News
Outdoor shopping mall in Bourgas
The design for the first outdoors mall in Bulgaria - Strand in Burgas, has been prepared by the British firm GMW Architects, and the 60,000 sq m complex was subsequently approved and granted a building permit in June, with King Strurge being the consulting firm. Total investment for the facility is expected to top 30 million euro.
Work should commence in August, 2009 and should be completed by November 2010. (14 Jul 2009)Real Estate Prices Edge Towards Recovery
The latest report from Colliers International has indicated that the average price of a home in Bulgaria has decreased by about 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 as opposed to corresponding figures from 2008. It also indicated that the country's construction sector has been hit the hardest by the global financial crisis as the drop in investment is expected to reach over one 1.2 billion euro. Regardless of the slump in value, however, or perhaps because of it, the report anticipated that the Bulgaria property sector will start to regain some ground and restore some of its lost value towards the middle and second half of 2009, homesoverseas.co.uk has reported.
It is expected that prices in Bulgaria will stabilise in late 2009 or, at the latest, the first quarter of 2010, in large part because construction levels have dropped significantly in Bulgaria, which caused the existing oversupply of residential stock to be absorbed. (13 July 2009)
New chair lift for Markujik pistes
A new 4 man chair lift has been installed on the Markujik pistes for the start of the 2008-9 ski season. This is a big improvement as previously this area was serviced by just a button lift. This is the highest part of the pistes and this new chair lift will make it much easy for beginner and intermediate skiers to enjoy the excellent snow in this part of the resort. In addition to the ski lift they have also been working on a new snow cannon system to cover the Yastrebets pistes. Snow cannons have been installed on all the Yastrebets pistes and a new water reservoir is being constructed at the bottom of the Yastrebets 2 and 3 pistes. The Yastrebets pistes are some of the best pistes in the resort and are ideally suited to intermediate and expert skiers. Now that they have snow cannons installed this will ensure that the snow conditions are maintained throughout the season.
Reorganisation of State Agencies
The first step of the administrative reform of the new Government will be to close down all State Agencies and move some of them under the direct control of the respective ministries, Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov told private national bTV channel on Augusy 31 2009. That way the Government would not only optimise the public administration but will achieve two other more important goals, he said. One was to give ministers direct power and responsibility over the work of the current State Agencies and the other to move some of the staff from Sofia to the country where they could be more useful and helpful to the people, Dyankov said. Currently, there are 11 State Agency including the National Statistical Institute, each employing between 100 and 150 people according to bTV. They have their own budget and answer to the Council of Ministers. One example for the new reorganisation is the State Forestry Agency which will become part of the Agriculture Ministry and its staff will be optimised.