Sofia

Ukrainian global outsourcing product and application development company SoftServe announced the opening of a software development center in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The center will augment various software development engagements to support the company's vertical strategy.

Bulgaria's government approved Wednesday construction works in the Karadere area on the Black Sea coast.

The Cabinet backed a memorandum with the company Madara Europe, represented in Bulgaria by offshore company Rainbow Malta Limited, according to reports of Sega daily.

The second leg of the Europa League 1/8 final between Valencia and Ludogorets Razgrad will be played Thursday night in Spain.

The gun used by a would-be assassin to shoot Pope John Paul II will be on display at a Polish  museum dedicated to the pontiff.

John Paul II, who died in 2005, is to be proclaimed as a saint April 27 at the Vatican and the museum is preparing a new exhibition for the occasion.

The delayed monthly financial aid for refugees will be paid by Friday, Vasil Danov of Bulgaria's State Agency for Refugees confirmed.

The February payments of BGN 65 have been delayed by the Financial Ministry and the Interior Ministry, Danov told Darik news.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev has backed the proposal of Drug Enforcement Administration deputy chief Thomas Harrigan to discuss creating special joint teams.

Harrigan and Yovchev met Wednesday as part of a working visit of the Bulgarian delegation to the US, according to the press office of the Interior Ministry.

Sofia Airport registered a 9% year-on-year increase in the number of processed passengers in February 2014.

In February 2014, Sofia Airport processed a total of 258 709 passengers, up by 21 000 from February 2013, according to a media statement of the airport.

Hong Kong's market is open to Bulgarian producers, as was stated at the 'Hong Kong: Your Partner for Success in China' Business Forum in Sofia.

Many popular Bulgarian products such as wine, yogurt, honey and rose oil are practically unknown in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council regional director Stephen Wong commented.

A 17-year-old boy was stabbed in the abdomen in a fight between four Afghan citizens in Bulgaria's Sofia city center, Monday night.

Participants in the melee which occurred near Lion's Bridge in Sofia have all been detained, Bulgaria's BGNES reports. The victim has been taken to hospital, his life is out of danger.

The center of Sofia has seen a 20% decrease in the amount of parked cars since the new parking rules were introduced, said the city Mayor Yordanka Fandakova.