ERM

A fire stopped the power supply in the southwestern parts of the Bulgarian capital last night. For more than three hours there was no electricity in the Vitosha district, Krasna Polyana, Bankya, Triaditsa, Kremikovtsi, Lozenets, Lyulin, Ovcha Kupel, Krasno Selo.

Bulgaria's Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov has confirmed that Bulgaria is continuing its plan to enter the ERM-2 exchange rate mechanism. One of the commercial banks in the country still need to comply with the European Central Bank's recommendations for additional capital buffers. In doing so, Bulgaria will meet the requirements for applying to join the European Banking Union and ERM-2.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that the electric car company will build a new plant "in the Berlin area," Reuters and DPA reported.

Musk announced his decision at a Berlin Steering Wheel ceremony.

"Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding and that's part of the reason we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany," he said.

Bulgaria can adopt the euro by 2023. This is stated in a report by the rating agency Fitch.

The document recalls that the procedure began last year and a final decision on joining the ERM 2, also known as the euro waiting room, is expected by the end of this procedure.

Fitch Ratings said that it expects euro adoption in central and eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia, to have a positive impact on their sovereign creditworthiness, reports SeeNews. 

Bulgaria's push to join the euro zone is having a beneficial impact on the country, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday, reports Reuters. 

In order to join the ERM-2 mechanism, the two year "waiting room" for the euro zone this summer, Bulgaria has committed to improve financial sector supervision, anti-money laundering measures and management of state-owned companies.

Bulgaria is hoping to spend no more than two years in the ERM II mechanism that precedes the Eurozone, said Deputy-Minister of Finance Marinela Petrova at a conference in Riga, reported the Bulgarian National Radio. 

Bulgarian authorities are involved in talks to secure the country's accession into the ERM II mechanism, interim Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov said on Wednesday.

"I have the ambition that the caretaker cabinet should hand the application for ERM II. Bulgaria meets three of four criteria," Gerdzhikov said at his first briefing marking one month in office.

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Governor Dimitar Radev has said it is the right time for the country to access the ERM II Mechanism, the so-called "Eurozone waiting room".