Bulgarian Business Club issue 5

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BULGARIAN BUSINESS CLUB Succeed together

BULGARIA STILL SEEKING SCHENGEN MEMBERSHIP BY AIR BORDER – DEPUTY PM

SOFIA REGISTERS 5.7% MORE TOURISTS IN JANUARY-JUNE

20 SEPTEMBER 2015 YEAR Issue 5 PAGE 5

Issue Highlights UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL BOKOVA: BULGARIA PLAYS A STRATEGIC ROLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLICIT TRAFFICKING OF CULTURAL OBJECTS On 16 September, UNESCO DirectorGeneral, Irina Bokova, took part in an International Conference on "Fighting the looting of Syria's cultural heritage" in Sofia, Bulgaria, to strengthen global mobilization and regional cooperation against the looting and trafficking of "blood antiquities," financing terrorism in the Middle East.

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There have been at least 485 200 tourists arriving in Bulgaria's capital Sofia over the first six months of this year. This is 5.7% up compared to 2014, official data shows.Some 284 000 of them were non-Bulgarian citizens, while the rest came from the country,

BULGARIA BOASTS 261 BUSINESS CLUSTERS, 150 OF THEM SOFIA-BASED Mladen Mladenov, Executive Director of the Association of Business Clusters (ABC), has said that a total of 261 clusters have been registered in Bulgaria so far. Mladenov, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, Continue on Page 9

LIDL TO PAY RECOMMENDED LIVING WAGE Lidl has said it will become the first UK supermarket to implement the minimum wage as recommended by the Living Wage Foundation. From October, Lidl UK employees will earn a minimum of £8.20 an hour across England, Scotland and Wales, and £9.35 an hour in London, the supermarket said.

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20 September 2015

BG Business

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WORLD BANK: EVEN A GENERATION WILL NOT BE ENOUGH FOR BULGARIA TO REACH EUROPE The growth of the Bulgarian economy is slowing and the current pace of recovery Bulgaria will not manage to reach the European standards of quality of life even within a generation. These are some of the most important lessons of the discussion on the topic "Bulgaria's potential for sustainable growth and shared prosperity" of the Higher School of Insurance and Finance (VUZF) and the World

Bank. The growth of the economy for the second quarter accelerated to 2.2% with a 2% growth for the previous three months. But compared to the years before the global financial crisis when there was 5-7% GDP growth, even this is a serious slowdown in the economy.

According to the presentation of Tony Thompson, Permanent Representative of the

World Bank for Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Bulgaria is among the countries with the sharpest decline in the working age population. These negative trends impose the need for new engines to ensure a quick, comprehensive and sustainable economic growth, said Thompson.

During the discussion in VUZF highlighted three key

policies of transformation aimed at improving the management skills of the population and of the way to make public spending. The first one involves the creation of a quality institutional and legal frameworks, the second covers a variety of ways to enhance the competitiveness of people in the labor market, and the third is aimed at more efficient use of public funds.

Source: standartnews.com

INVESTBULGARIA AGENCY HEAD LOOKS FORWARD TO MAJOR CHINESE INVESTMENT IN BULGARIA and from this point of view we are very interesting for China because we are the gatweay to Europe,” Yanev declared.

Stamen Yanev, head of the InvestBulgaria Agency, has said that he hopes that the country will attract a substantial Chinese investment.

Chinese business representatives had helped overcome the skepticism towards the implementation of Chinese investments in Bulgaria.

Speaking Friday ahead of a Chinese-Bulgarian business forum, he noted that a series of meetings and events with

“I believe that Bulgaria, thanks to its geographic location, is a natural bridge between the East and the West

The InvestBulgaria Agency CEO informed that a European-Chinese economic zone, which was part of the Trakia economic zone, would be opened on Friday.

The business forum, organized by the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA), with the cooperation of the Plovdiv Municipality and the

Bulgarian-Chinese Business Development Association, brings together a hundred Chinese and Bulgarian companies, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

Yanev also drew attention to an upward trend in foreign investment in Bulgaria in 2015, adding that a big German company was about to invest in Bulgaria.

“We are currently in talks with over 37 companies which have expressed interest in setting up business in Bulgaria and we hope that at least half of them do it by the end of the year,” he stated.

