Bulgarian Business – issue 2 / 14.02.2015

Monthly Free Newspaper www.bulgarianbusiness.org.uk

Out on Saturday

BULGARIAN BUSINESS CLUB Succeed together

BULGARIAN PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS COUNTRY’S PRO-EUROPEAN STANCE

BULGARIA IS BUILDING GAS HUB FOR EUR 2.2BN

14 FEBRUARY 2015 YEAR Issue 2 PAGE 5

Issue Highlights UKRAINE'S FOREIGN MINISTER TO DISCUSS HUMANITARIAN AID WITH BULGARIA The Bulgarian government is set on discussing the tensions regarding Ukrainian minorities, including the increased army mobilization of Bulgarian nationals with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin during his upcoming visit.

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NEW BULGARIAN-LANGUAGE BOOK ABOUT MOROCCO SEEKS TO BOOST TOURISM, BILATERAL TIES

PAGE 3 The European Commission has frozen the criminal procedures against Bulgaria related to the South Stream, EC Vice President Maros Sefcovic informed today. After the High Level Group on Central and

A book containing seventeen stories of Bulgarian journalists and writers who traveled to Morocco was presented in Sofia on Monday.

Morocco: A Country of Journeys is the third book published under a project of the Bulgarian Association of Journalists and Travel Writers (ABUJET). However, it was also the Moroccan Embassy in Bulgaria and the country's tourism promotion agency that helped ABUJET bring it to life.

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ELECTRONICS BRANCH COULD BECOME BULGARIA'S BOOM SECTOR

KEEP CALM AND HAPPY VALENTINE DAY

According to Bulgarian Association of Electrical and Electronics chairman Rumen Atanasov, Bulgaria should focus not on whole sectors and on product niches while trying to succeed in the European market.

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BG Business

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BULGARIA IS BUILDING GAS HUB FOR EUR 2.2BN

The European Commission has frozen the criminal procedures against Bulgaria related to the South Stream, EC Vice President Maros Sefcovic informed today.

After the High Level Group on Central and South Eastern Europe Gas Connectivity (CESEC) summit it became clear that Bulgaria may build a gas hub and that the project is now valued at EUR 2.2 billion.

"We discussed the criminal proceedings related to the South Stream and we are here to inform you that these procedures will be frozen," Sefcovic.

The EC Vice President gave a joint statement with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov after meeting with energy ministers from the EU Mr Borisov emphasized that the South Stream is not officially terminated to date, as Bulgaria has not received any written document about Russia's decision. "We want to get back to a pragmatic solution to the issue outside the emotions, which would allow good business

between the EU and Russia ", Mr Borissov added.

The Vice President of the European Commission voiced solidarity with Mr Borisov and added:" We have the impression that communication for such projects should happen through established channels, but in the case that did not happen and so we were surprised. Mr Sefcovic recalled that he initiated a meeting with representatives of all parties involved in the South Stream just a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in Ankara his decision to de-route the South Stream to Turkey.

Mr Borisov emphasized that he was ready to negotiate a gas hub from Greece to Russia. "To go somewhere, you first have to be invited.

You all know that Vladimir Putin was in Sofia. So why could not I go to Moscow?If he asked me, I am ready to talk," the PM said in response to a question whether he would sit down negotiations with the Russian president.

An eUR 2.2 billion investment is needed to build the new infrastructure for the gas hub in Bulgaria.

This is clear from data presentation to the gas hub in the country, represented by Prime Minister Borisov during the meeting in Boyana.

Each country should have at least three sources of gas, which will ensure lower prices and competitiveness of supply, Mr Sevcovic noted. .

The Prime Minister stressed that the main advantages of Bulgaria to build a gas hub are its geographic location, well-designed national gas grid, well balanced national transit system with gas storage, as well as oil and gas in the region. The gas hub is a mechanism to improve security of gas supplies to E u ro p e . S u m m i t participants are adamant that this is a key project in building a single European energy market to overcome the energy dependence of the region of Southeast Europe and the liberalization of a competitive gas market.

The gas hub will have a combination of gas pipelines in the country, which will transport the gas to the respective users. The total current network is around 3000 km. Its capacity is 550 million cubic meters and the project is to reach 1 billion cubic meters.

