Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Saturday, 18 February 2012


	18 Feb 2012 \| Issue 282 \| Sofia: min -8°, max 1°; Varna: min -6°, max 3°

Finance \| Environment \| Diplomacy \| Business \| Energy \| Education \| Defense \| Society \| Interview \| Industry \| Culture \| CEO Profiles \| Bulgaria in EU \| Sports \| Domestic \| Archaeology \| Tourism \| Crime \| Sofia Speaking \| Lifestyle \| Sex & Health \| Obituaries \| CSR \| Views on BG \| Smile \| World \| In Pictures

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CEO Profiles

SAP Labs Bulgaria Managing Director Plamen Tilev: Bulgaria Is Already Facing a Shortage of IT Experts

By Nikola Petrov

An exclusive interview with Plamen Tilev, Managing Director of SAP Labs Bulgaria, for the "Investors of the Decade" Business Survey of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) and Novinite.bg. | read |

Interview

Prophon CEO Ina Kileva: ACTA Would Save over 1 Million Jobs

An interview for Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) and Novinite.bg with Ina Kileva, CEO of Prophon, a Bulgarian music licensing company, regarding the ACTA trade agreement. | read |

Sofia Speaking

Troubles with Rule of Law in the Netherlands

By Ognian Kassabov

If equality and non-discrimination are prerequisites for modern democracy and the rule of law, then the Netherlands seem to be losing it. | read |

Sofia Speaking

The Big Dreams of Bulgaria's Big Politicians

By Maria Guineva

A battle is raging and a bickering is taking place in the Bulgarian left-wing Socialist party on the backdrop of huge problems with the polar temperatures and deadly floods.

| read |

Sofia Speaking

How Bulgaria Acts on ACTA

By Nikola Petrov

Bulgaria's politicians have no trouble deciding whenever someone tells them what to decide or whenever their approval rating is in peril.

| read |

The Week in Pictures

Bulgaria Says 'ACTA La Vista Baby!'

Bulgaria's EconMin Vows BGN 26 M for Tourism Advertising in 2012

Bulgaria Opens 29th Vacation & Spa Tourism Expo

Greece Slams Bailout Delay, Says Its Sacrifices Superhuman

Bulgarian Army Mobilized to Prepare Ski World Cup in Bansko

Bulgarian Archeology 2011 Exhibit Launched in Sofia

8 Years of Jail for Top Bulgarian Criminal 'Baretata'

HOT PHOTO

Kosovo Fans: God Created Macedonians as Bulgarians
"Bulgarians by God, Macedonians by Tito", reads in English the banner of the Kosovo sports fans in Prishtina. Photo by BGNES

Top Story

EC to Urge All EU States to Let In Bulgarian, Romanian Workers

The European Commission will request that labor restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians be lifted by the last nine EU member states to have them, EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Laszlo Andor said in Brussels.

Of the 27 EU countries, nine - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, and the UK - have decided to keep Bulgarians and Romanians out of their labor markets until the final possible date - December 31, 2013.

Under Bulgaria and Romania's EU accession agreements signed back in 2005, all other EU state had the right to deny labor market access to their citizens for a period of up to 7 years (in three phases: 2+3+2 years). A total of 16 out of the 25 other EU member states have lifted the labor restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians during the first two phases.

"The Commission will present an overview of the implementation of the transitional measures by the Member States that will continue to impose restrictions to workers from Romania and Bulgaria until 31 December 2013. The final third phase of the transitional arrangements on free movement of workers from Bulgaria and Romania started on 1 January 2012," the EC said in a statement after Friday's sitting of the Council of EU Employment and Social Policy Ministers.

The EC notes that of 11 Member States that had still applied restrictions at the end of 2011, 2 Member States - Italy and the Czech Republic - informed the Commission that they had decided to end applying national law on labor market access and move to apply EU law on free movement of workers as of 1 January 2012.

"Nine Member States (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, and UK) notified the Commission before 31 December 2011 of their decision to continue to apply restrictions and provided an explanation with arguments and data of serious labour market disturbances or threat thereof," it added.

According to EU Commissioner Andor, however, the arguments provided by the nine states in question do not appear convincing, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Regardless of its latest push for unfettered labor rights across the EU, however, the Commission has no way of forcing the member states to open up their labor markets for Bulgarians and Romanians before the expiration of the transition period.

