Prime Ministers of Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Socialist Party is ready to join a "grand coalition" including all parties to the left, a socialist lawmaker has said.

Maya Manolova, who was at the spearhead of the formerly ruling BSP's legislative moves in the previous Parliament, is now known for her dissension with some of her party's main policy lines.

The state budget for 2015 will include up to BGN 1 B more in revenues compared to the previous year, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has told participants in a meeting between government officials and business representatives.

Representatives of the Bulgarian government and business gather at their ninth annual meeting on Tuesday to discuss the restoration of the country on the path of economic growth.

This year more than 250 executive directors of the largest firms in Bulgaria as well as foreign investors have confirmed their participation at the conference, electronic daily Dnevnik reports.

Bulgaria's ruling coalition has merged parts of the executive and the legislature into a new body - the Council for development.

This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for Coalition Policy and Public Administration Rumyana Bachvarova in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Sunday.

Bulgaria, a country playing a "central role in Europe's emerging energy picture", is becoming "the latest wishbone in the struggle between Moscow's efforts to to assert its energy dominance over Europe and the West's efforts to cage that gassy bear," according to Foreign Policy.

Britain's outgoing Ambassador to Sofia Jonathan Allen has praised Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov for having "a flair" despite not being a professional politician.

In his last interview before departing for the UK later this month, Allen has said Borisov is "a man with a difficult job, a unique man, a unique Prime Minister."

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has reiterated Bulgaria's support for the Euro-Atlantic integration of Macedonia.

Responding to a question of former Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin, Borisov stressed that the policy of the Bulgarian government on Macedonia was consistent and had remained unchanged.

Bulgaria's central bank deputy governor Dimitar Kostov is the most likely successor to Tsvetan Gounev as head of the bank's Banking Supervision Department if Parliament dismissed Gounev, 24 Chasa news daily reported on Thursday without quoting sources.

The US is committed to Bulgaria's energy security and to curbing its energy dependence, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said while on a visit to Sofia.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will visit Bulgaria on Wednesday for talks on bilateral and European Union issues, the foreign ministry in Sofia said on Monday.