Source : novinite.com

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20 September 2015

25 May 2015

20 September 2015

Bulgaria EU

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BULGARIA STILL SEEKING SCHENGEN MEMBERSHIP BY AIR BORDER – DEPUTY PM

Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva has said that Bulgaria keeps insisting on being granted partial Schengen membership by air border.

Kuneva said in a media statement after a General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels that Bulgaria’s reasons for seeking partial Schengen membership included the fact that it would entitle it to take full advantage from the instruments of the Schengen Information System (SIS) related to cross border “hot pursuit” and the identification ofpeople banned from entering the Schengen Area.

Kuneva noted that Monday’s General Affairs Council meeting had ended with consensus on the fact that solidarity towards the refugee crisis in Europe had no alternative.

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She said that the participants in the meeting had agreed that 28 different policies on asylum seekers in the EU would not solve the problem and that a common migration policy was necessary.

Kuneva pointed out that the representatives of S c h e n g e n c o u ntries which had introduced temporary border checks had underscored that they were not questioning the existence of the Schengen Area and the free movement of people in the EU. She also made clear that Bulgaria was not using the issue of Schengen accession as a bargaining chip in the debates on refugee relocation quotas, adding that Bulgaria believed that solidarity was a matter of national interest and also a matter of common EU values.

Kuneva said that allowing Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area by air and granting the country access to the Schengen Information System would be a clear sign by the Member States that they were not giving up on Schengen and wanted it to develop.

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister informed that Monday’s meeting had included discussions on topics such as strengthening Frontex, defining safe countries of origin and taking registration centers outside the EU. She emphasized that Bulgaria had demanded that these centers be stationed outside the EU, not outside Schengen.

Source : novinite.com

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20 September 2015

Culture

20 September 2015

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UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL BOKOVA: BULGARIA PLAYS A STRATEGIC ROLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLICIT TRAFFICKING OF CULTURAL OBJECTS The Director-General stressed the important role played by Bulgaria in the implementation of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on illicit trafficking, both as a member of its monitoring committee, and as an important point of control of the trafficking routes from the Middle East to Europe. "From all over the world, Member States are stepping up their efforts. I commend the State agency for National Security of Bulgaria for including cultural objects in its mandate. I wish also to congratulate Norway for changes made to national legislation," said the Director-General. "Satellite images show archeological sites in Syria riddled by thousands of holes... illegal excavations and mass looting are taking place on industrial scale, as an integral part of a strategy of cultural cleansing. The fight against this plague is our priority number one."

On 16 September, UNESCO DirectorGeneral, Irina Bokova, took part in an International Conference on "Fighting the looting of Syria's cultural heritage" in Sofia, Bulgaria, to strengthen global mobilization and regional cooperation against the looting and trafficking of "blood antiquities," financing terrorism in the Middle East.

Mrs Roumiana Bachvarova, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, underlined the geographic and strategic position of Bulgaria in the fight against illicit trafficking and reiterated the country's commitment to face the challenge: "We have put in place a number of measures, including the recent adoption of amendments in the legislation to enhance controls, the coordination of national services, the training of professionals, from art dealers to custom officials, to help them identify dubious objects." Mr. Vez-

hdi Rashidov, Bulgarian Minister of Culture, declared that "We shall not allow stolen antiquities to be legalized on the territory of Bulgaria," calling for a culture of "zero tolerance" in this domain.

H.E. Guro Katharina H. Vikør, Ambassador of Norway to Bulgaria, referred to the joint initiative of Nordic countries, including Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, to clamp down on the illegal trade of cultural objects from Syria and Iraq. "Culture is under attack, and we need to fight back", said H.E. Stavros Avgoustides, Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to Bulgaria. "This is about the people, not only about objects and stones," commented Mr. Carsten PaludanMßller, Director-General of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), calling for experts and officials to share information and join forces to strengthen the global response to this multifaceted challenge.

The conference was organized by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sofia and the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, under the patronage of UNESCO and in partnership with the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus and the non-governmental organization "Walk of Truth" (the Netherlands).

Source : standartnews.com

FIRST EVER CHRISTO EXHIBITION OPENS IN HIS NATIVE BULGARIA exhibition in the Sofia City Art Gallery.

(AFP) - The first ever exhibition of avant-garde artist Christo in his native Bulgaria opened in Sofia on Monday, giving a rare insight into his spectacular wrapping projects.

