TURNOVER
Trade turnover between Bulgaria and Russia may reach $12 billion in the next three to four years, Russia’s  trade representative in Bulgaria Aleksander Tomilov was quoted as saying by Standard daily.

INEFFICIENT
Budget financing of the Bulgarian judicial system has doubled as a share of the gross domestic product since 2001 and is higher than that in Romania, Slovakia or the Czech Republic, but 60 per cent of the funds are spent on salaries, the World Bank said in a report on October 7.

EFFICIENT
Over the past 10 months the Council for International Adoptions within the Justice Ministry has received and started reviewing a total of 348 applications. This number is almost the same as applications reviewed by the council in the three preceding years when 349 applications were checked, a statement on the ministry’s website  said.
Ten months ago Ilonka Raichinova was made head of the Council following the appointment of Miglena Tacheva as Justice Minister, who succeeded Georgi Petkanov.  

SCENARIOS
The Finance Ministry has been discussing two scenarios for the 2009 budget, Deputy Finance Minister Lyubomir Datsov said. The more optimistic one suggests a slowdown in economic growth to about five per cent next year, after the anticipated 6.5 per cent to 7.1 per cent this year. The weak-case projections refer to a growth in the gross domestic product of about three per cent next year. The ministry will decide whether to increase the pensions and wages budget as of next year or to raise investments in infrastructure.
The draft 2009 budget must be tabled in Parliament by the end of October.

CUSTOMS REPORTS
Customs Agency reported a 22.4 per cent increase in revenues to 6.3 billion leva in January-September, which is 4.7 per cent more than  projected. The agency expects to collect 8.4 billion leva this year.