Bulgarian President requests changes to N.Macedonian constitution
As expected, Rumen Radev didn't announce any revisions in Sofia's attitude to the stalled N.Macedonia-EU negotiations. "We request changes to the constitution, to accept Macedonian Bulgarians as an equal part of the nation," said Radev, after meeting his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev.
The meeting was hosted by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron and was part of the EU's effort to propel negotiations with Albania and N.Macedonia. Radev pointed out that Bulgaria would sign a bilateral protocol with Skopje about changes needed before the Bulgarian veto can be lifted. That will lead to a "roadmap" that Sofia wants included in the EU negotiations.
From 3.8% to 4.9% - forecasts for the economy are rosy
Bulgaria's economy is poised to grow fast next year, if one is to believe the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance. The Bank revised its prognosis from 3.7% to 3.8% growth for 2022, while the ministry is more optimistic, pinning expected growth at 4.9%. A huge part of the reason is the expected entry of the Recovery and Resilience Plan which is supposed to bring 6 bln. Euro to Bulgaria until 2026. Yet the plan has not yet been sent to Brussels, nor has it yet been approved.
SMEs will get state aid for the electricity price
The state regulator won't name it "aid", yet it will change the formula for calculating the price, which every business pays to distributors of "last instance". Since the market was liberalized this year, every small and medium-sized business got the option of choosing a trader. Most of the SMEs haven't done so, though, which means they ended up in the "last instance" scheme - effectively paying 20-30% more. With the new regulation, 15-30 levs per month will be taken off their bills, says the regulator.
Bulgarian President requests changes to N.Macedonian constitution
As expected, Rumen Radev didn't announce any revisions in Sofia's attitude to the stalled N.Macedonia-EU negotiations. "We request changes to the constitution, to accept Macedonian Bulgarians as an equal part of the nation," said Radev, after meeting his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev.
