More lanes



· The European Commission has agreed that the Danube Bridge 2 be built with four lanes plus railways, Deputy Prime Minister and Transport and Communications Minister Nikolai Vassilev announced on November 1 during a visit to the site of the future bridge. In September, due to financial reasons, the commission had recommended that four lanes should be rejected and two lanes adopted. 'At a meeting in Brussels, I told the commission that Bulgaria is ready to give up the whole idea about the bridge but we would not agree to two lanes,' Vassilev said. The board of directors of the ISPA programme has already approved a grant of 70 million euro, which 20 million more than what the European Commission proposed.



Low income growth



· The Bulgarian economy grew in the second quarter of 2004, but real personal income has stagnated, Center for Economic Development (CED) found in its last report published on November 1. In the second quarter of this year, GDP grew by six percentage points from the like period of 2003. CED board co-chairman Alexander Bozhkov said that, in general the growth had been low. Bozhkov recalled that the CED recently calculated that with an annual growth of six per cent, Bulgaria will reach 70 per cent of European Union's standard in more than 40 years, provided that growth in EU countries is three per cent. According to him, the Bulgarian economy must grow by no less than eight per cent annually.



Climate favourable



· October business barometer polls show that the economic situation in Bulgaria is perceived as relatively favourable. The overall Business Climate Index remains above the long-term average (by 14.2 points), National Statistical Institute reported on October 29. The Industry Component of the Business Climate Index lost 3.4 points from September as previously optimistic assessments of the condition and outlook of industrial enterprises became more moderate. At the same time, the polls show an increase in industrial activity. The index component reflecting perceptions about the services sector dropped by 5.6 points from September due to less optimistic assessments and expectations.



Significant MobilTel



· In its decision dated October 28, 2004, the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) defined MobilTel as an operator with significant market power (SMP) of mobile telecommunication networks and in the provision of voice telephony services. According to information submitted to the CPC by MobilTel and Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile (GloBul's owner) as operators of GSM networks and Radio Telecommunication Company - RTC (Mobikom) as operator of an analogue network, the shares of the breakdown of relevant market share is 82.7 per cent for MobilTel AD; 15 per cent for Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile; and 2.3 per cent for RTC. The CPC imposes on operators with SMP obligations related to interconnection, providing the leased lines service, providing special network access, providing unbundled access to the local loop, shared use of premises, telecommunication facilities, ducts, towers, and others.



Fresh water



· A new mineral water bottling plant opened in the village of Voditsa in Popovo municipality on October 30. It is part of the investment programme of Zlaten Lev Holding and has utilised nearly one million euro. A ten-year concession has been awarded for the mineral spring. Twenty-six jobs were created by opening the plant. The water springs from a depth of 1200 metres with a temperature of 44-45 C. This is Bulgaria's deepest well used. Bulgaria has the biggest diversity of mineral waters in Europe, with over 1000 kinds from more than 250 deposits.



Jumping beans



· Smilyan beans caused a stir at the Terra Madre World Meeting of Food Communities in Turin, Italy, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported on October 29, quoting Biser Bekyarov who was the first to show this Bulgarian variety of beans there. Smilyan beans are a variety of large earthy beans with speckled colouring that make a hearty meal on their own. They attracted the interest of representatives of countries with traditions in beans growing like Mexico, Peru, Canada, the US, India and China, Bekyarov said.