GERB might support a WCC-DB-led cabinet
A coalition government with GERB and WCC-DB is still highly unlikely following a preliminary meeting between leaders of the two formations today, prior to the formal handing over of mandates.
But GERB and WCC-DB will discuss the possibility of a common management program, around which a future government could work. The WCC-DB coalition maintains that it will not support a cabinet proposed by GERB on the first mandate. But it is ready to accept support from GERB for a minority government of its own. Boyko Borissov's party did not exclude this option, but insisted on seeing a list of proposed ministers in advance.
Property purchases decrease for third quarter in a row
A total of 44,461 purchases of buildings and lands throughout Bulgaria were recorded in the first quarter of 2023, according to data from the Registration Agency, 9% less than the period January - March 2022. This is the third quarter in a row that the number of property purchases has decreased, which confirms the cooling trend of the real estate market.
The decline for the first three months of this year was lower than that in October-December 2022 (10.4%), but higher than that in the third quarter (7.3%), when the trend began to reverse. Deals in all of the six largest cities are decreasing, from 8% in Plovdiv to 25% in Stara Zagora. In the capital, the drop in purchases amounts to 12%.
High-speed train to connect Ruse with Bucharest airportThe Bucharest - Giurgiu - Ruse line, which will shorten the route from Bucharest to Ruse by 90 minutes at the very least, is now not expected to open until next year following reports of shoddy work by subcontractors.
The project plans on trains reaching an average speed of 160 km/h, with a final stop at Otopeni airport (Bucharest), so a trip from Ruse to the Romanian capital will last less than an hour.
The direct railway line Bucharest-North-Otopeni Airport-Giurgiu-Ruse is a completely Romanian project, however this new train will be an affordable alternative transport for Ruse and the entire region. Residents of Northwest Bulgaria will be able to travel by train directly to Otopeni Airport, which has twice as much air traffic and many more destinations than Sofia Airport.
GERB might support a WCC-DB-led cabinet
A coalition government with GERB and WCC-DB is still highly unlikely following a preliminary meeting between leaders of the two formations today, prior to the formal handing over of mandates.
