Tue, May 22 2012

Danube Bridge 2 on track to meet deadline -minister

Thu, Aug 28 2008 19:37 CET

byAlex Bivol

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Danube Bridge 2 on track to meet deadline -minister

The bridge over Danube River that will link the Bulgarian town of Vidin and Calafat in Romania is still on track to meet its April 2010 deadline, Bulgaria's Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev said on August 28 2008, as quoted by Focus news agency.

The project is currently six months behind the schedule, caused by additional geological and archaeological surveying that Spain's Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), picked to build the bridge and the adjoining infrastructure on the Bulgarian side, had to carry out at the request of the project manager, Moutafchiev said.

FCC has vowed to make up for the delay, so that construction is completed on time, Focus quoted him as saying.

Asked to comment on recent media reports that FCC planned to ask that it was paid more for the construction of the bridge, due to the increasing costs of raw materials, Moutafchiev said that no such request has been filed yet.

"Projects such as Danube Bridge 2 can run at higher-than-estimated costs. The issue is that any request for more money has to have solid grounds," Moutafchiev said. "Any increase has to be within the boundaries negotiated and included in the contract."

Bulgaria's initial cost estimates for the project was 226 million euro, with the bulk coming from the European Union - 70 million euro under the bloc's Ispa pre-accession program and a further 70 million euro from the European Investment Bank. The Ispa funding has to be used by the end of 2010, which is also the target launch date for the bridge.

Reports in Bulgarian media in recent days suggested that FCC planned to ask for an additional 100 million euro, a figure Moutafchiev has rejected out of hand.

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Appointments

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Employment Agency

Kamelia Lozanova has been appointed the executive director of the Employment Agency, a position she has held ad interim since September 2011, following the resignation of her predecessor Rossitsa Stelianova. Prior to that, Lozanova was the agency's deputy executive director in charge of international projects and European programmes. She has been with the agency for more than 20 years. Lozanova has a degree in Slavonic philology from the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia.

Uniqa

Uniqa

Gloria Dimitrova has been appointed executive director and member of the managing board at Uniqa Life Insurance Bulgaria. Dimitrova began her career in 1998 at the insurance supervision directorate, but moved to the private sector and worked for professional services and insurance brokerage firm Marsh&McLennan and US insurer AIG, both in Bulgaria and the Middle East. She joined Uniqa as regional director for Sofia in 2010. Dimitrova has a degree in economics from the University for National and World Economy in Sofia and a master's degree in insurance from the Business Academy in Svishtov.

Beiersdorf

Beiersdorf

Bedros Kalfayan, general manager of skin care and cosmetics company Beiersdorf Bulgaria, will oversee the parent's company units in Romania and Moldova starting April 1. Following company restructuring, Beiersdorf's subsidiaries in the three countries were merged and are now one unit, part of Beiersdorf Central and Eastern Europe. Kalfayan joined Beiersdorf in 2007 as sales manager and was promoted to general manager in 2008. Prior to that, he worked for Axxon Bulgaria, Ferrero and Rubella. Kalfayan has a master's degree in industrial management from the Technical University in Sofia.

Kamenitza

Kamenitza

Yassen Lyubenov is the new head of marketing at Bulgarian beer brewer Kamenitza. Lyubenov has 12 years of experience in marketing in the fast-moving consumer goods sector and has started his career as assistant brand manager at Kraft Foods Bulgaria. He later became brand manager at Wrigley Bulgaria, with responsibilities for Bulgaria and Macedonia. Prior to joining Kamenitza, he was senior marketing manager at Wrigley Russia, where he was in charge of brand expansion into Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Lyubenov has a bachelor's degree in international business administration from the University of Lincoln, UK.

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard

Sasha Bezuhanova has been appointed Hewlett-Packard public sector director for emerging markets, where she will oversee HP public sector activities in 63 countries, including Bulgaria. Bezuhanova will also be in charge of HP's relations with the European Union. Bezuhanova has been HP's public sector director for Central and Eastern Europe since 2008; before that she was general manager of HP Bulgaria since 1998. Bezuhanova has a master's degree in electronics from the Technical University in Sofia and has completed a managment programme at INSEAD.

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