Sat, Nov 21 2009

About 60 million euro will be invested directly in the regional economy of Vidin region in northwestern Bulgaria during that Danube Bridge 2 is being built to link the town to Calafat in Romania, weekly Stroitelstvo Gradut reproted. The direct investments will come as building materials, fuels, equipment, machinery, manpower and their kit. The bridge itself and the adjoining its infrastructure, including works on the Romanian side, is 274 million euro, of which 226 million are on the Bulgarian side.
Only Bulgarian contractors should be hired for public procurement jobs funded under the European Union's operational programme for environment, Simeon Peshov, chairperson of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber and president of construction company Glavbolgarstroy, said on July 9 at a meeting with Environment Minister Djevdet Chakurov and the national association of municipalities. The biggest chunk of funding under the programme, some 1.4 billion leva, is earmarked for the construction of wastewater treatment plants.
The second bridge over the river Vurteshnitsa in Bulgaria's Krivodol was ready, Focus news agency said. Construction was necessary after floods in 2004, which cut off the only connection between the two parts of the town of Krivodol. The only bridge in Krivodol was damaged in the flooding, limiting movement across the river, Focus news agency said. The use of the bridge by motor vehicles was reduced to a minimum out of fear it would collapse.
Five companies have been invited by the Transport and Communications Ministry to participate in the tender for the construction of the second Bulgarian bridge over the Danube River. The ministry invited to compete a joint venture between Germany's Hochtief, Spanish builder Obrascon Huarte Lain (OHL) and Spain's FCC. A consortium between France's Vinci and Bulgaria's Glavbolgarstroi and
Strong public opposition to price hikes prompted Prime Minister Boiko Borissov to axe the Finance Ministry proposal to increase the excise duty on spirits, but MPs have put it back on the agenda.
Bulgaria’s Cabinet seeks to reverse recent changes in the telecommunications sector
Kremikovtzi’s prospects for a recovery plan appear increasingly distant
Bulgarians are getting the hang of debit and credit cards, MasterCard says
The two telecoms, both set up to challenge former fixed-line state monopoly BTC, will merge operations and expect to report 20 million euro in revenue and a gross profit of five million euro in 2010.