Christo, 80, has not returned to Bulgaria since emigrating during communism in 1958 and settling in New York in 1964 with his wife and collaborator Jeanne-Claude, who passed away in 2009.

His ongoing projects kept him away from the opening of the

But the world famous artist -best known for wrapping in fabric the Reichstag in Berlin and Paris's Pont Neuf bridge -- arranged the presentation of his works personally, even if from afar, the gallery's chief curator Maria Vasileva told AFP. The 133 prints and objects offer an overview of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's creative process down the years, covering many of their projects from the early 1960s.

Rows of black-and-white and colour lithographs with collages of cloth samples, thread, masking tape, city maps and photographs showed some of the couple's most famous projects,

including the Reichstag, Pont Neuf and "surrounded islands" in Florida's Biscayne Bay. A real red-and-yellow oil drum accompanied the presentation of works in progress, such as making a mastaba, or ancient Egyptian tomb, in Abu Dhabi from oil barrels.

Planned to be the largest sculpture in the world once complete, it will also be Christo's only permanent large-scale work.

Other photographs, sketches and prints offered a glimpse of the artist's first wrapped objects -- bottles, newspapers or payphones -- and revealed the plans behind large-scale projects that were never implemented such as the wrapped

Arc de Triomphe in Paris or the Opera House in Sidney.

"We see how these spectacular projects were conceived and their path to implementation," Vasileva said.

"This exhibition is like a laboratory that shows every step of the concepts -- what ideas they had, how they were clarified, which of them were realised," she added.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Prints & Objects, runs until November 22.

The exhibition is accompanied by a program of documentaries and lectures on Christo and Jeanne-Claude's life and work.

Source : standartnews.com

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Diplomacy

20 September 2015

PM BORISOV TO MEET MERKEL AND JUNCKER ABOUT THE REFUGEES Migration and the fight against terrorism, foreign policy, economic growth, climate change and the partnership between Europe and the United States are the main topics in leadership panels. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is expected to be the host of the forum.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov will participate in the summit of heads of state and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk in Madrid scheduled for 21 and 22 October in Spain in the frames of an EPP congress.

EPP notes that the invited heads of state are German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Klaus Johannis (Romania), Boyko Borisov (Bulgaria), Viktor Orban (Hungary), Ewa Kopacz (Poland) Laymdota Strauyuma (Latvia), Enda Kenny (Ireland) , Pedro Passos Coelho (Portugal) and Nicos Anastasiades (Cyprus).

Source : standartnews.com

OBAMA NOMINATES RUSSIA-SPECIALIST AS NEW BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

Washington's new Bulgarian ambassador is a career diplomat, former Deputy Ambassador to Russia and until two weeks ago, the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian relations of the State Department. Eric Seth Rubin is the nomination of President Barack Obama as the new US ambassador in Sofia, the White House revealed for Standart. His nomination is together with that of four American ambassadors to Serbia, Uganda, Swaziland and Mozambique. "I am confident that these experienced and hardworking individuals will help us tackle the important challenges facing America, and I am grateful for their service. I look forward to working with them." Eric Seth Rubin, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secre-

tary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, a position he held from 2011 to August 2015. Mr. Rubin previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia from 2008 to 2011, Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2006 to 2008, and Director of the Office of Policy and Coordination from 2004 to 2006. Prior to that, he was Consul General and Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 2001 to 2004, Resident Associate and Rusk Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University from 1999 to 2000, and Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 1998 to 1999. He also served as Assistant White House Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs and National Security Council Director for Public Affairs from 1997 to 1998, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 1996 to 1997, and Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine from 1994 to 1996. Mr. Rubin received a B.A. from Yale University.

Source : standartnews.com

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20 September 2015

BG Business

BULGARIAN BUSINESS CLUB

BULGARIA BOASTS 261 BUSINESS CLUSTERS, 150 OF THEM SOFIA-BASED

Mladen Mladenov, Executive Director of the Association of Business Clusters (ABC), has said that a total of 261 clusters have been registered in Bulgaria so far. Mladenov, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, made clear at a meeting of the ABC in Vidin that Sofia had the largest number of clusters, 150, adding that there were also ones registered in Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and Ruse.

He informed that the ABC had drafted an analysis of the condition of clusters in Bulgaria.

Mladenov noted that many clusters had been established to group interests revolving around receiving assistance, including Bulgarian and European resources, instead of creating conditions for increasing thecompetitiveness of the Bulgarian economy.

