Assad's ousting gets muted reaction
The fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has not provoked much reaction among Bulgaria's political elite in Bulgaria.
A notable exception was incumbent foreign minister Ivan Kondov. He told BNT that "despite the fall of the regime creating opportunities for renewed relations of the political process there is a great deal of instability and risks for internal fragmentation, extremism and renewal of terrorism activities". He emphasized that Bulgaria's stance towards Syria remains unchanged adding that "we still do not have a decision on whether to suspend asylum for migrants from Syria".
Radan Kanev, member of the European Parliament from the PP-DB coalition, expressed concern over Syria's potential future. "There is a great chance for further violence due to religious political and ethnic differences. I certainly hope that is not the case, however". Kanev was quick, however, to refute as "absurd" any claim that a "secular" and almost humane regime had fallen.
Significant profit increase for Aurubis Bulgaria
Aurubis Bulgaria, a key metal processing company, reported a profit of 200.3 million euros (392 million levs) for the 2023/24 financial year, up from 148.3 million euros the previous year. The increase reflects a recovery after planned maintenance disrupted production in 2022/23 at its plant near Pirdop and Zlatitsa. Despite a 14% decline in 2023 revenues to 7.3 billion levs due to the downtime, the company is expected to see an improvement in the current year.
Parent company data shows steady performance in its metals production segment, with total revenues at 17.3 billion euros, while processed concentrate volumes fell slightly to 2.266 million tons. The production of key outputs, including cathodes and sulfuric acid, also saw minor declines due to maintenance at both the Bulgarian plant and the Hamburg facility.
New in-house road maintenance mega deal
The state-owned company Avtomagistrali, previously implicated in the in-house contracting scandal for the Hemus Highway, continues to secure large contracts without open tenders. In November, it signed a 44.9 million levs contract with the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) for winter maintenance and emergency repairs across several regions.
While RIA published the documents a month later, it provided no explanation for bypassing competitive procedures. The contract appears to fill gaps until official contractors are found, as some related tenders remain incomplete. Ironically, Avtomagistrali itself was disqualified from some of these tenders, raising questions about its capacity to fulfill the new obligations.
Assad's ousting gets muted reaction
The fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has not provoked much reaction among Bulgaria's political elite in Bulgaria.