Three Bidders Said to Eye Bulgaria's Vivacom, Deadline Extended

Turkey's Turkcell, the head of Bulgaria's Corporate Commercial Bank and Icelandic businessman Thor Bjorgolfsson are interested in the sale of Bulgaria's telecom Vivacom, local media reports say.

The potential buyers of debt-laden Vivacom, heir to the state-owned Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), will be expected to submit bids by February 27, but only Turkcell has officially confirmed it plans to make that move.

The deadline for submitting binding bids, initially set at February 17, will expire ten days later, Kapital daily reported, citing insiders.

It has been extended at the request of one of the potential bidders, who needed more time to take a definitive decision.

Telekom Austria AG, which already owns Mobiltel in Bulgaria, is no longer interested in the sale, according the Austrian newspaper Die Presse.

Meanwhile it emerged that Turkey's biggest mobile phone company Turkcell is looking into Bulgarian telecommunications operator Vivacom.

There was no board decision on the issue yet, Turkcell Deputy Chief Executive Koray Ozturkler told Reuters in the middle of January.

Later in an official statement, Turkcell, Turkey's biggest mobile phone company by subscribers, whose largest shareholder is the Scandinavian operator TeliaSonera, announced they are considering BTC as a potential opportunity for expanding their business in the region.

The head of Bulgaria's Corporate Commercial Bank, which is believed to finance the media group of mogul Irena Krasteva, is also interested in the sale of the country's top fixed-line operator Vivacom, according to media reports.

Tsvetan Vassilev stands behind two of the four bids for the company, previously known as BTC, local Trud daily reported in the middle of December last year, citing well informed insiders.

Icelandic businessman Thor Bjorgolfsson, who sold BTC to its current owners in 2007, is believed to be the third potential bidder for the telecom.

In this venture Bjorgolfsson has reportedly teamed up with Greek investor Panos Germanos, owner of the eponymous mobile phones chain.

At the beginning of 2006, right after the privatisation of Bulgaria's main telecom operator, Icelandic mogul Thor Bjorgolfsson acquired an option to buy a 100 % stake in Vienna-based Viva Ventures, which owned 65% in BTC. Later on the businessman bought another 25% stake with compensation instruments, raising his stake in BTC to 90%.

The acquisition of a majority share in BTC made Thor Bjorgolfsson the biggest private foreign shareholder in Bulgaria.

In September 2005 Thor Bjorgolfsson acquired 34% of Bulgaria's Economic and Investment Bank (EIBank). At the time he also owned three pharmaceutical plants in Bulgaria after he bought Balkanpharma, which later became Actavis.

Vivacom is Bulgaria's third biggest mobile operator. It also dominates the fixed-line segment with 2.9 million phone lines, which accounts for 97% of the market, but it has been losing customers at an alarming rate in recent years, due to the spread of mobile communications and alternative telecoms in the country.

Vivacom - formerly know as the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) - has gone through a number of controversial privatization deals.

The long-drawn-out and widely criticized EUR 230 M sale deal for 65% stake in Bulgaria's telecom operator BTC was sealed at the end of February 2004 after nearly two years of procedural predicaments, legal and political battles.

Months later Icelandic businessman Thor Bjorgolfsson bought Viva's stake for EUR 300 M and resold it to the investment company AIG Central Europe for EUR 1.08 B.

AIG Investments acquired 65% of the former state-owned telecommunications firm in May 2007. Then in August of the same year it upped its investment to 90%.

Chinese telecoms and media tycoon Richard Li, chairman of Asian telco PCCW, inherited control of Vivacom in March 2010 as part of the acquisition of AIG Investments, a unit of the troubled US insurance group which spans asset management and private equity investments. The unit was renamed Pinebridge Investments ahead of the takeover by Li's Pacific Century group.

Dubai-based Oger Telecom was the closest to taking over the management of the company following negotiations that have dragged on for nearly half a year.

The deal however failed because the final offer was not satisfactory, according to insiders.Li and Oger have been in a battle over Vivacom for the last few months after it was put for sale by US insurance giant AIG.

The BTC sale was among the top priorities of Bulgaria's centrist government of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg, which took over in July 2001.