He underscored that a clear dividing line had to be drawn

between clusters related to the competitiveness of the economy and fictitiously created clusters. “Technically speaking, businesses are free to associate as they see fit, but when it comes down to support from the state and the EU, then these associations have to match certain criteria,” Mladenov argued.

He reminded that the first clusters had been set up in 2003 under the PHARE preaccession instrument, the second wave under the program had been in 2005-2008, and in the period 2010-2013, two sessions had been announced under the Competitiveness operational program.

Mladenov said that the formalization of the idea of clusterization had brought with it the first attempts at EU funds fraud schemes, adding that the ABC firmly opposed such illegal practices. He also informed that the

ABC had drafted a system for the accreditation of clusters in Bulgaria which was yet to be endorsed.

Mladenov explained that the system envisaged putting the existing clusters in Bulgaria into three groups, including newly created ones, developing ones, and developed ones.

He made clear that the idea was to introduce differentiated rates of financing for the different groups, the biggest weight being given to developing clusters, following Bulgaria’s Smart Specialization Strategy adopted in end-2014.

Mladenov also announced that the EU was creating a system for evaluating the efficiency of the business clusters, adding that it would affect their access to funding under operational programs.

Source : novinite.com

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Energy

20 September 2015

BULGARIA-GREECE LINK KEY TO FUTURE AZERI GAS TRANSIT TO EUROPE, TOMISLAV DONCHEV SAYS

Image : capital.bg The diversification of sources and routes of Russian gas supplies to Bulgaria is vital, and in this aspect Azerbaijan can become an important partner for Bulgaria, the EU member country’s Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev has said. "In turn, Bulgaria is ready to become a transit country for Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe," Donchev said in an interview with Baku-based Trend news agency published on Wednesday. Bulgaria also continues to make every effort to build a gas interconnector with neigbouring Greece that would make it easier for Azerbaijan to supply its gas to Europe, he said.

Sofia, Bulgaria, Sept. 16 Today Bulgaria meets its needs at the expense of Russian gas, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev said in an interview with Trend. Donchev said the diversification of sources and routes of Russian gas supplies to Bulgaria is vital, and in this aspect Azerbaijan can become an important partner for Bulgaria.

"In its turn, Bulgaria is ready to become a transit country for Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe," he said. “Bulgaria also continues making every effort to build Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) for the Azerbaijani gas supply,” he said. "The IGB approximate capacity will hit 20 billion cubic meters of gas a year,” Donchev said. “Taking into account the projected capacity of the interconnector with

Greece and designed bridges connecting it to the gas transport systems of Romania and Serbia, Bulgaria's gas distribution opportunities throughout Europe are being significantly increased. This is while Azerbaijan can plan to supply many more volumes of gas to Bulgaria and entire Europe."

“Bulgaria has a number of projects for cooperation with Azerbaijan in the energy sphere,” he said.

“But first it is necessary to build the interconnector to implement them.” "Bulgaria does not lose hope that this issue will be resolved very soon,” he said. “Bulgaria and Greece will get the opportunity to join the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor and thus receive the Azerbaijani gas through IGB construction."

IGB is the gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas extracted from Shah Deniz gas condensate field stage II. IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans-Adriatic pipeline via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets. Bulgaria intends to build a pipeline, which will be connected with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in the future. Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Europe via this pipeline. Thus, Bulgaria will be able to receive gas from Azerbaijan. A Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation was signed between TAP and ICGB in January 2014. The document

gives an opportunity for cooperation between the two companies that will work together on connecting the pipelines in the vicinity of Komotini (Greece), which will open the way for new supplies of gas to the gas distribution network in Bulgaria, and further to the SouthEastern Europe. TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian Sea region to Italy’s south through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea and further to West Europe. The total length of the pipeline will be near 870 kilometers. The deputy prime minister went on to add that the capacity of the existing Russia-UkraineMoldova-Romania gas pipeline is 25 billion cubic meters, however the fate of the pipeline is in question, it is not clear what will happen to it, as the political situation changes quite rapidly. The cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU in the energy sector opens up good opportunities for us, he said.

“Energy cooperation with other countries of the Caspian basin is also of great interest for Bulgaria,” said the deputy prime minister.

