Radev Refutes Macron's Remarks On Ukraine
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev claimed that his team is following closely and "with concern" the Paris summit of European leaders in which French president Emanuel Macron did not discount the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine.
Radev said that sending troops from NATO to Ukraine, albeit on the basis of a bilateral agreement, would mean a global clash and a greatly heightened risk of nuclear conflict.
Bulgarians Still Struggling
Many Bulgarians are still struggling financially, according to an analysis of bank deposits by trade union Podkrepa. As of December, nearly 49% of households have an average of just 170 levs on deposit. The total amount of these deposits represented only 0.9% of overall savings in levs in Bulgaria.
The union said that the findings, compiled using BNB data, establish that these people can be considered as having serious financial difficulties. Another 10% of households have an average of 1,666 levs in their accounts.
The two groups represent about 60% of all households and coincides with data that two-thirds of them are below the living wage threshold.
Mining In 2022 Slows Down Despite Coal Boom
The largest mining companies in Bulgaria exhibited slowing growth in 2022, with their revenues increasing by an average of 19% (against 26% in 2021). At the top of the sector remains the state-owned coal mining entity Mini Maritsa-East, which mines lignite in the Maritsa basin, with a turnover topping 865 million levs.
RUA Bulgaria, which processes the waste from the former tailings dump of Kremikovtsi plant into raw material, is growing the fastest - by more than 137%. All companies in the top 10 report a profit, after two were at a loss in 2021, with the highest profitability traditionally being achieved by mining companies. The overall number of employees did not diminish.