Source: www.standartnews.com

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Bulgaria EU

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BULGARIAN PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS COUNTRY’S PRO-EUROPEAN STANCE that despite the initial difficulties, the country has managed to deal with the challenges presented by the migratory pressure exerted on the EU’s external borders.

President Rosen Plevneliev said that Bulgaria remains among the most pro-European countries, which is in no small part due to its active civil society.

Plevneliev made this statement during a meeting with Dr. Beate Merk, Bavaria’s European Integration and Regional Relations Minister, daily Dnevnik reports.

Both of them are participants in the 51st Munich Security Conference, which is taking place between February 6 and 8.

The Bulgarian President pointed that despite the unstable political situation in the past two years, the country stands a golden chance of carrying out long-delayed reforms in the judiciary, the administration, the security services, the healthcare and the education.

The Head of State reminded that Bulgaria fully satisfies the criteria for accession to the Schengen Area. He said

Plevneliev and Merk exchanged opinions on the security environment in the region in the context of the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

They were unanimous that Europe has to remain united in order to remain strong in a moment when there is retreat from the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

Plevneliev stated that the developments in Ukraine and the Middle East were making Bulgaria’s role in Southeastern Europe more prominent.

In his words, Bulgaria was a responsible member of the EU, which could be an example to the countries of the Western Balkans.

The Bulgarian President called on the countries of the region to strengthen their relations in order to avoid isolation and division.

Plevneliev is to hold a meeting with US Vice President Joseph Biden on Saturday, the presidential press service reports.

Source : www.novinite.com

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Culture

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BULGARIA LAUNCHES ITS FIRST COMEDY FESTIVAL

medians performing at London stand-up clubs will be entertaining the audience in Sofia.

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NEW BULGARIAN-LANGUAGE BOOK ABOUT MOROCCO SEEKS TO BOOST TOURISM, BILATERAL TIES

The Croatian Marina Orsag is one of the funniest upcoming stars on the international stage of Comedy Central, even if one doesn't know Croatian.

Nikola Todorovski has had four main parts at the Macedonian National Theater over the past one year and yet has managed to organize 150 oneman stand-up shows throughout the country.

Bulgaria's very First Comedy Festival is to start on February 22 and will continue up until March 9 in Sofia. It will feature stand-up comedy performances and improvisational theater. Among the venues hosting the festival are Sofia Live club, Studio 5, and Sulza i Smyah Theater. Comedy Central stars, as well as co-

Alexander Perisic and Nikola Salic are both extremely talented and use self-irony as a special weapon to cause excessive amounts of laughter.

Katerina Vrana is raised in England, but definitely has some of the unique Balkan flavor, as she was born in Greece. She is able to bring both worlds on stage.

So is Daliso Chaponda, who is able to conquer any big stage in London, but still holds on to his Malawi passport.

He will bring a scoop of humor from the quite unknown exotic destination. www.novinite.comA

book containing seventeen stories of Bulgarian journalists and writers who traveled to Morocco was presented in Sofia on Monday.

A

Morocco: A Country of Journeys is the third book published under a project of the Bulgarian Association of Journalists and Travel Writers (ABUJET). However, it was also the Moroccan Embassy in Bulgaria and the country's tourism promotion agency that helped ABUJET bring it to life.

"This small product represents the cooperation I like - concrete cooperation.

I think it's high time in our relations to between Bulgaria and Morocco to go this deep," Morocco's Ambassador to Bulgaria Latifa Akharbach told the guests of her residency in Sofia where the event was celebrated.

She praised the book for being "a very good investment in mutual knowledge," allowing both the Bulgarian and the Moroccan side to have people-to-people dynamics.

Mrs Akharbach added she would be very happy to same the same

kind of book on Bulgaria written in Arabic.

Maksim Minchev, who heads ABUJET Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), told the audience it should be beneficial to tourist flow in both directions. In his view, the project will also help Bulgarians to know what he described as the "furthest country from Bulgaria."

Khalid Mimi, who heads the Tourist Board of Morocco's branch in Eastern Europe, explained that the book was important because it offered the ability to communicate with Bulgarian people in the Bulgarian language.

Comparing the book to common kinds of advertisement, which are usually one-shot, he opined that when people with the country are writing with words from the country, the message is totally different and keeps alive for a long time.

"We have optimistic goals on Bulgarian market... we share values and have some cultural proximity," he added and voiced his optimism that, given the similarities, such projects would positively affect both Morocco and Bulgaria.

