Meeting on the margins of the NATO summit in Istanbul earlier this week, the Greek and Turkish defence ministers discussed still further measures to reduce their respective military's deployments in the Aegean. With Greece also expressing strong support for Turkey's European Union membership bid and a host of other steps aimed at rapprochement underway, the two old rivals seem to be taking every…
Despite the mixed fortunes of Bulgaria's privatisation programme in recent years, this week has seen some much more encouraging news with the most lucrative deal to date now well onstream. With the announcement on July 15 that three companies had been chosen as preferred buyers for majority stakes in a clutch of power distribution outfits, the higher-than-expected amounts being offered caused some…
As Europe's only monarch-turned-prime minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg's political career has been anything but conventional. It should therefore have come as little surprise to find him stepping outside common practice once again last week, when he took up several pages in a leading daily newspaper to explain his vision of Bulgaria. In his "Open Letter to the People", he set out his government's successes…
While the deputy prime minister and senior members of the Bulgarian Investment Agency are touring Scandinavia this week to promote the country's IT and communications industry, back in Sofia many are awaiting a final decision on Bulgaria's third GSM license - most likely to be awarded at the end of this month to the newly privatised Bulgarian Telecoms Company (BTC). Deputy Prime Minister Nikolay…
An exclusive OBG interview with Milko Kovachev, Minister of Energy and Energy Resources, on building, modernising and closing nuclear power plants - alongside energy sector liberalisation and plans for renewable resources. OBG: The Belene nuclear power plant project has been much in the news recently. Could you clarify where things stand on the project, how it is going to be financed and whether…
While the legal wrangling has still not been completely sorted out, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) decision this week to allow the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) to resume anticipatory network implementation has revived hopes that a third GSM company may yet be launched by April next year. In its wake, a period of fierce competition between Bulgaria's existing GSM operators over…
After rapid growth throughout the last two years, the region's publishing industry was making headlines itself this week in Dubai, as leading newspaper and magazine executives gathered for the inaugural Middle East Publishing Conference. Yet despite the healthy signs of recent times, conference participants were also on the look out for ideas on how to take the industry to a next, more profitable…
With the state's last share in the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) sold for compensatory notes on the stock exchange in Sofia this week, the much-awaited auction is now finally over. As anticipated, the sale attracted a number of big investment funds from the US, the UK and other European countries. Prior to the sale, one consortium of funds had acquired some Lv530m (271m euros) nominal…
When Bulgaria's new economy minister recently outlined the government's priorities for the remainder of its term, two major privatisations came to dominate the discussion: the troubled sale of state tobacco giant Bulgartabac and the continuing grief over privatising auto manufacturer Balkancar. While the government renewed its commitment to a satisfactory conclusion to both before the elections, others…
Bulgaria is finally moving ahead with the sale of Bulgarian River Navigation, more than two years after the privatisation of the Danube River shipping company was first announced. The news on April 15 that four bidders have been selected for the tender to sell 70% of the river shipping concern also raises hopes of possible progress on other, higher-profile sell-offs and operating concessions in the…
