''The loss from Bulgaria's delayed membership in the Eurozone and Schengen is between 4% and 5% of the country's GDP'', Bulgaria’s Minister of Finance Assen Vassilev said in an interview for Nova TV. ''The business loses between EUR 250 million and EUR 500 million just from currency conversion. Separately, delaying eurozone membership leads to higher interest rates and less investment'', Minister Vassilev said.
The losses stemming from Bulgaria’s delayed membership in Schengen are also huge, Minister Vassilev said with regard to the government’s draft decree, according to which Bulgaria should include in an official document the date January 1, 2025, as a target date for adopting the euro. Assen Vassilev said that this act is necessary, because the caretaker cabinet had not written down the date January 1, 2024, as the target date for Eurozone membership, and because it had drafted a budget with a 6.4% deficit.
“The main priorities businesses have – membership of the Eurozone and accession to the Schengen area by land – have receded to the background. They are the motors which can boost the economy, but the fact there is no regular government is an obstacle..
Bulgargaz has reported record interest in its tender for the supply of LNG to the Alexandroupolis terminal for January and February 2025. All nineteen bidders met the criteria set by the company and have been approved to participate in the next..
The Russian state oil company Lukoil has plans to sell its Bulgarian refinery Neftochim based in Burgas on the Black Sea Coast. It is the largest in the Balkans, writes the Financial Times . The deal is expected to be announced by the end of..
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