Source : www.novinite.com

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Diplomacy

UKRAINE'S FOREIGN MINISTER TO DISCUSS HUMANITARIAN AID WITH BULGARIA

The Bulgarian government is set on discussing the tensions regarding Ukrainian minorities, including the increased army mobilization of Bulgarian nationals with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin during his upcoming visit.

The position has also been expressed before the Ukrainian Ambassador to Sofia Mykola Baltazhy, a press release from Tuesday revealed.

The Foreign Ministry has stated to be in constant contact with the Bulgarian embassies in Ukraine in Kiev and Odessa, as well as with the Ukrainian government in order to get full information on current events. The humanitarian crisis following military actions in Donbass and other re-

gions has also been a cause for major concern.

As a result, the Foreign Ministry has been in preparation for providing humanitarian assistance to the affected ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine. The form and method of delivery are to be further established.

Bulgarian officials announced earlier on Tuesday that fast-track visas will be issued to ethnic Bulgarians, whose lives are in danger.

The government also expressed its hope for the peaceful resolution of the conflict to be reached at the Minsk negotiations set to take place on Wednesday.

Source : www.novinite.bg

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Domestic

BULGARIAN BUSINESS CLUB

ELECTRONICS BRANCH COULD BECOME BULGARIA'S BOOM SECTOR

According to Bulgarian Association of Electrical and Electronics chairman Rumen Atanasov, Bulgaria should focus not on whole sectors and on product niches while trying to succeed in the European market.

The electronics branch could be the segment which makes the difference for the Bulgarian economy, however, this needs investment and initiatives.

Because the shortcomings of many companies of Bulgaria's electrical industry, their products are relatively simple and are made with outdated technology and with a low level of automation.

Also, there is no activity in the protection of intellectual property - patents, utility models, knowhow.

This determines the lowest valueadded products. Bulgaria won with cables and meters

Our country has gained a place on the world markets with competitive production of electric motors, transformers, batteries, cables, meters.

omy. The aim should be to promote the production and export of more finished products at this own brand, according to the trade association.

Since 2005, the production and export them has increased more than 3 times. These are niches which are valuable national knowhow and specialists, and we can attract investor interest, said the chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Electrical and Electronics Rumen Atanasov.

And recognize that it is the production of electrical machinery and apparatus, and computing are the most significant contribution as gross value added.

We can not complain since there is steady growth in the production of electronic equipment.

Other technological niches in which Bulgaria has good chances of development -and could even become world leader- are the lighting equipment, power tools and medical equipment, the expert notes.

Dozens of foreign companies in recent years have chosen Bulgaria as an outsourcing destination for the production of components and spare parts, mainly for the automotive industry.

Investors are increasingly convinced of the advantages of the Bulgarian electrical and electronics production to China and India, where no salaries are not so low anymore, and the distance from Europe inflating transport costs.

However, this does not bring much added value to our econ-

Source: www.standartnews.com

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Energy

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BULGARIA IN TALKS WITH SHELL, BP AND STATOIL FOR EXPLORATION OF TWO NEW OIL AND GAS BLOCKS IN THE BLACK SEA

Bulgaria will invite major global companies to explore two new deep water oil and gas blocks in the Black Sea in a bid to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, The Wall Street Journal reports The Balkan country is in talks with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, Statoil AS A and other oil companies for the exploration of its Teres and Silistar blocks, said Delyan Dobrev, chairman of the energy committee of the Bulgarian parliament.

Bulgaria plans to launch the tender process in the next few weeks, said Mr. Dobrev, who is one of the country's top energy officials.

He spoke to The Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the International Petroleum forum under way in London, where he will be announcing details of the tender process later on Tuesday.

With the fall in global oil and natural gas prices in recent months, Mr. Dobrev said: "Now is probably not the best time to tender licenses.

But exploration takes many years and prices will recover eventually."

Oil prices have fallen around 50% since mid-2014, largely due to ample global supplies and tepid demand.

Bulgaria consumes about 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year and relies on Russia's Gazprom for more than 90% of its gas.

But the country has tried to diversify in recent years by looking for gas deliveries from Azerbaijan and Greece.

Developing its own fields is another route that has become more prominent in recent years.

