Bulgarian Telegraph Agency

The European Union will allocate EUR 105 M to fighting youth unemployment in Bulgaria, according to caretaker Labor and Social Policy Minister Yordan Hristoskov.

Speaking Friday in Plovdiv, Hristoskov announced that the program would be launched in October and it would include 8000 young people.

Bulgaria's National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) will request a budget update by BGN 100 M, according to Kiril Ananiev, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the NHIF and caretaker Deputy Finance Minister.

Ananiev, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, announced Thursday that the request would be submitted with the Health Minister by the end of the day.

Residents of the southern Bulgarian city of Smolyan have staged a brief road block to oppose plans to build a biomass-fired thermal power plant.

Residents of the Ustovo district of Smolyan blocked traffic along the Smolyan - Madan road for some 10 minutes on Monday, according to reports of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency and Capital Daily.

Prime Ministers, foreign ministers and economy ministers of the Western Balkan countries are to meet Thursday in Berlin at a forum organized by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The German Chancellor announced plans to organize the Conference of Western Balkan States on June 7.

The first schemes under operational program Innovations and Competitiveness to 2020 may be launched by end-2014, according to Bulgaria's caretaker Deputy Economy Minister.

Vasil Shtonov, caretaker Energy Minister, has informed that the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) may be moved from the government to Parliament.

Shtonov made clear at a Friday press conference that the proposal was still being discussed and it could only be implemented by an ordinary government.

Bulgaria may lose EU funding of BGN 24M under the "Transport" Operational Program, according to Nikolina Angelkova, caretaker Transport Minister.

Angelkova announced that she had received a preliminary audit report from the European Commission on Friday and that her team had two months to correct the errors in infrastructure projects to reduce the amount which EC could cut.

Childhood obesity in Bulgaria has increased from 12.3% in 2008 to 13.9% in 2014, a new study among 3,353 children at the age of 7 has showed.

The research was carried out by the National Public Health and Analyses Center and the Regional Health Inspectorates in the country, Bulgarian Telegraph Agency informed.

The mass destruction of old ammunition at a blasted ammo depot in southeastern Bulgaria has been concluded, Wednesday.

Over the past few months, some 20 thousand dangerous pieces of ammunition have been destroyed in controlled explosions, Bulgarian Telegraph Agency reports.

The grey economy in Romania amounted to 28.4% of the GDP in 2013, down from the rate of 30% of GDP registered in 2011, according to the Council of Europe's anti-money laundering Committee (MONEYVAL).