Business, finances, forex

US company 3M Co has announced it is purchasing the Israeli human tracking devices producer Attenti Holding SA, which has industrial facilities in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv.

3M Co will be paying USD 230 M for the Isreali producer. Attenti Holding SA produces systems such as ankle bracelets for monitoring and tracking the movements of people who are awaiting trial or are on probation and those of patients in senior care centers.

…

Source

The legendary “Orient Express,” described in Agatha Christie’s novel “Murder on the Orient Express,” arrived in Bulgaria’s Black Sea capital Varna at 4:15 pm Tuesday.

Scores of Varna residents, visitors, and media representatives gathered at the railway station to meet the famous train, which arrived on schedule to the minute. This year the composition has about 100 passengers….

Source

Major-General Stefan Vasilev has formally taken over the command of the land forces of the Bulgarian Army at a special ceremony.

Vasilev is replacing Lieutenant-General Ivan Dobrev, who will be retiring, announced the Defense Ministry.

Major-General Stefan Vasilev is a graduate of the Vasil Levski Military University in Veliko Tarnovo; through his career, he has climbed the military ranks from a platoon commander to a general.

…

Source

Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva stated that the legislative body will introduce key reforms in its new session starting Wednesday.

Among the top priorities of the National Assembly are healthcare reforms, introduction of new electoral legislation and the reform in the judiciary, said Tsacheva for the Bulgarian National Radio and the National TV.

Healthcare reforms will aim at stopping an ongoing leaking of funds from the system, which according to Tsacheva has been going on for more than 20 years.

…

Source

The Mayor of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, warned Tuesday of upcoming serious traffic problems over the subway construction, sewage works and repairs of main thoroughfares.

Fandakova apologized and appealed to Sofia residents and visitors to be patient upon inspecting the subway works at the “Cherni Vrah” boulevard where parts of the road, near the construction site, collapsed Sunday.

According to the Mayor, the upcoming fall will be the most difficult one for Sofia’s traffic so far, adding the need of large-scale construction works was imposed by the fact that in the last 20 years the city’s population grew at staggering rates, but its infrastructure remained untouched….

Source

Bulgaria’s Dabune trade has collapsed as Bulgarian River Shipping Jsc has seen a 49% drop of its revenues in the first half of 2010.

Company data shows that the revenues of the major Bulgarian Danube freight carrier declined to BGN 17.2 M in January-June 2010 year-on-year.

…

Source

The finals for the yearly Miss Summer International contest will be held in Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Sveti Vlas Friday.

Representatives of four continents are reported to participate in the beauty pageant. They will be allowed to chose their own dresses for part of the event, as opposed to wearing the choice of a designer.

…

Source

The nominal amount of Bulgaria’s national debt at the end of 2009 is EUR 4.8 B, announced the Ministry of Finance.

Tuesday the ministry officially published its annual review of government debt for the previous year.

…

Source

Monday’s signing of a deal with a state company from Abu Dhabi is just the first step towards the construction of a Formula 1 circuit in Bulgaria, the head of the Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation Bogdan Nikolov told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).

Nikolov was present at Monday’s meeting of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov with the Chair of the Abu Dhabi state company Emirates Associated Business Group (EABG), Mohammed Abdul Jalil al Blouki.

…

Source

The nominal amount of Bulgaria’s national debt at the end of 2009 is EUR 4.8 B, announced the Ministry of Finance.

Tuesday the ministry officially published its annual review of government debt for the previous year.

…

Source