“Turkmenistan and Iran have large reserves of energy resources to become alternative sources for ensuring energy security of Europe.” As for the possibility of Bulgaria’s participation in the Turkish Stream project, Donchev said that for the present, it is difficult to say anything about this issue, the time will tell.

Economic cooperation “The relations between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria in the political sphere can safely be called excellent,” said the deputy prime minister.

The visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Bulgaria in March 2015 and the visit of Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to Azerbaijan in June 2015, the friendly atmosphere in which the high-level negotiations were held, is an example, according to Donchev. In recent years, the bilat-

eral economic relations between the two countries have become special due to the sides’ interest to develop the cooperation in all spheres of economy, he added.

Donchev said that there are many promising spheres where the cooperation can be mutually beneficial.

Bulgarian government believes that Azerbaijan can become an important market for supplying Bulgarian goods, in particular, mechanical engineering, agricultural and other products, said Donchev.

The deputy prime minister believes that tourism is an important sphere where both countries can have mutually beneficial cooperation. “Over 20 percent of Bulgaria’s GDP accounts for the revenues from tourism,” said Donchev.

“Both summer and winter tourism have developed in the country and Azerbaijan also pays great attention to developing this sector.”

Development of cooperation in this sphere can be beneficial for both countries, he added. Construction sector, construction of road infrastructure, roads, metro, and recycling of household waste are additional areas for cooperation between the two countries, according to the deputy prime minister.

Bulgaria invites Azerbaijani investors “Bulgaria is open for investments,” said Donchev. “The stable macroeconomic and political situation, low level of debt to the EU, compared to other EU member states, the favorable business climate, low tax rates, and highly skilled professionals make the country attractive for foreign investments.” He also attributes the success, achieved by his country in this area, to the impact of cooperation with European funds.

“All this, ultimately, strengthens the country’s economy,” Donchev said. “The cooperation with European funds means, first of all, the efforts to maintain political values and transparency.”

Source : novinite.com

20 September 2015

Finance

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JAN-JULY FDI IN BULGARIA RISES 4.8% Y/Y

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria for the first seven months of 2015 has increased by 4.8% on the year, reaching a preliminary EUR 907.3M, equivalent to 2.1% of projected GDP, the country’s central bank BNB announced on Thursday.

In July 2015, FDI in Bulgaria grew by EUR 108.2M, compared with an increase of EUR 69.8M during the same month of last year, the BNB said in a statement.

Equity investment in Bulgaria in January-July totalled EUR 219.1M, marking an increase of EUR 14.6M over the same period last year. Real estate investments of non-residents totalled EUR 25.8M, down from EUR 78.2M attracted in January – July 2014. The largest net inflow of foreign direct investment in Bulgaria in the first seven months of 2015 was from the Netherlands (EUR 620.2M) Source : novinite.com

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20 September 2015

Sport

20 September 2015

FIFA TAKES 15 POINTS AWAY FROM CSKA FC, ENFORCES FINES

The Bulgarian Football Union will take 15 points away from CSKA FC because of three lost cases, BFU Chief Executive Borislav Popov informed the press. This is in accordance with an order of FIFA. If the BFU fails to comply with the order of the Federation, it will have to pay a fine. All Bulgarian national teams will be banned from playing in international championships and leagues. According to Popov the rulings can be enforced and debts must be paid even though CSKA is now playing in the amateurs' league. "FIFA has created a mechanism for swift payment of debts in this football family - players, coaches, agents of players, etc."He also said that tens of suits have been filed against CSKA with FIFA. The football club has lost three of them so far and thus stands to lose 15 points as well. Six points were lost over charges against agents Loic Bensaid and Sokena Benjalion and another three in a case against Joaquin Uriarte. CSKA was ordered to pay EUR 150 000 as a penalty in these three cases. Deputy Executive Director of the Bulgarian Football Union Pavel Kolev announced that they were waiting for FIFA's decision on the case with CSKA. Only then will the BFU decide what actions to take against the "red" team.

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TWO WOMEN CLAIM FIRST MEDALS FOR BULGARIA AT WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Two women claimed the first medals for Bulgaria at the World Wrestling Championship, which is taking place in Las Vegas.

Evelina Georgieva in the 55 kg weight class and Taybe Yusein in the 63 kg weight class won two bronze medals in the women's freestyle.

In the 1/8 final, Georgieva defeated Bediha Gun from Turkey by fall and then lost the quarterfinal to Helen Maroulis from the US by fall.

