Iliana Ivanova set to be European Commissioner
Bulgaria's candidate for European Commissioner Iliana Ivanova has no conflict of interest and can proceed with her appointment as a member of the European Commission, Brussels announced today.
Ivanova was nominated by GERB to replace Mariya Gabriel, who left, and was preferred by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, over the candidate of WCC-DB Daniel Laurer. Von der Leyen nominated her for the same portfolio previously held by Gabriel, who became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in the acting Bulgarian government.
Ivanova will now have to answer in writing questions asked by the two parliamentary commissions before appearing for an oral hearing in Brussels. If she succeeds, her candidacy for European Commissioner will be voted on in the plenary hall of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in September before she is officially appointed.
New anti-drug mechanism
The government will be creating a new coordination mechanism to combat drug importation and distribution, announced PM Nikolay Denkov before the start of today's meeting of the Council of Ministers. He conceded the lack of success in recent years in the fight against the distribution of drugs, and now there is a new reason to raise the issue.
"There is a new type of synthetic drug that is 100 times more active than heroin and is spread by mixing with other drugs. It has already appeared in Bulgaria, after it was spread first in the USA and then in Western Europe," he said. Last week it was reported that in just 7 days, 10 people died in Varna after using heroin, which included the synthetic fentanyl. Last week, two women were also arrested in the city, distributing an even stronger and more deadly analogue of fentanyl - alpha-methylfentanyl.
Revolut launches flexible savings service in Bulgaria
British-based fintech company Revolut will now allow Bulgarian users the opportunity to receive an interest rate on the money in their savings accounts. The "Flexible Accounts" service, as the company calls it, gives users an interest rate for putting their money in a "vault" in the app.
It looks like a deposit, but in reality it's an investment and accordingly the amount deposited is not guaranteed by a deposit protection scheme. The rates are also not fixed and the result may be a loss. The difference is that income is earned by investing the funds in "highly diversified, low-volatility funds that represent a competitive alternative for clients seeking stable returns or aiming to protect their money from inflation with a lower expected level of risk compared to alternative investments," Revolut announced.
Iliana Ivanova set to be European Commissioner
Bulgaria's candidate for European Commissioner Iliana Ivanova has no conflict of interest and can proceed with her appointment as a member of the European Commission, Brussels announced today.
