11-03-2010/15:25 Sofia - Bulgaria's Parliament Thursday passed on first reading a Government-proposed Weapons, Ammunition, Explosives and Pyrotechnic Articles Bill, which prohibits the acquisition, keeping, bearing and use of firearms and ammunitions such as: explosive military missiles and launchers; automatic firearms; firearms disguised as other objects; pistol and revolver ammunition with expanding projectiles and the projectiles for such ammunition, except in the case of weapons for hunting or for target shooting, for persons entitled to use them.
11-03-2010/15:15 Sofia - Nine per cent of the over-20 population in Bulgaria, or 520,000 people, suffer from diabetes, according to official world data for 2010, Anna-Maria Borissova, President of the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology, told a news conference at the BTA National Press Club on Thursday.
11-03-2010/15:14 Sofia - The number of workers hired in 2009 dropped by 7 per cent from 2008, according to figures of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), presented by CITUB President Zhelyazko Hristov at a news conference on Thursday. This means that 172,000 jobs were lost last year.
11-03-2010/14:23 Sofia - Environment and Waters Minister Nona Karadjova held a series of meetings aimed to speed up the implementation of the 19 infrastructure projects and 2 technical assistance projects under the ISPA Programme, Karadjova's ministry said Thursday.
11-03-2010/14:22 Veliko Turnovo, Central Bulgaria - The reform in the Bulgarian judicial system is making progress, French Ambassador Etienne de Poncins told reporters here Thursday. He sees encouraging and positive signals coming both from the reforms that are being implemented by the Bulgarian government and from the debates on proposed amendments to the Penal Code.
11-03-2010/14:22 Sofia - Funding under the Operational Programme for Regional Development will be made available to municipal hospitals for the purchase of high-tech medical equipment and measures for improving energy efficiency. This was announced Thursday by Deputy Regional Development and Public Works Minister Lilyana Pavlova at the opening of the National BuildinGreen Conference. The conference, which is dedicated to sustainable construction and energy efficiency, takes place within the framework of the Bulgarian Building Week.
11-03-2010/14:21 Sofia - Non-govermental organizations, tourist and caving clubs protest the award of caves under concession to juristic and natural persons, envisaged in the bill on caves. The bill is sponsored by Petar Beron and Georgi Bozhinov. This was stated in a declaration, made public by Marin Tranteev, chief of the Speleo Plus Club, at the BTA National Press Club on Wednesday.
11-03-2010/12:21 Sofia - The increase of the health insurance contribution to 10 per cent from the effective 8 per cent as of April 1, will be difficult for businesses but remains without an alternative, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said in Parliament Thursday. He was given a hearing on the proposal of the socialists' Coalition for Bulgaria, to justify his idea for a wage freeze in the public sector and the increase of medical insurance. He said one possible but very much unpopular alternative would be to make civil servants pay their own health insurance contributions - rather than have the government pay it for them.
11-03-2010/00:12 Sofia - Parliament holds a hearing of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov who is to dwell on the cabinet's decisions concerning the salaries of public sector employees.
11-03-2010/00:11 Sofia - Deputy Regional Development and Public Works Minister Lilyana Pavlova opens a national conference BuildinGreen in Sofia's InterExpo Centre. Key issues at the forum are sustainable construction and energy efficiency.
11-03-2010/00:10 Sofia - The Health Ministry presents newly established Medical Audit national agency.
11-03-2010/00:10 Sofia - The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria presents an analysis into people's pay and incomes in 2009.
11-03-2010/00:10 Sofia - The Union of Democratic Forces presents an economic programme for taking Bulgaria out of the crisis.
10-03-2010/18:35 Sofia - Doctors will call off their protests beginning from Thursday, said Lyubomir Kirov, President of the National Association of General Practitioners in Bulgaria (NAGPB). The decision was made Wednesday at a meeting of the Association's Managing Board.
10-03-2010/18:14 Sofia - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov instructed the members of the government to provide him with a quotation of the contracts devoid of funding and concluded by the various ministries in the years 2007-2009 of the previous government's mandate, the Government information service said Wednesday. According to Borissov, this is one of the main reasons for delayed payments to business.
