Bulgaria

A total of nineteen project applications have been approved for funding in the Do-It-Yourself Contest 2015 organized by Za Zemiata, one of Bulgaria's largest non-profit environmental organizations.

The contest aims to prove that anyone who has a brilliant idea, puts in some effort, and is provided with financial assistance can introduce "green" changes to the place they live in.

A van owned by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), a liberal party mostly representing the ethnic Turkish minority, was set ablaze in the small hours of Saturday in Bulgaria's capital.

There is CCTV footage of the incident, and sources familiar with its content have called it "arson".

Emergency has been declared due to the heavy snowfall in the municipality of Rudozem, in Smolyan region in Bulgaria's south.

The alert entered into force on Sunday, 06:30 local time. It follows days of severe weather conditions across Bulgaria, but mostly affecting its southern regions.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov discussed on Friday the priorities of the government and the readiness of the executive to implement key reforms in 2015.

This completed the month of political consultations, which had been initiated by Plevneliev, the presidential press service reports.

Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV), one of the parties supporting the coalition government, approved the resignation of its leader, former Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

This was announced by Parvanov himself, following a three-hour meeting of the national council of the party on Friday.

No candidates to buy the bankrupt Vratsa-based fertilizer plant Chimco AD, also known as Himko AD, showed up in the second open tender.

The price tag, at BGN 22.8 M, had been reduced by slightly over BGN 6 M from the previous tender held in 2014, according to reports of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

The bid increment had been set at BGN 1 M.

The Bulgarian Parliament approved on Friday the amendments to the Defence and Armed Forces Act at first reading.

The amendments provide opportunities for Bulgarian servicemen and civilians to serve in international organisations operating on Bulgarian territory, Darik radio reports.

Novinite has interviewed H.E. Pavel Vacek, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Bulgaria, on various bilateral issues, but mostly on issues in Bulgaria's energy sector and the repercussions they have on Czech companies.

Speaking at the ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin), Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova noted that nearly 1 million Germans had visited Bulgaria in 2014, with over 700 000 of them traveling to the country for tourism.

Vladimir Pisanchev, who heads the Bulgarian counter-intelligence body DANS, has tabled his resignation.

This comes hours after on the Chief Secretary of Bulgaria's Interior Ministry, Svetlozar Lazarov, stepped down and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said he would accept the move.