December 17 (SeeNews) - Following are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Thursday morning. SeeNews has not verified these reports and cannot vouch for their accuracy.
DNEVNIK
- Bulgaria's government gave the green light to German-led consortium KG Maritime Shipping, which bougth 70% of the country's maritime shipping company Navibulgar last year for more than 440 million levs, to postpone pledged investments in the company for 2009 worth 53.6 million levs. KG Maritime Shipping has invested just 300,000 levs of the total.
- The environment ministry has received "an avalanche" of requests for new renewable energy capacities, including 8,000 megawatts of wind and 4,000 MW of solar capacities, deputy minister Evdokia Manova said. The ministry has issued 800 permits for wind farms and 840 for small hydroelectric units. Officials warn that the grid could collapse if all projects are carried out. For that purpose, the minsitry plans to temporarily suspend licensing of renewable energy projects until the country adopts a strategy on atlernative energy which is expeected to be ready in July-August next year at the earliest.
- British American Tobacco will reduce the number of its distributors in Bulgaria due to the economic downturn, the company said. According to unofficial sources, 110 people will be laid off directly and 70 indirectly.
KLASA
- Mobile services prices are expected to fall 25% next year, Nikolai Kichev, carrier relations and regulation division head with local wireless operator Mobiltel said. Prices have been falling by an annual 23.5% in the past three years.
PARI
- Bulgarian real estate firm Galata Investment Company, a unit of local industrial conglomerate Chimimport, will start trading on the Bulgaria Stock Exchange on December 23 at a price of 532 levs per share, being the most expensive stock on the local stock market.
- Bulgarian tourism company Orpheus Club Wellness will start trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange on December 23 at a price of 1.01 levs per share.
STANDART
- Local construction enterpreuner Nikolai Galchev has bought local company Novo Chimco, which runs mineral fertiliser maker Chimco, Novo Chimco chief executive director Andrei Semerdhziev said and added that the deal is yet to be finalised. Debt-ridden, former state-owned Chimco, was declared insolvent in 2004 following financing problems. The plant, located in the northern town of Vratsa, produces producing urea, ammonia, carbon dioxide, argon and various types of catalysts. It halted operations in 2003.
MONITOR
- The European Commission gas approved to extend 36.83 million euro to Bulgarian for rural areas development under the EU’s rural areas development policy for 2007-2013, the Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Mirsolav Naydenov said.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)