Bulgarian MEPs head committees
Tsvetelina Penkova, Bulgarian MEP from the Socialists' group, has been elected as the first vice-chairman of the committee for industry, research and energy in the European Parliament. Penkova, who is a second-term MEP, was a member of the same parliamentary committee before the June 9 elections.
Hristo Petrov from WCC has been nominated as the fourth vice-chairman in the parliamentary committee for culture and education on behalf of his parliamentary group Renovate Europe.
Nikola Minchev will be among the vice-chairmen of the committee for the internal market, and Emil Radev, from GERB, of the legal committee. For the first time since Bulgaria's entry into the EU, a Bulgarian will chair a committee in the European Parliament - Ilhan Kyuchuk from MRF will head the committee on legal issues.
Housing loans explode
Housing loans grew by 24.8% at the end of June compared to the same month last year, the Bulgarian National Bank announced, with a total value of 22.3 billion levs.
Consumer loans increased by 14 percent per year to 18.2 billion levs. On an annual basis, so-called other loans increased by 5.8% to 419.9 million levs.
Thus, the total increase in household loans in June 2024 compared to 12 months earlier was 19%, increasing to 42.2 billion levs.
Compared to June 2023, household deposits increased by 12.2% to 83.781 billion levs, according to data from the Central Bank.
Outcry over exorbitant electricity bills
The Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association says it is ready for strike action
following soaring electricity prices for businesses over the past month. In peak hours, the price per megawatt hour reached 2,000 levs and the bills will be overwhelming, the association said.
Its members fear bankruptcies and demand that the state provide compensation. Hoteliers stressed that they cannot save during peak hours because they are obliged to provide food, hot water and aircon to customers.