Bulgarian lev

Bulgaria's government is starting talks with the governments of the 19 eurozone countries on joining the eurozone, according to Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov.

Goranov visited Vilnius Thursday on the occasion of the Lithuania's eurozone accession and the abolition of the local currency, the Lithuanian litas (LTL).

Bulgaria's central bank on Wednesday said it approved the design of a two-lev coin that will replace banknotes of the same face value next year.

The refugee center in the western village of Kovachevtsi will be closed, according to Nikolay Chirpanliev, Chair of Bulgaria's State Agency for Refugees.

In an interview for Presa daily, Chirpanliev says that the authorities will have to move some 100 people, who currently live there, to other centers.

By the end of the year the University Hospital St. Marina in Varna will start transplants of hematopoietic stem cells as part of the treatment of some types of leukaemia, said the donors coordinator of the hospital Vilian Platikanov, quoted by the BNR public broadcaster.

Captain Stefan Stefanov, who flies the airplane owned by Bulgarian banker Tsvetan Vasilev, has asserted no money was on board as Vasilev left Bulgaria in June.

An inspection of the assets and liabilities of the Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) banking group has been launched.

The inspection, which was requested by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and the government, includes the credit and investment portfolios, according to a media statement of BNB.

The district court in Bulgaria's city of Lovech has decided to temporarily dismiss Teteven's mayor Milen Milev.

The measure will also be applied to his deputy, Detelin Parlev, and will prevent the two men from trying to dispose of any documents that could be relevant to the trial, Dariknews.bg has reported.