Value-added tax

The Athens Chamber of Commerce & Industry (EBEA) has issued a leaflet in its effort to shed light on the dire economic environment for Greek businesses.

Economists have attacked the Albanian government's plan to allow a private firm to manage data on business VAT payments as lacking in transparency, unnecessary and potentially corrupt.

A private company will be invited to invest in a 10-million-euro technological platform that will be attached to the tax system to track every business transaction in real time.

The Bulgarian customs agency collected a total of BGN 8.1 B in revenues in 2015, which was the largest amount collected in the past seven years.

This is revealed by the annual report of the agency published on Tuesday.

Among the main challenges of the customs agency in 2015 were the falling prices of oil on world markets, the migrant influx and the contraband of cigarettes.

The President's Office has announced a public procurement procedure to be supplied with electricity, its press service has said.

The aim is to become part of the free electricity market in a year when Bulgaria is committed to large-scale liberalization.

Turkish home appliance producer Arçelik has said the Economy Ministry's Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Investment approved incentives for its planned investments worth 1.14 billion Turkish Liras ($376 million on Jan. 14 parity), in a written statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) on Jan. 14. 

Macedonia's parliament is expected to approve a government-proposed bill to establish tax-free health-care "zones" for foreigners.

The bill entered parliamentary procedure last week is likely to pass soon.

The bill will allow foreign - and domestic - healthcare companies to build hospitals in Macedonia exclusively for the use of foreign private patients.

Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis left open the possibility of abolishing VAT on Greek islands that which face social and economic problems caused by the mass influx of refugees, while speaking in Parliament on Friday.

Despite energetic campaigns promoting cut-priced products, most shopping malls in Bucharest have been half-empty during the first days of this year, as people recover from the New Year shopping frenzy.

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) of Bulgaria has adopted a decision to cut price of natural gas for consumers.

State-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz earlier in December proposed the price should be slashed by 2.1%.

KEVR itself, however, believes the decrease should amount to 2.3%.

The state budget for 2016 discussed yesterday until early morning on Sunday in the Greek parliament.

After a 12-hour debate, the budget was voted in with 153 votes in favor, and 145 against, with two MPs being absent.