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Sat, Feb 11 2012
Economic crisis reshapes Bulgaria’s exports structure
In parallel with forecasts that unemployment in Bulgaria is set to worsen to close to 10 per cent by the end of 2009, exports are decreasing almost across the board, with cosmetics the only exception.
A report by the Bulgarian Industrial Association said that in the first quarter of 2009, production, sales and exports dropped in almost all sectors, with the wood-processing industry among the worst-hit, registering a 44.6 per cent decrease in sales while exports dropped by 21.3 per cent.
Fuel exports decreased by 32.6 per cent, according to the report, as quoted by Pari daily.
However, cosmetics exports from Bulgaria increased by six per cent, year-on-year.
Sofia-based think-tank Industry Watch said that within Bulgaria’s export structure, the share of some consumer goods was growing at the expense of raw materials.
Industry Watch said that more than 60 per cent of jobs lost were in manufacturing and close to all layoffs had been in the private sector.
National Statistics Institute figures released on August 21 2009 said 72 000 people in Bulgaria had lost their jobs in the second quarter of 2009 and layoffs in the past 12 months had increased by a fifth, Dnevnik daily said.
Mass-circulation daily Trud said that 70 000 white-collar workers would be losing their jobs, while Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov said that ministries would have to reduce their staffs by about 15 per cent as of January 1 2010.
According to the Finance Ministry’s medium-term fiscal framework for 2010 to 2013, unemployment in Bulgaria in 2010 will reach 11.4 per cent, from its current 7.6 per cent, first reaching 9.5 per cent by the end of 2009.
Rising unemployment will be accompanied by economic contraction, with Bulgaria’s gross domestic product decreasing by 6.3 per cent in 2009.
A report by the Bulgarian Industrial Association said that in the first quarter of 2009, production, sales and exports dropped in almost all sectors, with the wood-processing industry among the worst-hit, registering a 44.6 per cent decrease in sales while exports dropped by 21.3 per cent.
Fuel exports decreased by 32.6 per cent, according to the report, as quoted by Pari daily.
However, cosmetics exports from Bulgaria increased by six per cent, year-on-year.
Sofia-based think-tank Industry Watch said that within Bulgaria’s export structure, the share of some consumer goods was growing at the expense of raw materials.
Industry Watch said that more than 60 per cent of jobs lost were in manufacturing and close to all layoffs had been in the private sector.
National Statistics Institute figures released on August 21 2009 said 72 000 people in Bulgaria had lost their jobs in the second quarter of 2009 and layoffs in the past 12 months had increased by a fifth, Dnevnik daily said.
Mass-circulation daily Trud said that 70 000 white-collar workers would be losing their jobs, while Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov said that ministries would have to reduce their staffs by about 15 per cent as of January 1 2010.
According to the Finance Ministry’s medium-term fiscal framework for 2010 to 2013, unemployment in Bulgaria in 2010 will reach 11.4 per cent, from its current 7.6 per cent, first reaching 9.5 per cent by the end of 2009.
Rising unemployment will be accompanied by economic contraction, with Bulgaria’s gross domestic product decreasing by 6.3 per cent in 2009.
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Political rivals accuse Borissov of having no plan against the economic crisis
Socialist former ministers say that Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has no anti-crisis plan or what there is adds up to ‘mere talk’ while a right-wing minority party says that Bulgaria’s Government in lagging behind in steps to help the economy.
Bulgaria earmarks 50 million leva to hype its economy
Agreements have been signed with the small and medium enterprises promotion agency and with InvestBulgaria and a marketing strategy will see conferences and media tours.
Economic recession in Bulgaria deepens in Q2 - official estimate
Bulgaria's economy shrank by a real 4.8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2009 and 4.2 per cent year-on-year for the first half of the year, the country's statistics board said in a flash estimate on August 17.
Euro area external trade surplus was 4.6 billion euro in June
The euro area had a surplus trade balance in June 2009 compared with an even balance in the same month a year earlier. In June 2009, the EU 27 had a 4.3 billion euro deficit, says European statistics office Eurostat.
EU, euro area GDPs fell – new statistics
Euro area GDP down by 2.5 per cent and EU27 GDP down by 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to Q4 2008, and 4.9 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively, compared with Q1 2008.
Global crisis undermines state support for exports - Economy Minister
A year after the Cabinet announced its plan to help Bulgarian exports, the deficit narrowed to 1.6 billion leva in April 2009.
Bulgaria officially in economic recession
Bulgaria's economy shrank by 3.5 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008, National Statistical Institute said on June 10.
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Appointments
British Council
Lyubov Kostova was appointed country manager of British Council Bulgaria effective January 1, replacing Tony Buckby, who left in October 2011 to take a similar position at British Council Greece. Kostova has been with British Council Bulgaria for 11 years, as public communications manager and, since 2008, as the head of project and partnerships department. Prior to joining the British Council, Kostova was head of international activities at the National Academy for Theatre and Cinema Arts (NATFIZ). She has a degree in Indian studies from Kliment Ohridski Sofia University.
