Velichie is 0.001 under the 4% barrier, 8 parties remain in parliament
With 100% of protocols processed, Ivelin Mihaylov's Velichie ("greatness") party will remain outside the next parliament, according to the final data published on the website of the Central Election Commission late on Monday.
The party, which split shortly after entering the 50th parliament in the June elections, received 3.999% of the votes this time - just 0.001% short of the 4% barrier, which likely amounts to a few hundred votes.
This means that the final number of parties that will make it into parliament is "only" eight. Read more about the distribution of votes and MPs in today's update on our website.
Bulgartransgaz's profit rises by nearly 200% to 173 million levs
The Bulgarian gas transit company Bulgartransgaz registered a real boom in profit for the half-year - 173.7 million levs compared to 58.6 million levs a year earlier, an increase of 196%, the company's report shows. In the first half of the year, the state-owned gas operator maintained the trend of increasing revenues from licensing activities, which reached almost 450 million levs (up 28% year-on-year).
This is the result of the implementation of the interconnection projects between Greece and Serbia, the reversal of existing interconnections and the implementation of the infrastructure expansion project between the Bulgarian-Turkish and Bulgarian-Serbian borders. Part of the revenues are also generated from natural gas storage services at the Chiren storage facility.
Specifically, gas storage revenues, for example, increased by 71% to 22 million levs (vs. 4 million levs a year earlier). The data show that the gas transported to the borders with the neighboring countries is 44.55% more than the quantities for the same period last year.
Finance ministry to attempt curbing the deficit to 3% with tax law changes
The government will not give up its idea that VAT-registered companies will have to submit information on their fixed assets and inventories to the revenue authorities every three months from next year. Caretaker finance minister Lyudmila Petkova says the requirement is part of a package of measures approved for implementation by Bulgaria by the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (MONEYVAL Committee). It will remain in place, despite complaints from business that it increases red tape.
Another proposed change that will be filed by the Finance Ministry in early November is the abolition from 2025 of the reduced VAT rate for restaurants and bread, which has been estimated to "cost" 400 million levs in tax revenue every year.
The finance minister did not commit to a date for the 2025 budget.
Velichie is 0.001 under the 4% barrier, 8 parties remain in parliament
With 100% of protocols processed, Ivelin Mihaylov's Velichie ("greatness") party will remain outside the next parliament, according to the final data published on the website of the Central Election Commission late on Monday.