In 2000, the right-wing government of Ivan Kostov declined to sell BTC to the sole bidder consortium of Greek OTE and Dutch KPN which was offering USD 610 M for a 51%, in a package with a mobile licence.

The license, the country's second for a digital mobile telephone operator, was won separately by OTE in a tender in 2000 for USD 135 M.

The nation of 7.7 million people has three mobile operators, which are foreign owned. Mobiltel is controlled by Telekom Austria, Globul is the local unit of Greece's OTE.

Business

Bulgaria's Press War Culminates into New Media Association

Several major Bulgarian newspaper and magazine publishers have founded a new media association in Sofia, after the Union of Publishers in Bulgaria has been ripped apart by conflicts.
| read |

Sports

FIS Chief Kasper: President Plevneliev Is Bulgaria's Top Skier

The President of the International Ski Federation Gian-Franco Kasper has praised Bulgaria's head of state Rosen Plevneliev for his ideas about the development of skiing and winter sports.
| read |

More News

· Migrant Remittances Main Lifeline to Bulgaria's Economy 2011
· Bulgarian Pharmaceuticals Market Grows by 12% in 2011 Y/Y

· Bulgaria's National Health Insurance Chief Resigns over Bonus Scandal
· Bulgaria Unanimously Welcomes Croatia to EU

Finance

Migrant Remittances Main Lifeline to Bulgaria's Economy 2011

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136749

Bulgaria Registers 2.3% Inflation Y/Y in Jan 2012

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136676

Bulgaria's Economy Expands by 1.5% % in Q4 Y/Y

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136674

Eurozone Suddenly Delays EUR 130 B Bailout for Greece

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136667

Bulgaria Set to Raise Pensions, Budget Salaries in 2013

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136624

Bulgaria Still Wants to Join Euro, Holds Debt Rules Sacred

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136587

Environment

700 Beehives Struck Down by Flood-Swollen Bulgarian River

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136687

Snowfall Disrupts Bulgarian Railways Traffic

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136609

Environmentalists Launch Campaign to Certify 1st Bulgarian Bio-Village

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136603

2 Weak Quakes Registered Near Bulgarian Capital

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136594

Diplomacy

Kosovo Fans: God Created Macedonians as Bulgarians

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136767

US Ambassador: No One Wants to Harm Beautiful Bulgaria

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136563

Business

Energy

Gazprom Agrees to 10% Price Cut for Long-Term Contracts in Europe

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136763

E.ON, CEZ Bulgaria Units to Launch IPOs in April, May

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136746

Shale Gas Debate in Bulgaria Will Be Rekindled - Energy Minister

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136712

Transneft Refuses to Give Up on BA Pipeline Project

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136699

Bulgarian Govt Widens Scope of Watchdog Activity in Renewable Energy Sector

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136684

Bulgarian Experts to Set Up Movement for Energy Independence

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136653

Bulgarian Energy Watchdog Announces Heating Price Hike

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136647

China Ming Yang Group to Supply Turbines for Bulgarian Wind Parks

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136613

France's Dalkia Eyes Sofia Ailing Heating Utility

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136585

Govt: Bulgaria's Electricity Balance Stabilizes as Exports Stop

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136569

US Energy Envoy in Bulgaria Admits to Shale Gas Concerns

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136560

Education

Bulgaria Govt Pushes Controversial Funding of Private Schools

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136662

Defense

Bulgarian Military Claims Improved Combat Capacity

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136730

Society

Interview

Prophon CEO Ina Kileva: ACTA Would Save over 1 Million Jobs

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136565

Protest Organizer: ACTA Doesn't Distinguish Counterfeiting from Sharing

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136564

Industry

Romania's Dacia Not Bothered by Bulgarian Car Industry Revival

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136723

Bulgaria Back on Global Car Production Map on Feb 21

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136675

Culture

Regional Mufti Office Claims Ownership of Bulgaria's Eski Djamia

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136659

Bulgarians Celebrate Love and Wine

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136627

CEO Profiles

SAP Labs Bulgaria Managing Director Plamen Tilev: Bulgaria Is Already Facing a Shortage of IT Experts

Click here to read the story:
www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136648

Bulgaria in EU