Source: www.standartnews.com

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Finance

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BULGARIA PICKS CITI, HSBC, SOCIETE GENERALE AND UNICREDIT TO MANAGE EUR 8BN BOND PROGRAMME

(Reuters) - Bulgaria has picked Citi, HSBC, Societe Generale and Unicredit to manage its 8 billion euro ($9.03 billion) bond programme over the next three years. Bulgaria plans to access global markets in the first half of this year and then again in the autumn to finance its fiscal deficit and roll over existing debt.

The Balkan country, reeling from its biggest banking crisis since the 1990s and facing sluggish economic growth this year, plans to raise 6.9 billion levs ($3.99 billion) from foreign lenders in 2015. The Black Sea state remains one of EU's least indebted members. The new borrowing will bring the country's public debt to 28.4 percent of economic output this year, up from 18 percent in 2013.

Bulgaria plans a fiscal deficit of 3.0 percent of gross domestic product this year. It also needs to roll over a 1.5 billion euro loan it took in December to prop up the banking system after the collapse of Corporate Commercial Bank, the country's fourth largest lender. Moody's Investors Service has provisionally rated the medium-term bond programme as Baa2, which is an medium grade investment rating, with moderate credit risk.

Bulgaria's economic performance has been weak since the financial crisis, partly due to muted demand for exports from its main trade parters in Europe, Moody's said. Other factors include a slowdown of investment and sluggish consumption. Per-capita income is less than half of the euro area average, but higher than the median average in Moody's rated universe.

Source : www.standartnews.com

PHOTO CREDIT : BGMEDIA

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Sport

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GRIGOR DIMITROV LOOKS FORWARD TO CUP DAVIS, S AY S B U L G A R I A N FLAG INSPIRES HIM

ZLATEVA PREPARES FOR NEW SEASON IN SWEDEN

Five-time world heavyweight female wrestling champion Stanka Zlateva will participate in the strong Klippan Lady Open tournament in Sweden next weekend, informed BFBorba.

"I hope to play in the Cup Davis. We make a good team, which is built around me, so if my program allows, I will participate," Bulgarian tennis ace Grigor Dimitrov told Tennis24.bg.

The Bulgarian is expected to arrive for the competition from Baku, where she is training with her personal coach Simeon Shterev, who is also the coach of the national team of Azerbaijan.

Last year, Bulgaria's pride from Haskovo made it to the tournament and Bulgaria beat Greece and kept its place in the second group of EuroAfrican zone. This year Bulgaria is due to visit Latvia in March.

Grisho, as the Bulgarians nickname him, started his participation in Rotterdam with a 4: 6, 7: 6 (2), 6: 2 victory over French veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu. He recalled that seeing the Bulgarian flag was a huge help in doing so during the hard match.

"I saw a huge banner in the hall and it inspired me. I want to thank the Bulgarians and tell them that I will never forget their support. I always feel great seeing our tricoulour" he noted.

In the second round today Dimitrov is facing Gilles Muller from Luxembourg.

Head coach of the Bulgarian team Seraphim Barzakov will also check how another 6 competitors in the tournament are doing, who will have been training in Oslo (Norway).

Today Fathme Mandeva (51 kg), Evelina Nikolova (55) Victoria Bobeva (58) Usain Taibe (60) and Elina Vaseva (63) are leaving for the Nordic country, while Alexandrina Kashinova (52 kg) will compete with the cadets.

The Bulgarian team will have two big tournaments in 2015 - the first European Summer Games in Baku in June and the World Cup in the three wrestling styles in Las Vegas (September 7 to 13).

Source: www.standartnews.com

Source: www.standartnews.com

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Tourism

BULGARIA'S PLOVDIV HOSTS INDEX FORUM TO BOOST LOCAL TOURISM Plovdiv was chosen to host the event in London during the annual REETEX meeting on Thursday in front of 500 tourism company representatives, coming from 47 different countries.

REETEX Director Mike Laden and Plovdiv's Deputy Mayor Stefan Stoyanov have signed a memorandum of cooperation.

This is the first time in the history of INDEX when the event will take place in Eastern Europe, and is deemed to be of strategic importance for the development of the tourist sector in Plovdiv.

The Southern Bulgarian city is to host INDEX one of the most prestigious professional events on tourism in June 2015.

The purpose of the event is to attract attention to fast-paced markets across Europe. Annually, the biggest tour operators and airlines in Europe, as well as trade managers, online intermediaries and investors in the field join INDEX.