In the repechage, the Bulgarian defeated Brenda Salazar from Mexico by fall and won the bronze medal match against Qianyu Pang from China again by fall.

Yusein defeated successively Valeriia Lazinskaia from Russia by fall in the qualification, Monika Michalik from Poland by 5-2 in the 1/8 final and Sandra Velandia from Colombia by technical fall in the quarterfinal. She lost to Battsetseg Soronzobold from Mongolia by technical fall in the semifinal, but won the bronze medal match against Anastasija Grigorjeva from Latvia by technical fall.

Bulgaria did not win any medals in the GraecoRoman style.

Source : standartnews.com

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Source : novinite.com

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20 September 2015

Tourism

20 September 2015

BULGARIA, PORTUGAL TO DEEPEN COOPERATION IN TOURISM

The Bulgarian government approved at its regular meeting on Wednesday a draft protocol for cooperation between the country's Tourism Ministry and the Economy Ministry of Portugal.

The document reflects the efforts of the two countries to create the most favourable conditions for fruitful cooperation through the development of different kinds of tourism, to contribute to their economic development and the growth of their tourist potential.

Bulgaria and Portugal will encourage the exchange of information and experience in several main areas: planning of marketing strategy, promotion of tourism, statistical programmes,

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SOFIA REGISTERS 5.7% MORE TOURISTS IN JANUARY-JUNE

legislation and programmes on the quality of tourism, its sustainable development and hotel activities.

The two countries will support the working contacts between their tourist organisations and agencies with the aim of increasing the number of tourists visiting Bulgaria and Portugal.

The participation in tourist fairs, seminars, expositions and other events will be also stimulated, the government's press service informs.

The visits of journalists on reciprocal principle for promoting the tourist potential of the two countries is also foreseen.

Source : novinite.com

There have been at least 485 200

Bulgaria's capital are the St Alexan-

tourists arriving in Bulgaria's capi-

der Nevsky Cathedral, the Boyana

tal Sofia over the first six months

Church, and Vitosha.

of this year. This is 5.7% up compared to 2014, official data shows.Some 284 000 of them were non-Bulgarian citizens, while

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the rest came from the country, the Bulgarian News Agency reports, citing a state-owned tourism company. June was the month that saw the biggest surge

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in tourists, mainly from Germany, the UK, Italy, Israel and France,

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alongside neighboring countries.

Among the most visited places in

The Saint Sofia Church's underground museum, showing some of the results of intensive archaeological excavations, has also been drawing increasing interest from tourists, along with the Vrana park, a former residence of the Bulgarian Tsar (at the time the country was a monarchy) and a renowned recreation area located on the outskirts of Sofia.

Source : novinite.com

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20 September 2015

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

20 September 2015

Qatar Business

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QATAR ATTENDS 4TH LNG PRODUCER-CONSUMER CONFERENCE IN JAPAN

Doha, September 16 (QNA) HE Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada participated in the opening of the Fourth Liquefied Natur a l G a s ( L N G ) P r o d u c e rConsumer Conference, which was held in Japan and attended by a number of senior officials from governments and LNG producing and consuming companies in the world. A statement

issued by the Ministry of Energy and Industry said that HE the Minister of Energy and Industry met on the sidelines of the conference with a number of officials in the Japanese government institutions as well as in companies operating in the field of energy in Japan. HE Al Sada also met with officials from Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation and from sev-

CONDE NAST READERS VOTE QATAR AIRWAYS BEST FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL "We are honored to be recognized as the best airline for business travel by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler.

Doha, September 16 (QNA) - Qatar Airways has been named Best For Business' airline in the recent Conde Nast Traveler 'Readers' Travel Awards, which was held in London.

Magazine readers commended the airline's five-star on-board service, on-time departure punctuality record and lounge facilities at both the London Heathrow Premium Lounge and the Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha.

The airline was also the runner-up in the readers' choice for Leisure Long-haul Travel at the ceremony attended by hundreds of industry leaders and travel specialists.

Providing an unrivalled service, offering exceptional in-flight and onground lounge facilities and focusing on our passengers' priorities are our goals – and this award is yet another testament to achieving that," Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said.

"Combined with our modern fleet and extensive business and leisure destinations via Hamad International Airport, Qatar Airways continues to set the industry standard in airline travel," he added.