CEZ
Stefan Apostolov is the new chief executive of CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria, the power transmission subsidiary of Czech energy company CEZ in the country. He replaces interim chief executive Ales Damm, who remains the chairperson of the CEZ Razpredelenie management board. Apostolov has 30 years of experience in the energy sector, joining CEZ in 2007 as director of customer service and was later appointed as head of business development. Apostolov has a master's degree in electric systems from the Belorussian National Technical University in Minsc, management diplomas from Open University London and New Bulgarian University, as well as a master's degree in business administration from Plovdiv University.
BASF Bulgaria
Valentina Dikanska is the new general manager of chemical industry giant BASF subsidiary in Bulgaria, taking over from Herbert Fisch, BASF vice president for Southeastern Europe. Dikanska, who started her career as an expert in the Finance Ministry, joined BASF Bulgaria as director of finance and administration in 2002. She becomes the first Bulgarian to hold the top management position in the company in its 40-year history on the Bulgarian market. Dikanska holds a master's degree in economics from the University for National and World Economy in Sofia.
Rompetrol Bulgaria
Alexander Albin has been appointed chief executive of fuel distributor Rompetrol Bulgaria, replacing Nichita Sorin, who left to become chief executive of Rompetrol Gaz in Romania. Albin was previously chief executive of Rompetrol Georgia. He has more than 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry; prior to joining Romania's oil group Rompetrol in 2008 as an adviser, he oversaw operations at Atyrau refinery in Kazakhstan, owned by Rompetrol's parent company KazMunaiGaz. He previously held top management positions at two other leading Kazakh oil and gas companies.
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This a sure way to deeper poverty in this country and its political impossible also. Bulgaria must find the markets where we can compee and win, not act as lossers, that can not compete. This country has the potential, it is a matter. Let the Chinese do what they now do well, and let us focus what value we can create here.
Hear Hear Sister!
I couldn't have put it better myself.
Nail the chinese imports!
I can agree to Dianne Halton,............
Bulgaria and west Europe must become competitive in manufacturing not only in terms of quality, but to produce the product which can create value for the economy in toto.
Let us see the case of other East European Economy,Czec,Slovakia, Poland, where in they have taken advantage of cheap production cost and develop themselves as hub for outsourcing in manufacturing.
Not to mention that system in General in Buglaria is not very encouraging the business, in- spite of lower corporate taxes in Europe.
[...]
Read the full comment
Why it is so??
Ask any non - Bulgarian he can explain in 5 minutes.Even with in Bulgaria ,the Non - Bulgarian Business Bank entities, Banks, Hospitals,manufacturer,are functioning in way different than their Principal(Bulgarianised).Hence the very idea for learning and developing positive things are compromised.
The think tank must project the country as investment friendly and try to take advantage of EU markets.The polices toward business must be in way to attract fresh investment, in manufacturing, service sector.The attitude of the people, and young talents to be trained to provide Fast service, considering the value of the time.The think tank can compare the service and other business friendly thing to some of eastern economies.
The jobs and opportunity can take the economy back to the track and less dependent of the Aids and Funds.
The Banking and other Financial sector must be friendly to the business and encourage them to take calculated risk for developments of the new projects, extensions of the existing projects,(not only real state) in order to support the business, as the domestic economy size is small , hence must encourage the exports to increase revenues.
any further comments/feedback/discussion, are welcome.I can be contacted at cbamhotra@gmail.com
Ok, you can save money and time on your think tanks as this is a trend that has hit western europe over the last decade, to which eastern europe has not seen. I shall explain, as I did a YEAR ago predicting at least 50% job losses in manufacturing.
YES, the credit crisis has hit and can be attributed to about a third of the job losses and company financial problems in the manufacturing sector. But the rest, and the even bigger amounts that will come over the next five years is down to one thing. Most of [...]
Read the full comment the western world now imports heavily, as does Bulgaria , on cheap Chinese goods.
Two years ago the cost of production in Bulgaria meant that Bulgaria could compete against the Chinese market. But...AS everyone demands and gets higher wages, electric and running costs rise, then the cost of manufacturing rises, the Chinese goods are cheaper, and people buy from China. Result, Bulgarian manufacturing declines rapidly with heavy job losses. This has proved to be the case in EVERY Western European country, and around the world in the US, Canada etc etc. One of the only places it is not happening so bad is Italy as the Italians tend to shun cheap imports choosing to buy Italian goods therefore supporting and safeguarding Italian jobs.
You only have to look in any small hardware store, Bricolage and especially Metro to see that the dedication to support Bulgarian products and therefore jobs has gone out of the window, for cheap chinese high profit, tacky items.
90% of the BIGGEST UK manufacturing companies employing Millions in the last decade have now ALL gone, not bust, but moved their manufacturing base to the far East.
If the Bulgarian government want to stop this rot they have to do two things. One is to slap a large import tax on Chinese goods, and two, offer incentives like cheap premises, taxes and services to foreign AND Bulgarian companies to invest/stay.
There's your think tank, think on that one.
PS: A fly lives longer than your average Chinese product, and they only live for 2 weeks.