Bulgaria was the main focus at the prestigious event in the British capital, represented by both Plovdiv and Sofia. ''Attracting such a prestigious event in Plovdiv gives us the opportunity to improve the presence we have on our main European markets, as well as to attract new airlines to the city,'' said Ivan Totev, Mayor of Plovdiv municipality.

He further added that through the INDEX forum, Plovdiv will have the opportunity to increase the number of tourists up until 2019, when the city will be the European Capital of Culture.

Source: www.novinite.com

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THE QATAR-BULGARIA BUSINESS FORUM

VISIT QBBF www.bulgarianbusiness.org.uk www.facebook.com/QatarBulgariaBusinessForum

The Qatar-Bulgaria Business Forum (QBBF) is a London based NGO

Qatar Business

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QATAR'S QNB MANDATES LENDERS FOR $3BN LOAN

Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf's largest bank by market value, has mandated lenders to arrange a $3 billion three-year loan facility for general business purposes, it said on Monday.

Barclays Bank and HSBC will act as coordinators for the loan, with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Deutsche Bank,Mizuho Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp acting as lead arrangers and bookrunners, QNB said in a statement.

Source :www.arabianbusiness.com

BULGARIAN BUSINESS CLUB

ownership proved to be far below any regional average.

INDUSTRIES QATAR DECLARES QR 6.3 BILLION PROFIT FOR 2014

The report showed that out of 50.4 percent of adults planning to set up a business, 16.4 percent of adults in the country had been in the process of starting a venture or running a business for fewer than 3.5 years.

Doha, February 05 (QNA) - Industries Qatar (IQ, QE: IQCD) has announced a net profit of QR 6.3 Billion for the financial period ended December 31, 2014.

Directors of the petrochemical, fertiliser and steel products company have proposed a cash dividend payout of QR 4.2 Billion at the rate of QR 7 per share.

These “total early-stage entrepreneurial activity” (TEA) rates are considered the highest amongst developed economies.

However, further analysis is needed to determine why only 3.5 percent of adults in Qatar actually own and manage an established business which has been in operation for more than 3.5 years.

Looking at other regions, African economies showed the highest ability to perceive and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities with little fear of failure, whereas EU nations were less optimistic, saw fewer opportunities and were more uncertain about their skills in acting entrepreneurially.

GEM REPORT RECORDS LIMITED Due START-UP SURVIVAL IN QATAR

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in the third quarter, as well as by strong full year average key petrochemical product prices, the company said.

Consolidated EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2014 was QR 6.6 Billion, a decrease of QR 1.6 Billion, or 19.4%, on the prior year.

IQ attributes the results to strong close to 2014 with second half profits up 24% following return to normal operations after extensive maintenance downtime.

On a like-for-like basis, EBITDA assuming proportionate consolidation under IAS 31 - was QR 8.0 Billion, a decrease of QR 1.5 Billion, or 16.2%, compared with 2013. The company's petrochemical arm closed the year with revenue of QR 6.8 billion, a year-on-year decrease of QR 0.5 Billion, or 6.8%.

The consolidated net profit improved

by QR 0.7 billion, or 23.5%, with the petrochemical and fertiliser segments registering growth of 48.7% and 31.9% respectively, IQ said.

The fertiliser segment closed the year with revenue of QR 5.5 Billion, a reduction of QR 0.7 Billion, or 11.2%, against the same period of 2013.

2014 second half earnings matched the second half of 2013 despite difficult international market conditions experienced during the latter part of this year.

Revenue in the steel segment totalled QR 6.0 Billion for the year, a moderate increase of QR 0.1 Billion, or 2.5%, compared to the same period of 2013.

Earnings in 2014 were supported by the launch and subsequent ramp-up of Qatar Steel's EF-5 facility in the first quarter and QAFAC's CDR plant

Net profit for 2014 is a decrease of QR 1.7 billion, or 20.8%, compared with 2013, IQ said. (QNA) Source: www.qna.org.qa

to the collabora-

THE QATAR-BULGARIA BUSINESS FORUM

VISIT QBBF www.bulgarianbusiness.org.uk Qatar’s first ever Global Entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) data set has shown that high entrepreneurial intentions do not necessarily translate into long-term business success in the kingdom.

