The opposition GERB party of popular Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov is expected to garner 26% of the votes and the ruling Socialists are likely to get 16% in the European Parliament elections on June 7, a poll shows. Were elections for MEPs held now, the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, key coalition partner of the Socialists, would gather 9% of the votes, followed by their arch rivals, the nationalist Ataka with 6%, according to the survey of local pollsters MBMD. No more than 5% of the respondents said they will support the coalition of the two biggest right-wing parties, Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) and the United Democratic Forces (UDF), while the conservative right-wing Order, Law and Ju...

A growth in supply of all types of property in Bulgaria and sellers who are not willing to cut asking prices describe best the current real estate market in the country, according to a local realtor analysis. \"Despite the boosted supply a large part of the sellers keep high asking prices and the market is stagnated,\" a report of Bulgarian Properties shows. The sales of property in the countryside marked an average of 35% decrease in prices over the the first quarter of last year. The number of deals sealed in January and February also dropped by 36% over the same period last year. For the first time since October an increase in the number of concluded sales over the previous month was recorded in March, g...

The newest Bulgarian left-wing party held Saturday its Constituent Congress. 538 delegates of the new \"Bulgarian Left Wing\" (BLW) party gathered together to elect the party\'s leadership and discuss its code and policies. The delegates unanimously elected the former Member of the Parliament from the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Ivan Genov, as Chair of the Constituent Congress while the party\'s founder, Iliya Bozhinov, was elected Chair of the Mandate Committee. Bozhinov said BLW\'s code had some similarities with the one of BSP, but would include many different principles as well. The party stands for new social and economic policies, adequate anti-crisis measures, end of organized crime, o...

A Bulgarian real estate agency has received interest from Russian investors in over 300 properties in Sofia and on the Black Sea coast. According to ‘Home For You\' CEO, Konstantin Bobchev, Russian investors have been attracted by the falling real estate prices in Bulgaria. He said; \"Our Russian partners have shown interest in purchasing apartments in Sofia and in Bulgaria\'s resort towns,\" cited by Bulgarian daily newspaper Standart. Such a large-scale investment will give some fresh air to Bulgaria\'s real estate sector, which is now gasping under the unfavorable conditions of a spreading global financial crisis, the publication concluded....

Bulgarian and foreign businessmen are discussing the possibilities of setting up a car manufacturing plant in the town of Sliven. They are currently inspecting the available properties in Sliven\'s industrial area that could house the necessary machinery. \"At this stage I cannot announce the investor\'s name, but Bulgarian experts are also involved in the project,\" Professor Stanimir Karapetkov told the Standart daily newspaper late Tuesday. As head of the project \"An automobile made in Bulgaria\", Mr. Karapetkov has had several recent meetings with foreign businessmen. Daimler-Chrysler, chief sponsor of the project \"An automobile made in Bulgaria\", are allegedly ready to support the production proc...

Varna is likely to become the natural gas hub of Bulgaria, Petar Dimitrov, Minister for Economy and Energy announced Tuesday while in the coastal city. \"The exploitation of the newly-discovered gas deposits Kavarna 1 and Kavarna 2, Kaliakra and the small deposits that meet local needs will boost the city\'s economic development,\" Minister Dimitrov stated late Tuesday, cited by Standart daily newspaper. \"The strategy for diversification of the gas supplies to Bulgaria also involves the construction of a depot in the Galata gas field and terminals for supply of liquefied and compressed natural gas at Port Varna. It is also possible that South Stream pipeline reaches Bulgaria at the coast in Varna,\" Dimitrov ...

An exhibition dedicated to Bulgaria\'s bidder for the world\'s new Seven Wonders, the Belogradchik Rocks, will be shown May 3 in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The event will be part of the Open Doors Day in the EP, and is initiated by the Bulgarian MEP, Marusya Lyubcheva. The project is developed together with the authors of the \"Belogradchik Rocks\" photo exhibition. It will also include pictures from the \"24 Chasa Daily\" (24 Hours) contest for children painting on the topic. \"Bulgaria is still not popular enough, and I believe that the participation of our country in the Open Doors Day of the EP will help to integrate Bulgaria in the European community\", Lyubcheva explained....

A mix of fraud and bankrupt builders is shattering the dreams of Britons who bought homes abroad By Anna Mikhailova When Maryla Guzinska, a housewife from the Isle of Wight, read an article in a national newspaper extolling the virtues of property on the Estonian riviera, it seemed like a sound investment. In June 2005, she put down a deposit of £10,500 on a two-bedroom villa in Parnu, the seaside \"summer capital\" of the Baltic state, and was told her new holiday home would be ready by the end of the next year, when the remainder of the £42,500 sale price would be due. Churchill Properties Overseas, which was building and selling the villas, assured Guzinska that her home would double in price in the 18...

The coalition of 30 non-governmental organization and civil groups \"For nature to remain in Bulgaria\" is celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday. A series of events throughout the country have been organized to celebrate the day. In the morning alpinists and climbers will drop environmental message banners down from buildings and crossroads in the center of Sofia . At 11 am in the garden in front of the Bulgarian parliament a photo exhibition will be opened. There will be stands with information materials on how to live in harmony with nature. There will be events marking Earth Day across Bulgaria; in Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Kurdzhali, Pleven, Sliven and Sopot. Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day des...

Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov has stressed that Bulgaria will be a key figure in allowing large scale European natural gas projects to be realized. \"Bulgaria will play an important role both in the political and the technical realization of the large-scale gas infrastructure projects in Southeastern Europe and the Black Sea - Caspian region\", stated Parvanov in an interview for the Greek \'Naftemporiki\' newspaper on Wednesday. \"Bulgaria can set its energy policy only in close cooperation with its neighbouring countries as they have identical geostarategic priorities and similar economic interests,\" stressed Parvanov, cited by the Bulgarian daily newspaper Standart. Bulgaria\'s president pointed ou...