Sofia

EU Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu has expressed her appreciation for the work of Bulgarian authorities in view of the absorption rate of over 75% of EU funds for the 2007-2013 programming period.

Cretu shared her impressions after a Tuesday meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Sofia.

Bulgaria's state-owned gas company Bulgargaz reported a loss of BGN 15.195 M for the first quarter of 2015, according to the financial report of the company.

According to the report, published on the website of the Finance Ministry at the end of last week, the financial condition of Bulgargaz deteriorates substantially from the same period in 2014.

The Bulgarian Interior Ministry has revoked the information that police specialized teams have been sent urgently near Sofia's Novi Han.

Out of 34 detained at the protests held Tuesday in the Orlandovtsi neighborhood in Sofia, Bulgaria, only 8 were from the neighborhood, police say.

Initially the number of arrested people was lower but law enforcement officers had to take more into custody over hooliganism and refusing to heed police orders.

A Bulgarian-Portuguese business forum will take place Tuesday in Sofia.

The joint business forum will be opened by Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev and his Portuguese counterpart, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who is on a visit to Bulgaria.

Roma people in the Bulgarian village of Garmen have not yet started to remove buildings erected illegally in the Kremikovtsi neighborhood,  officials say.

According to the Ministry of Regional Development, all buildings have remained intact since mid-May when tensions started to build up in the southwestern Bulgarian village.

20 people were arrested Monday evening during a protest in Sofia's Orlandovtsi district.

On Saturday, clashes that erupted between Bulgarians and Roma over loud music left six people injured.

On Sunday, around 200 Bulgarians staged a protest in the residential district.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said that the Bulgarian government aims to achieve macroeconomic development for the sake of Bulgarian citizens and to make sure that the country is a good and reliable partner for EU Member States and other countries in Europe.

Bulgaria could benefit from EU funding totaling EUR 7.6 B in the 2014-2020 programming period, according to EU Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu.

Speaking Monday in Bulgaria's Danube city of Ruse, she drew attention to the fact that a total of EUR 250 M had been earmarked for cross-border cooperation projects in the 2014-2020 programming period.

There have been no proposals to Bulgaria about the potential deployment of US heavy weapons in the country, President Rosen Plevneliev has said.

Meeting his Portuguese counterpart Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who is on a visit to Sofia, Plevneliev made clear no talks had so far been held between Bulgaria and Pentagon officials.