10-03-2010/17:28 Bourgas, on the Black Sea - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov opened the new waste water treatment plant in Bourgas together with Environment and Water Minister Nona Karadjova and Bourgas Mayor Dimiter Nikolov. The new waste water treatment plant worth 6.6 million euro was built with funds from the state and ISPA.
10-03-2010/16:30 Sofia - Natural gas supplier Bulgargaz has submitted to the regulator a proposal for an increase of the price of natural gas by 26.42 per cent to 522.40 leva/1,000 cu m for the second quarter of 2010, the company said Wednesday. The regulator said that the proposed increase is unrealistic.
10-03-2010/16:30 Sofia - The prosecuting offices are starting inspections at social care homes for disabled children following an alert from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee about high mortality rate there, Deputy Prosecutor General Galina Toneva said Wednesday.
10-03-2010/15:58 Sofia - The 67th anniversary of the salvation of Bulgarian Jews and the 65th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust were commemorated Wednesday with a ceremony at the memorial by the National Assembly. "The salvation of Bulgarian Jews, which began with the participation of MPs and was supported by members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, as well as of hundreds and thousands of honest Bulgarian citizens, was a peak achievment of civic society," National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva said.
10-03-2010/15:57 Sofia - The government officially moved Wednesday for increasing the health insurance contribution to 10 per cent from 8 per cent, as of April 1, said the government press office. The contribution will be shared between employer and employee in a 60-40 ratio. That will allow an increase of the expenditures of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) by 300 million leva.
10-03-2010/14:55 Sofia - The government approved Wednesday revisions in the Public Procurement Act seeking to tighten preliminary control over the procedures for supplies and services funded by the EU, said the government press office. All supplies and services for 1 million leva and over will be subject to a check.
10-03-2010/14:42 Sofia - The government officially moved Wednesday for increasing the health insurance contribution to 10 per cent from 8 per cent, as of April 1, said the government press office. The contribution will be shared between employer and employee in a 60-40 ratio. That will allow an increase of the expenditures of the National Health Insurance Fund by 300 million leva. Of the expected increase in receipts from health insurance, 249 million leva will go to hospitals, 11 million for primary outpatient services and 12 million for specialist medical services.
10-03-2010/13:46 Sofia - PFC Levski's owner, lawyer Todor Batkov, said he was ready to sell the club for 15 million euro. After meeting with fans on Tuesday evening, he said this was the amount he had spent on financing the club since he became its owner.
10-03-2010/13:45 Sofia - The government approved Wednesday Bulgaria's framework position in regard to the public consultation held by the European Commission on the future Europe 2020 Strategy, the government information service said.
10-03-2010/13:45 Sofia - A Bulgarian association of kidney patients alerted of a host of problems in this sector ahead of World Kidney Day, March 11. They said that some 730 people are on a waiting list for kidney transplant and some 3,000 are on hemodialysis.
10-03-2010/13:43 Sofia - The industrial production index contracted by 0.9 per cent in January 2010 year-on-year, said the National Statistical Institute Wednesday.
10-03-2010/13:42 Sofia - Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov takes over the coordination and supervision of the Bulgarian participation in the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project, the government press office said Wednesday. The purpose is to optimize decision-making in the management and financing of the Bulgarian participation in the oil pipeline project, and safeguard as well as possible the Bulgarian interests, the government said.
10-03-2010/13:01 Sofia - Parliament voted Wednesday to freeze MPs' pay at its December 2009 level. The motion was carried 143:0 with one abstention.
10-03-2010/12:03 Sofia - Following country-wide protests over delayed payments by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) on Tuesday, general practitioners called off the protests in Sofia on Wednesday but those in several other large cities continue. Meanwhile it has emerged that the government's plans to up the health insurance contributions to 10 per cent from 8 per cent will not get the support of the Right-wing Union of Democratic Forces.
10-03-2010/12:03 Sofia - Bad weather and snow continue to disturb traffic in some parts of Bulgaria on Wednesday and roads are wet and snowy, said the Roads Infrastructure Agency.Sofia Airport reports no disturbances of air traffic but Varna Airport has cancelled all flights.
CHF
EUR
USD
