Eastern Europe 'in Danger Of A Hard Landing' - Daily Telegraph 11/04/2008
Eastern Europe faces the growing risk of a ''hard landing" as the world's financial crisis spreads wider, with serious spill-over dangers for Scandinavian, Italian and Austria banks that have lent heavily to the region, the IMF has warned. Current account deficits have reached extreme levels across much of the ex-Soviet bloc, hitting 22.9pc in Latvia, 21.4pc in Bulgaria, 16.5pc in Serbia, 16pc in Estonia, 14.5pc in Romania and 13.3pc in Lithuania. "Eastern Europe has a cluster of countries with current account deficits financed by private debt or portfolio flows, where domestic credit has grown rapidly. A global slowdown, or a sharp drop in capital flows to emerging markets, could force a painful adjustment," said the fund in its Global Financial Stability Report. The IMF... more

Coastal Varna Crowned The Best Town To Live In Bulgaria 19/03/2008
The town of Varna, located on the Northern Black Sea coast and often referred to as the summer capital of Bulgaria, is the best town to live in, according to a survey. The poll was conducted by the leading local media private Darik radio, 24 Hours daily and the news portal DarikNews.bg and compared the quality of life in 35 of the biggest towns in Bulgaria. The results were announced at a press conference on Thursday, attended by Regional Development Minister Assen Gagauzov and Varna mayor Kiril Yordanov. Varna topped the ranking after collecting 243 points, followed closely by the second-biggest town of Plovdiv with a score of 228 points and the northern town of Veliko Tarnovo, which garnered 226 points. The capital Sofia came in fourth after collecting 223 points. At the other... more

Malls In Bulgarias Capital To Affect Property Market 07/03/2008
The latest property market tendencies in Bulgaria show the demand for stores on the capital's main boulevards is growing. Because of the high demand and scarce supply, monthly rents on Sofia's Vitosha Boulevard reached 110 euro a sq m, Capital newspaper said. The situation was about to change with the opening of the three shopping malls in the capital, experts predicted. Many brands may like to open a second store in the shopping centres. Others might even transfer their old stores to the malls because of the lower rents, from 30 to 60 euro a sq m a month, Capital said. City Centre Sofia, near the Hemus Hotel, will be the first one to open, some time in mid-May. Most of the shopping centre's 20 000 sq m have already been rented. Mall of Sofia will open by the end of... more

Bulgaria Still Looking For Its First Ecohotel 14/03/2008
Bulgaria's first eco-hotel, in line with the relevant EU standards, would open no earlier than 2009, Denimila Dencheva, senior expert with the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs, told the Ecohotel conference held in Sofia. There were number of tourism facilities in Bulgaria that put the word “eco”, when describing the services they offer. Some of them have acquired various certificates, while others use the symbol without any authorisation, Dnevnik daily reported on March 13. The main challenges facing Bulgarian business trying to comply with environmental standards was the high cost of eco facilities, the lack of adequate information on certification systems and criteria and of the economic benefits from eco compliance, Zornitsa Stavreva, executive director of the... more

Tourists To Go Sightseeing By Air In Veliko Turnovo 04/04/2008
The tourists, who visit Veliko Trunovo, will have the unique opportunity to go sightseeing  by the air. The price of 15 minutes ride will be 120 EUR. The municipality has contracted with ‘Olympia Air' for 3 and 4 seats airplanes for the air tours. Most probably the tours will conduct in the evening, when the emblematic for the city ‘Sound and Light' show could be also observed by the air. Big archeological excavations will start in May in Veliko Turnovo, with the aim to be found the remains of ‘St. Ivan Rilski' church. Veliko Turnovo will host for 5th serial time the international tourist exposition ‘Cultural tourism' between16 - 18th April. more