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News

YEAR IN REVIEW: The domestic frontFrozen EU funds, corruption scandals, few arrests and cabinet reshuffles dominated 2008 Petar Kostadinov

Bulgarians had almost everything under the sun thrown at them in 2008. The year started with high hopes that the country would finally benefit from its long-awaited European Union membership. This was supposed to be a calm period ahead of the 2009 parliamentary elections. read more

YEAR IN REVIEW: Bulgar-bashingBulgaria’s loss of EU funds was accompanied by a series of negative articles highlighting corruption and crimeGabriel Hershman

The year 2008 may well go down as the zenith of Bulgar-bashing in foreign media. The British press maintained a relentless barrage of criticism about Bulgaria’s poor record on crime, corruption and its failure to abide by EU stipulations. Even the case of Michael Shields, the read more

YEAR IN REVIEW: From Ken Lee to Red-bgFun and faltering online in BulgariaRene Beekman

When it comes to internet use, Bulgaria might still be far behind the rest of the European Union in terms of connectivity, broadband availability and the use of online shopping, but it is in a class of its own in the fun and faltering categories that define hit or miss, famous read more

YEAR IN REVIEW: The more things change…Clive Leviev-Sawyer

Countries around the region wrestled with long-standing disputes, traumatic changes, organised crime and corruption, the impact of the global economic crisis, dismissals and resignations of cabinet ministers – and wrestled with each read more

YEAR IN REVIEW: The year Bulgarians said ‘no’Though environmental awareness has entered the realms of ‘trend’, people are starting to realise that ‘the nature’ is not going to remain unless something is done about all the illegal constructionMagdalena Rahn

It is not unlikely that, after spending a day skiing the illegal slopes of Bansko, or taking advantage of the new, illegal cabin lift at Bodrost/Kartala, you enter into the ski lodge and pick up a free copy of Passport Scotch’s slick The Environment and read about local read more

Business

YEAR IN REVIEW: Health checkReal estate and tourism in recent years have steadily pumped cash into the Bulgarian economy. Do they still?Alex Bivol

For many people, 2008 was the year that the property balloon burst, but that is not strictly true. Despite the US sub-prime mortgage crisis spreading to other developed nations, property prices in Bulgaria displayed a steady increase in the first half of the year, albeit not at read more

YEAR IN REVIEW: One last hurrah for the economyThe end of the era of cheap credit has already been felt by the Bulgarian economy in 2008, but the worst is still to comeAlex Bivol

A year is a long time when business plans can be turned on their head in a matter of months. Despite some praise from the World Bank in its Doing Business survey, Bulgaria is yet to join the ranks of the predictable economies, yet in 2008 investors continued flocking to the read more

Features

YEAR IN REVIEW: And the winner is...In a spirit of showmanship, The Sofia Echo tallies up the cultural happenings of 2008Magdalena Rahn

MC: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, thank you for turning to this page of The Sofia Echo’s Year in Review. On it, you will experience flashing lights, celebrity misadventures, wardrobes of costume, scandalous art and humbling read more

Sport

YEAR IN REVIEW: Lost expectationsOld generations continue defending Bulgaria’s sport glory Petar Kostadinov

Just as the labour market has been constantly ruing the lack of qualified people in 2008, Bulgarian sport showed, with a few exceptions that it is still the “old guard” that has to defend the country’s sporting fame. read more

Restaurant Reviews

YEAR IN REVIEW: Eat wellcompiled by Magdalena Rahn

Our own selection of five restaurants, in no particular order, where our taste buds were wowed in 2008: Kring Health Food Restaurant, Brasserie, Osteria di Sofia, Vagabond and Karibi in read more