September 14 (SeeNews) - Following are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Monday morning. SeeNews has not verified these reports and cannot vouch for their accuracy.
DNEVNIK
- Bulgaria’s gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen by 5.0% since mid-September 2008, when the global economic crisis started with the collapse of Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers; bad loans in the Bulgarian banking system doubled, unemployment numbers rose by 40% and industrial output shrank by 30%, the daily reported.
- Bulgaria has lost 32 million euro in funding from the European Union pre-accession programme PHARE, the Deputy Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova said. Last year the European Commission froze 133 million euro in PHARE aid to Bulgaria due to bad management of the funds.
PARI
- Bulgaria has started talks with the European Investment Bank for a loan of up to one billion euro, the Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev said. The loan will used to co-finance infrastructure projects mainly financed under the European Union Transport Operating Programme.
- Bulgaria could start to issue the new biometrical ID cards in March, Deputy Interior Minister Veselin Vuchkov said.
- The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund will grant 5.0 million levs to Bulgaria to finance pre-qualification and training programmes for the workers laid off following the closure of insolvent steel mill Kremikovtzi and the job cuts at the Bulgarian State Railways.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)