European System of Central Banks

By Simon Kennedy

When the European Central Bank policy makers first convened in June 1998, Bundesbank President Hans Tietmeyer didn’t like what he saw.

Sofia Municipal Council has discharged Stoyan Tsvetanov, who heads Toplofikatsiya heating utility's branch in the capital.

The decision was taken by a majority of 37 to one, with five abstained.

The resignation of the government will worsen Bulgaria's economic situation, as political struggles will scare investors away, an industrial union's Chairman believes.

His comments came after the Bulgarian Parliament approved a cabinet request to step down on Thursday.

Deposits for over BGN 1 B have been withdrawn in June from Bulgarian banks, shows data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). 

The Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Ivan Iskrov said he was ready to resign, in a letter to Speaker of Parliament Mihail Mikov, report Bulgarian-language media. 

Customers of Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB), including natural and legal persons, will sue the state for the crisis at the fourth biggest Bulgarian lender.

An initiative committee has issued a media statement informing that it will make the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), the prosecution, the investigative authority and the Interior Ministry liable and will seek compensatory damages.

A plan to save Bulgaria's Corporate Commercial Bank is in preparation at the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) of Oman, a fund source argues.

It is expected to be ready within three months, the website Gulf Business quoted the source as saying.

The report follows phone talks held Friday between Bulgarian Finance Minister Petar Chobanov and SGRF CEO Abdulsalam Al-Murshidi.

Prof. Nikolay Nenovski, Denitsa Kirilova and Emil Karanikolov will be the three new members of the Supervisory Board of the Bulgarian Bank for Development JSC.

The three, who were elected at a regular general assembly of the bank's shareholders earlier this month, will replace Diana Dragneva-Ivanova, Rumen Porozhanov and Stefan Belchev, who held the position last year.

State General Reserve Fund of the Sultanate of Oman, one of Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) shareholders, is free to take steps to save it, Bulgaria's Finance Minister announced.

Minister Petar Chobanov explained in an official statement he had held phone conversations with the SGRF's chief executive Abdulsalam Al-Murshidi, whose fund owns a 30% stake at KTB.

BGN 206 M missing at Bulgaria's CorpBank were not carried out of the bank in cash in the past weeks as previously thought, Sofia Prosecutor's Office announced.

Results from the investigation so far show the money was embezzled over a period of three years, with fake documents allegedly created by Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) high-profile employees to cover up the wrongdoing.