Bulgaria’s Revenue Agency Steps Up Checks on Coastal Businesses, Uncovers Over 90 Violations
The National Revenue Agency (NRA) has intensified inspections along Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast as part of its summer oversight campaign
Bloomberg
Total SA, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and other international oil companies have shown interest in a deep-water drilling permit in the Black Sea off Bulgaria, Deloitte Bulgaria Chairman Ilian Vassilev said.
The Bulgarian government has invited applications for deep- water drilling near the country’s southern Black Sea coast over an area of 6,940 square kilometers (4,313 square miles) known as the Silistar bloc, Vassilev said in an interview in Sofia yesterday. Deloitte advises the government on exploration projects.
“The documents for the tender dossier are available for purchase until the end of this month,” Vassilev said. “There is international interest in the tender, as this is the first deep-water drilling permit issued by Bulgaria.”
The Black Sea, which for 40 years divided the Soviet bloc from U.S. ally Turkey, is now a frontier region, attracting explorers from as far away as Brazil and Texas. The post-Cold War thaw, combined with record-high energy prices and technological advances, has led oil companies to reconsider its deep, unexplored waters.
Turkey is the region’s most intense explorer of the Black Sea, while Bulgaria and Romania have explored the sea’s shallow, coastal waters. There are three deep-water exploratory wells so far, off Turkey’s coast. The Black Sea has an average depth of 2,000 meters, which hinders drilling as most countries in the region lack experience and equipment.
Turkey’s state oil company Turkiye Petrolleri AO, invested billion in the past decade to explore the Black Sea and has identified 10 drilling prospects to cover Turkey’s consumption for 40 years, Chief Executive Officer Mehmet Uysal said in an Oct. 1 interview.
Bulgaria’s announcement of the tender coincides with efforts by the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, to limit deep-water drilling following BP Plc’s spill in the Gulf of Mexico. EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger urged governments not to grant oil-exploration permits for six months.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a Texas-based oil company, holds a stake in the leaking Gulf of Mexico Macondo well.
Brazen Bulgarian gangs "terrorise the elderly and rob them over their life savings with increasingly aggressive phone scams nettling millions of euros," according to an AFP story.
The prospect of US President Donald Trump's moving closer to Russia has scrambled the strategy of "balancing East and West" used for decades by countries like Bulgaria, the New York Times says.
Bulgarians have benefited a lot from their EU membership, with incomes rising and Brussels overseeing politicians, according to a New York Times piece.
German businesses prefer to trade with Bulgaria rather than invest into the country, an article on DW Bulgaria's website argues.
The truth about Bulgaria and Moldova's presidential elections is "more complicated" and should not be reduced to pro-Russian candidates winning, the Economist says.
President-elect Rumen Radev "struck a chord with voters by attacking the status quo and stressing issues like national security and migration," AFP agency writes after the presidential vote on Sunday.
Borderless Bulgaria: How Schengen Benefits Are Transforming Trade and Logistics
Bulgaria's Mortality Rate Remains Highest in Europe