Will Bulgaria Have a Stable Government After Yet Another Election in June? Our Readers Have Spoken
On our Facebook page, readers were asked about Bulgaria's stability after the June elections
Bulgaria "has found itself under unwelcome scrutiny from financial experts and Western banks worried that Greece’s troubles could spread havoc farther afield," the New York Times writes in an article on Bulgaria.
Ahead of the June 30 deadline for Greece to either reach a deal with lenders or default and potentially leave the single-currency area, it points to the tact that Alpha Bank and three other of the country's top 10 banks are owned by Greek lenders.
Though Serbia, Macedonia and Romania are also exposed to a certain extent, "it is Bulgaria... that "stands out as the one that has the most to lose from a potential further collapse of the Greek Economy"," the NY Times writes citing a Morgan Stanley research note released in May.
The reason is that Greek-owned lenders hold around 20% of deposits of Bulgarians. and exporters depend on Greece "for about 7 percent of their business."
Greek banks are financially sound and have a better reputation than Bulgarian-owned banks, but "nobody knows what irrational and destructive forces could be unleashed if Greece fails to reach a deal with its creditors and stumbles toward a default" or even Grexit, the prominent daily notes.
Slovak Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak is quotes as saying that despite Greece's tiny share in EU economy, a default "would send shock waves across the whole of Europe.”
Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev downplays any potential risk.
Some customers of Greek-owned banks in Bulgaria's capital Sofia also show little sign of concern, according to the New York Tomes, while others have already withdrawn money from their accounts with Greek subsidiaries.
The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) on the other hand has preferred not to comment on the issue, a "wise strategy" in view of the developments at Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) of last summer, the article reads.
You can read the full text here.
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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.
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