Now in its 18th year of operations, Qatar Airways has a modern fleet of 166 aircraft flying to 152 key business and leisure destinations across six continents.

Source : QNA

eral companies including (Marubeni Corporation, Chubu Corporation, Itochu Corporation, Kogas and Mitsubishi) as well as from international players in this sector. In a speech at the opening of the conference that focused on the importance of natural gas for producing and consuming countries, His Excellency said that the volatile situation in global energy markets along with low oil and gas prices currently prevailing in the market does not encourage producers to invest in the development of the resources that the world needs in the future, a matter which augurs future crises in supply and demand.

He added that the State of Qatar harnessed huge investments to provide clean energy for consumers in all parts of the world, contributed to reducing harmful emissions to the envi-

ronment and developed other environmental projects to reduce those emissions such as gas recovery project which was opened in April with a cost of more than a billion dollars.

HE Al Sada touched on the bilateral relations between Qatar and Japan in the field of energy supply and LNG in particular, stressing that despite the volatility in global energy markets, the State of Qatar will remain a stable and reliable supplier of energy to Japan that can be relied upon in all circumstances.

He expressed Qatar's readiness to contribute to activate and intensify constructive dialogue between producers and consumers of energy and work with them in order to stabilize global energy markets for the benefit of all.

Source : QNA

THE QATAR-BULGARIA BUSINESS FORUM

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

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Qatar Business

20 September 2015

QATAR'S QNB SAYS IN EARLY TALKS TO BUY KUWAIT'S KFH UNIT Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest bank in the Gulf Arab region, is in preliminary talks to buy Kuwait Finance House's (KFH) Malaysia unit, the Qatari lender said on Thursday.

No agreements had been reached over a potential deal and QNB would make any necessary disclosures to the Qatar stock market in the future, QNB said in the statement. KFH, the largest Islamic bank in Kuwait, said in May that it was contemplating the sale of its business in the southeast Asian nation and a number of other investments as part of a broader restructuring of its operations.

A spokesman for KFH on Tuesday said it was "looking at several options whether to restructure, sell or merge" its Malaysian business and that "the decision will be concluded by the end of this month".

Source : arabianbusiness.com

QATAR, OMAN CHAMBERS DISCUSS WAYS TO BOOST TRADE EXCHANGE

Doha, September 16 (QNA) - Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a d e l e g a t i o n f ro m O m a n Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss ways to promote trade and take advantage of the investment opportunities available in

both countries. They discussed as well means to create a partnership between businessmen in the two countries. The meeting was attended by a number of Qatari and Omani businessmen, where the Qatari side was headed by Vice

Chairman of Qatar Chamber Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Towar and the Omani side was led by Ahmed Abdulkarim Al Hooti, a board member of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Vice Chairman of Qatar

Chamber expressed hope that trade exchange between the two countries would be revitalized, stressing the depth of economic cooperation between both countries in industry, services and tourism.

Source : QNA

UK Business

20 September 2015

BULGARIAN BUSINESS CLUB

LIDL TO PAY RECOMMENDED LIVING WAGE However, it has not yet disclosed the minimum rate it pays in Northern Ireland.

Lidl has said it will become the first UK supermarket to implement the minimum wage as recommended by the Living Wage Foundation. From October, Lidl UK employees will earn a minimum of £8.20 an hour across England, Scotland and Wales, and £9.35 an hour in London, the supermarket said. However, the pay rise will not apply in Northern Ireland.

The Foundation will announce a change in its recommended rates in November. The rate is different from the National Living Wage as set out in the Budget. Lidl said that if the Living Wage Foundation raised its recommended rate in its annual announcement in November, Lidl would adjust its minimum wage accordingly.

Currently, Lidl pays its staff a minimum of £7.30 an hour and £8.03 an hour inside London. The Living Wage Foundation's current recommended minimal hourly rate is £7.85, and £9.15 inside London.

The National Living Wage as required by the UK government, which was set out in George Osborne's July Budget, is set to be £7.20 an hour from April 2016 for people aged over 25.

Lidl said its new pay rate would amount to an average wage increase of £1,200 a year, "with 53% of Lidl UK's 17,000 workforce and all age brackets benefiting from the rise".

News of the impending pay rise was welcomed, with many tweeting their support for the German discount supermarket.

Lidl in Northern Ireland said it had increased wages in August "in line with the proposed living wage for Northern Ireland".

