln lev July gas bill, said Lyudmil Pavlova, leader of the Podkrepa trade union at the plant.

His statement disproved earlier reports that Bulgargaz had already stopped piping gas to the steel maker on Wednesday morning.

In related news, 22 operative managers and directors at the steel plant released a declaration addressed to the prime minister and the ministers of economy and transport., voicing their outrage at the genocide policy towards the company pursued by Bulgargaz and state railways BDZ.

The declaration further calls out the government on its failure to take a clear stand on the plans for the company's future.

The press office of the steel maker said the management was aware of the declaration but did not say if they support it or not.

Economy minister Petar Dimitrov Wednesday reiterated that he will not allow a shutdown of the plant.

Arcelor Mittal, the Indian steel maker in the mix of potential buyers, has broken off its tolling agreement with Kremikovtzi (after failing to square positions with the government) but yesterday reaffirmed its interest in the acquisition of the company.(Dnevnik)

The consortium hired to advise the privatisation of Bulgarian tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac Holding has come up with three proposals to update the sell-off strategy.

The tie-in comprising Eurofinance, Balkan Advisory Company (BAC) and law firm Sabev&Partners Wednesday presented the redrafts to the management of the tobacco company. They will also be reviewed by the economy ministry which is in charge of the government's participation in the holding.

The first proposal is actually to leave the sell-off strategy intact and sell the cigarette-making units separately. The ownership rights over the brands manufactured at the cigarette factories in Sofia and Blagoevgrad will be part of the sell-off deal for the respective asset.

The two cigarette factories and the holding alike are listed on the Sofia stock exchange and that connection may prompt litigation on the part of minority shareholders, said Vladimir Karolev from BAC.

The second proposal is for the strategy to be abandoned. In that case, the Privatisation Agency will step in and a new advisor will have to be picked, further extending the sell-off process, said Karolev.

Karolev described the third option as the best of the bunch. It would see the Sofia and Blagoevgrad factories offered in a package on the Bulgarian bourse.

The consultant has proposed to make financial investors eligible for this type of procedure in case there is no interest from strategic investors.

Bulgarian weekly newspaper Capital reported that executives from Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco have met with economy minister Petar Dimitrov to express their interest in the tobacco holding.

The consultant said it expects to receive from Bulgartabac over the next couple of days the data needed to draft the information memorandums for the privatisation of the Sofia and Plovdiv factories.(Dnevnik)

The financial wealth of Bulgarian households stood at over 32 bln levs by mid-2008, up 23% year-on-year, said local market research outfit Industry Watch.

The financial assets of Bulgarian households are growing at a rate faster than the inflation which has been reported at 15.3%.

Housing is the dominant asset category in the wealth of urban households. It is up 72% over the last two years to 143 bln levs.

Some 90% of household savings are sheltered in bank deposits or held in cash, said Industry Watch economist Krasen Yotov.

Investment in high-yield instruments in the wealth portfolio of Bulgarian households is up fourfold over the past 8 years.

Investment in equities is down to 3.6% of household savings in the wake of the capital market dislocations, said Yotov.(Dnevnik)