Including Qatar for the first time, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2014 Global Report recorded high levels of entrepreneurial intentions in Qatar while the rate of established business

tion between Silatech, a regional social initiative, and Qatar University’s Social & Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI), researchers compared the entrepreneurial landscape in Qatar to 73 other economies − collectively representing 72.4 percent of the world’s population and 90 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Source :www.arabianbusiness.com

www.facebook.com/QatarBulgariaBusinessForum

The Qatar-Bulgaria Business Forum (QBBF) is a London based NGO

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MILIBAND ATTACKS 'DODGY' PM IN HSBC DONOR ROW

Ed Miliband has called David Cameron a "dodgy prime minister surrounded by dodgy donors", in a row over party grandees with Swiss bank accounts.

Mr Cameron hit back by accusing the previous Labour government of being the "friend of the tax dodger".

The row comes amid allegations HSBC's Swiss private bank may have helped wealthy clients avoid or evade tax.

The Labour leader singled out Lord Fink in his attack - but the peer has challenged him to withdraw the remark.

Lord Fink, who stepped down as Conservative co-treasurer in 2010 and has given the party £3m, is among those named in documents seen by the BBC's Panorama programme, as is Labour donor Lord Paul.

UK Business He said h e chose HSBC because h e a lre a d y banked with them in the UK.

H e a ccused the Labour leading of "playing the man not the ball", suggesting "this had become something of a habit for him."

He added: "I challenge Ed Miliband to either repeat his allegations outside the House of Commons or perhaps to withdraw them publicly."

But Labour sources said "serious allegations" about Lord Fink's "complex arrangements to minimise tax" had been made in The Guardian and he had still "not justified the reasons why he made these arrangements".

In a separate development, Lord Paul said he had held an account with HSBC for quite some time in Switzerland. There was "nothing unsavoury" about it, he said.

He has been a Labour donor and a Labour peer, but now sits as an independent in the House of Lords.

At Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mr Miliband called on Mr Cameron to say what steps he was going to take "to find out about the tax avoidance activities of Lord Fink".

The Guardian published names of Swiss account holders. It reports the Conservatives have raised more than £5m from HSBC clients with Swiss accounts.

'Local bank account'

'Revolving door'

Reading out a statement outside Conservative Central Office, Lord Fink said Mr Miliband's allegations, made under the protection of Parliamentary privilege, were "untrue and defamatory".

Labour have benefited, the Guardian says, from cash and gifts in kind worth well over £500,000 and received a loan for £2m.

He said he had opened an HSBC account in Switzerland when he worked there for four years because he needed "a local bank account to do simple things like receive my Swiss franc salary and pay grocery bills".

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Holding a Swiss bank account is not illegal and does not prove either tax evasion or tax avoidance.

The individuals named may have held the accounts for a wide variety of reasons and there is no

suggestion they did anything wrong.

In a heated clash at Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Miliband asked Mr Cameron how he would explain the "revolving door between Tory Party HQ and the Swiss branch of HSBC".

He said none of the Labour donors named in the list had "given a penny on my watch" and claimed Mr Cameron was "up to his neck in this".

Mr Cameron said Conservative donors did not choose the party's policies and candidates unlike Labour who, he said, were controlled by trade union donors.

Shouting across the despatch box at the Labour leader, he said: "The only reason he is sitting there is that a bunch of trade union leaders decided he was more left wing than his brother."

'Desperate' In a separate exchange Mr Miliband said: "You took the money, you gave a job to the head of HSBC and you let the tax avoiders get away with it.

"There's something rotten at the heart of the Conservative Party and it's you." Mr Cameron replied: "For 13 years they [Labour] sat in the Treasury, they did noth-

ing about tax transparency, nothing about tax dodging, nothing about tax avoidance.

"This [present] government has been tougher than any previous government.

That's why they [Labour] are desperate, that's why they are losing."

He said Labour had welcomed the appointment of former HSBC chairman Lord Green as a trade minister, and had even held meetings with the peer as recently as 2013.

Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith is among those being linked to a HSBC Swiss bank account.

In a statement, the Richmond Park MP said: "To be clear, my very numerous family members around the world who are beneficiaries of the same Trust do not own or control it, but like me, they receive income from it.

"I have never had a Swiss bank account, and do not control any Swiss bank accounts.

I have never sought or been given tax minimisation advice by HSBC, directly or indirectly. The media commentary around this is therefore wrong."

Source: BBC

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