'Commitment to staff' The chief executive of Lidl UK, Ronny Gottschlich, said: "Lidl employees will be amongst the best paid in the supermarket sector."

He said the company wanted to share its "success" with the staff.

It now had 5.5 million customers every week and planned to expand.

"Recently we announced we could easily imagine another 280 stores in London alone and between 1,200 and 1,500 stores in our store portfolio. " "There aren't any patches where we can say we don't want to expand anymore. There is potential in almost every single town." Mr Gottschlich added. The director of the Living Wage Foundation, Rhys Moore, told the BBC: "We are thrilled. We've been working with and trying to persuade the retail sector to commit to pay the living wage rates rather than National Minimum Wage [now called the National Living Wage].

"None of the big four supermarkets currently pay the living wage rates, and the BRC [British Retail Consortium] are very behind the curve on this." For its part, the BRC told the BBC: "Whatever approach retailers take to their total reward packages, the real key to raising more people out of low pay will rest in increasing productivity."

The Scottish Cabinet secretary for fair work, Roseanna Cunningham, welcomed Lidl's move.

"I am very pleased to see that such a large supermarket has taken this important step," she said. "Paying the Living Wage will have a significant effect on the lives of hundreds of staff in Scotland."

Position of strength Richard Perks, retail director at consultants Mintel, told the BBC

that Lidl's success in recent years had put it into a position to upstage its rivals. "Lidl's profits must have risen very sharply in the UK during the last few years so it has the headroom to do this."

"The big four supermarkets are going the other way. They are all losing market share, they are all under pressure, they are all seeing markets decline.

They will be struggling to do this now and if they did they would have to put up prices."

However, Mr Perks added that was somewhat hard to tell how well Lidl was doing because it was "very sensitive about its finances". Sainsbury's responded by saying its benefits were comparable, because Lidl did not pay staff for time spent taking breaks.

It said that if breaks were included, one of its full-time employees on its new standard hourly rate of £7.36 would earn about £12 a week less than a Lidl employee on the new rate of £8.20.

In addition, Sainsbury's said it also gave staff bonuses amounting to £50m last year.

Asda, Morrisons and Aldi also pay for breaks. Market leader Tesco does not pay for breaks, but it said it paid one of the highest hourly rates in retail, of £7.39.

In a statement, Tesco said: "We firmly believe in offering colleagues a total reward package and our benefits include a 10% c o l l e a g u e d i s c o u n t , s h a re s scheme and pension, which we know they really value."

Asda will pay a standard hourly rate of £7 an hour from 1 October, while at Aldi it is £8.15.

Morrisons is still concluding this year's pay round.

The Living Wage Foundation's rate is an informal benchmark, not a legally enforceable minimum level of pay. It is calculated by academics as the level of pay that will give workers enough for a basic standard of living.

Source : BBC

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UK PRODUCTIVITY LAGS BEHIND REST OF G7 The UK was much less productive than the rest of the G7 in 2014, lagging by the most since 1991, official figures have shown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said output per hour was 20 percentage points below the G7 average. The UK was behind the US, Germany and France by a large margin and was slightly worse than Italy and Canada.Productivity is seen as key to helping increase living standards in the UK by many experts."These figures show UK productivity continues to lag behind other developed economies," ONS chief economist Joe Grice said. "Since the economic downturn, productivity growth has slowed in most developed economies, but by more in the UK than the average." The Chancellor, George Osborne, pledged in July to take steps to encourage more long-term investment in infrastructure and by businesses to boost productivity. Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said British productivity had been held back since the financial crisis by the creation of lots of lowskilled, low-paid jobs where productivity is limited. However, Institute of Directors chief economist James Sproule said that UK firms should focus on "agility" rather than productivity. "The economy of the future looks set to be dominated not by big companies, but by fast, agile, quick-moving and reactive ones," he said. "The firms that can respond to consumer demands most effectively and bring new products and services to market will reap the rewards."

Analysis: Andrew Verity, BBC economics correspondent Productivity isn't everything, but in the long run it's almost everything - as Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman noted 25 years ago in his book The Age of Diminished Expectations.

Unless you improve the amount each worker produces, you can't expect living standards to rise.

It's a harsh verdict on British economic performance that since 1991 when the ONS started making international comparisons, the gap between our productivity and the rest of the world's advanced economies widened to a chasm.

Source : BBC

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