The direct losses for Bulgaria from the delayed full accession to the Schengen Area amount to EUR 424 million, caretaker Minister of Economy Petko Nikolov said. He quoted a report by the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, commissioned by the Ministry of Economy.
At a discussion in Sofia on the priorities of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union and their repercussions on the Bulgarian political agenda, Minister Nikolov pointed out that the direct losses should be added to the lost profits of around EUR 275 million. Thus, the potential benefits from removing land border controls exceed EUR 680 million annually. Additionally, the accession to Schengen by land will reduce carbon emissions from traffic. "Transport connectivity will improve, trade and investment flows will increase and travel time and costs will decrease", summarized Minister Nikolov.
For the first half of 2024, the fast loans reached over 3 billion euros, according to the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) . In comparison, at the end of June 2023, the granted quick loans totalled 2.5 billion euros. According to the..
Natural gas prices are expected to decrease by around 2% in September, according to a forecast by Bulgargaz. This is clear from the request submitted to the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC). The company informs that next month, the..
The unemployment rate in Bulgaria stood at 5.41% in July, the National Employment Agency says. 152,844 is the number of unemployed persons registered last month, and 14,542 started work. An increase in the number of job vacancies has been..
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