International trade

The Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signеd on Thursday an agreement establishing the Eurasian Economic Council.

Kazakhstan's capital Astana saw the emerging of a 170-million-strong bloc in which free movement of goods, capital, services and working force are to be guaranteed.

Bulgarian business will get EUR 250M boost during the new programming period 2014-2020 under OP Competitiveness and Innovation, Economy Minister Dragomir Stoynev said.

The funding will be allocated according to four major priorities, as the first one is competitiveness, which will focus on technology development and innovation, BGNES reports.

The first estimate for the euro area trade in goods balance with the rest of the world in March 2014 gave EUR 17.1B surplus, compared with EUR 21.9B in March 2013.

In Q1 2014 Bulgarian exports to third countries decreased by 16.8% compared to the corresponding period of 2013 and amounted to BGN 3.4B.

Bulgarian Development Bank and The Export-Import Bank of China signed a cooperation agreement for investments promotion for Chinese and Bulgarian companies, Wednesday.

The agreement was signed in Beijing during the visit of the Bulgarian delegation to China, led by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy Krasin Dimitrov, the Ministry of Economy and Energy informed.

The Council of the European Union is to discuss on Monday new sanctions against Russia over the deepening crisis in eastern and southern Ukraine.

The meeting will be conducted at an ambassadorial level.

A group of 10 to 15 Russian officials are expected to enter the current "black list".

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution opposing the South Stream gas pipeline and recommending a search for alternative sources of gas supplies for the EU.

In a resolution on Russian pressure over Ukraine adopted on Thursday, MEPs insisted on more sanctions against Russia and especially its energy companies.

By Constantine Passaris *

The agreement in principle of a free trade deal between Canada and the European

Bulgaria's three mobile operators introduce lower mobile phone calls tariffs as of Monday, 14 April.

So far, phone calls were charged every 60 seconds, meaning that each call longer than 61 seconds was charged at the cost of two minutes.

Bulgaria registered a 7% increase in exports of metallurgical sector products in 2013, according to Ivan Ayolov, Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy.