The Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) racked up a turnover of more than BGN 15.5 million, pumping up all indices but the property index BGREIT, which slipped 1.15% to 40.23 points.

By the closing bell, indices managed to recover from midday lows, with SOFIX up to 52.78 points, BGTR30 of the stocks with the highest market capitalisation and liquidity to 265.55 points, the broader BG40 a tiny 0.01% to 99.96 points and Dnevnik 20 of the biggest and most liquid stocks up to 52.78 points.

Bond deals at real estate investment trust (REIT) Health and Wellness brought around half of Tuesday’s total share volumes, selling 7,000 bonds at 96.4% of their EUR 1,000 par value.

Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) was one of the standouts with an almost 10% rally to BGN 58 in a volume of more than BGN 1.6 million. At other lenders, slack interest propelled First Investment Bank (FIB) and Cenral Cooperative Bank (CCB) by less than 1% and toppled Bulgarian American Credit Bank (BACB) to BGN 10.50.

Bottling company Devin gave up Monday’s gains to end almost 6% lower at BGN 2.81.

Paint and varnish maker Orgachim and Elana Agricultural Land Opportunity Fund hampered a heftier rise at the blue-chip SOFIX index, shedding 6% and 6.7%, respectively.

(Dnevnik)

The worsening global economic conditions will set off another round of downsizing at Bulgaria’s steel products maker Radomir Metal Industries, which will let go of 100 workers.

The announcement was made by the company’s executive director Lyudmil Aleksandrov, who was quoted by state-run news agency BTA.

In the first wave of layoffs in March, the company axed 600 jobs. It has halved the working hours of sixty percent of its staff.

“Our traditional customers have reduced orders to a trickle,” said Aleksandrov, adding that the plant is running on small deals from southeast Asian contractors while European companies have fled, causing production to tumble 3.5 times from the same period of last year.

Before the crisis broke, Radomir Metal Industries, which used to have 1,100 people on the payroll, shipped almost 95% of its output to foreign markets. Last year the company invested EUR 7.5 million in production expansion.

In an effort to make up for slumping orders, companies of all businesses in Bulgaria are dismissing workers, cutting working hours and squeezing paychecks.

(Dnevnik)

Bulgaria’s energy regulator has postponed indefinitely the review of an application by local gas supplier Overgas Inc for a permit to store gas at the new facility in Galata, north-central Bulgaria.

Experts of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) have proposed a rejection of the application on the grounds that a permit cannot be issued as long as there is an ongoing agreement.

Overgas Inc, which is 50%-owned by Russian gas mammoth Gazprom, is ready to convert the gas field into a storage facility within two. It has requested a permit for the maximum period provided by local legislation of 35 years.

Edinburgh-based oil and gas exploration and production company Melrose Resources has a gas extraction contract on the field until 2026. Experts told Dnevnik that extraction can continue until depletion. The concession agreement can be terminated six months from suspension of extraction.

The Scottish company has temporarily halted work on the gas field as it awaits the energy ministry’s decision about the new repository. The firm said recently it is preparing to turn the gas field into a storage facility, pledging to invest EUR 20 million into the pipeline linking it to the grid of gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz. The concessionaire has pumped around BGN 200 million so far.

The storage facility has generated interest from German utility E.ON, Austrian oil and gas group OMV and Russia’s Gazprom.

(Dnevnik)

British water company United Utilities, the concessionaire for Sofia’s water supplies, will expand its Bulgarian business and does not plan to shed its assets on the market, said Ivan Ivanov, executive director of Sofiyska Voda, the water utility servicing the Bulgarian capital city, which is majority-owned by the UK firm.

The statements comes only days after British newspaper The Independent reported that United Utilities is reviewing a key division of its business, which could lead to a sale worth over GBP 800 million later this year.

Ivanov said that in a letter to its Bulgarian division, the British company has dismissed all reports, adding that the company will bid in a concession procedure to supply water and sewerage services to consumers in Sofia regions and other major cities.

Sofiyska Voda will pour BGN 52 million into the overhaul of its Sofia water and sewerage network this year, which is double last year’s BGN 25.4 million. A total of BGN 21.3 million of the total was already absorbed by the end of June, said Dragomir Simidchiev, capital construction head at the company. He pledged that by the end of the year water will flow smoothly to Sofia’s upscale suburbs of Dragalevtsi, Simeonovo, Lozen, Bistritsa, Boyana and Bankya.

Water prices will stay as they are by the end of the year but will go up in the range of 8-10% next year to be adjusted to inflation, Ivanov said.

(Dnevnik)

Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) suspended changes in the ordinance on unemployment benefits payments adopted by a government regulation on February 9.

The texts were challenged by trade union Podkrepa, which claimed that they had not been coordinated with the unions in the country’s national council for tripartite cooperation.

Podkrepa and the other major union, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), stormed out of November’s session of the council in protest against the 2009 draft budget and the absence of social dialogue with the Cabinet.

“All decisions passed by the Stanishev Cabinet after this date have not been coordinated with us and are unlawful. This is the first government regulation to be suspended by court. Five more will follow suit,” Podkrepa leader Konstantin Trenchev said yesterday.

SAC ruled that the regulation is unlawful as the government violated the decision-making procedure at the council for tripartite cooperation.

If the court ruling comes into force, instead of protecting the rights of the Bulgarian workforce, unions will plunge unemployment benefit payments into chaos by standing in the way of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI), experts of the NSSI warned. Taken unawares by the ruling, the NSSI could not explain what changes will ensue. The outgoing social ministry pledged to challenge the decision.

(Dnevnik)

The government’s attempts to encourage Bulgarians to spend their summer holidays at their home country fell through, said Anelia Krushkova, outgoing chairwoman of the State Tourism Agency.

For the first time this year, the Cabinet lined up a pot of BGN 5.7 million for media advertising of domestic resorts within the country. In addition, many senior government officials, including prime minister Sergey Stanishev, called on Bulgarians to choose Bulgarian in an effort to salvage the summer season by offsetting an expected slump in tourist numbers from main markets such as the UK, Germany and Russia.

The latest government figures recorded a 4.5% decrease in the number of Bulgarians who chose to travel to Greece for their vacation, which was coupled with a 1.9% increase in those who headed to Turkey.

But the industry said the reduction in foreign travels has failed to send more holidaymakers to local resorts, with Sunny Beach Owners’ Union reporting tourist numbers at the upstate southern coastal resort have diminished by 20% compared with last year.

The Union of Tourism Investors said Bulgarians pop at the seaside over the weekend but travel abroad for their big holidays.

The union of auto transport associations said trips to seaside destinations have dropped by 5% in June.

The industry blamed the trend on lucrative offers available in neighbouring Turkey combined with poor infrastructure and bad service at home.

According to figures by the National Statistical Institute (NSI), foreign arrivals in Bulgaria slumped by 7.6% in the five months through May against a 0.72% decline reported by Turkish authorities. Greece saw a 9.6% slide in the first six months of the year.

(Dnevnik)