49th National Assembly deadlocked again
Deputies in the 49th National Assembly, elected ten days ago, were sworn in today, but will once again be bogged down in a protracted first session after attempts to elect a chairman failed this morning.
Parliament will reconvene tomorrow morning to vote on who will head the institution. This decision, as well as the announcement of the parliamentary groups, are the two formal steps without which the constitutional procedure of attempts to form a regular government cannot begin. In the last parliament, the election of a chairman took three whole days.
KBC-UBB bank merger complete
KBC Bank Bulgaria, the renamed successor to Raiffeisenbank, officially merged with United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) on April 10th. In the summer of 2022, Belgian KBC acquired Raiffeisen's business in Bulgaria for a little over EUR 1 billion.
"We will work on completing the merger in four stages," Peter Ruben, CEO of UBB announced. The first stage, which will mostly affect individuals, will begin in September, and the entire process is expected to be completed by the end of next year. "There will inevitably be problems and disruptions for customers," said Ruben, with one of the biggest inconveniences shaping up to be the replacement of old bank account numbers with new IBANs, beginning in September. The first stage will begin with the merger of the two applications for mobile banking.
Taylor & Harts jewelry startup receives GBP 3.5 million
Jewelry startup Taylor & Hart, which aims to fully digitize engagement ring ordering and delivery, has received just over £3.5m in funding. Although it mainly operates on the British market, the company has a Bulgarian co-founder - Nikolay Piryankov.
Founded in 2013, Taylor&Hart received a £2m investment from Garage Soho and popular advertiser John Hegarty in 2018. A year later it fetched just over £3.6m. With this third investment, the capital invested in the company exceeds 9 million pounds.
49th National Assembly deadlocked again
Deputies in the 49th National Assembly, elected ten days ago, were sworn in today, but will once again be bogged down in a protracted first session after attempts to elect a chairman failed this morning.
