Wednesday saw further political intrigue around the run-off of the Presidential election deepening as MRF candidate and party leader Mustafa Karadaya indirectly gave his backing to Rumen Radev's opponent Anastas Gerdjikov.
Mr Karadaya, who won over 13 percent of the vote and was the third most popular candidate in the Sunday election, signed a declaration earlier today in which Mr Radev is described as "either delusional or a willful promoter of the idea of a Presidential republic". MRF's opposition to Mr Radev comes a day after BSP chairwoman-in-resignation Kornelia Ninova refused to say if she would still back the incumbent, whom she personally nominated in 2016, in the second round.
Nova TV director Nikolay Andreev to head Vivacom, Bulgaria's largest telecom
From 1 December Bulgaria's largest telecommunications provider, Vivacom, will have a new president - Nova TV director Nikolay Andreev inherits the position from acting head Atanas Dobrev. Practically, Mr Andreev shifts positions within one and the same holding - United Group - which also controls the largest media group in the country, as well as internet providers Net 1, ComNet and Networx. Belgian Dirk Gerkens takes over Mr Andreev's role in Nova TV, United Group announced. Mr Andreev, a financier by vocation, has headed Nova TV since 2019. Before that he used to be the financial and administrative director of the group from 2009 onward.
The 100 largest IT companies employ 26,000 people: CBN Pannoff, Stoytcheff & Co
A report by the independent agency released on Wednesday shows that the largest 100 IT companies in Bulgaria have employed 26,625 tech-related professionals during the pandemic-ridden 2020. Out of these 100 firms, 76 are foreign investors from around the globe and 24 are domestically owned. The latter employ 18 percent of the workers in the sector. The growth in new workplaces from the IT sector since 2015 is 67 percent, CBN reports.
Bulgaria among top five EU countries growing its social benefits expenditure: Eurostat
The European statistics agency shows that Bulgaria is among the top five countries where expenditure on social protection benefits has increased the most between 2019 and 2020. Benefits increased 15 percent during the pandemic-ridden year, with only Malta, Ireland, Cyprus and Czechia spending more in the EU (28, 21, 18 and 16 percent, respectively). Despite the growth in relative terms, when it comes to social benefits expenditure as a percentage of GDP, Bulgaria remains in the bottom five of the EU, with only 18 percent of GDP going towards social protection - compared to around 35 percent in countries like France and Austria.
Wednesday saw further political intrigue around the run-off of the Presidential election deepening as MRF candidate and party leader Mustafa Karadaya indirectly gave his backing to Rumen Radev's opponent Anastas Gerdjikov.
Mr Karadaya, who won over 13 percent of the vote and was the third most popular candidate in the Sunday election, signed a declaration earlier today in which Mr Radev is described as "either delusional or a willful promoter of the idea of a Presidential republic". MRF's opposition to Mr Radev comes a day after BSP chairwoman-in-resignation Kornelia Ninova refused to say if she would still back the incumbent, whom she personally nominated in 2016, in the second round.
