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issue 84 november 2007 Economy: State Budget 2008; Foreign Investments; Energy Sector Amcham news: The start of meet-the- new-members Event Series Analysis: Turkey and the Kurds; Foreign Investment: New Capitals Flow American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria Business Park Sofia, Mladost 4 Area, Building 2, Floor 6, 1766 Sofia Tel.: (359 2) 9742 743 Fax: (359 2) 9742 741 homepage: www.amcham.bg e-mail: [email protected] editorial Dear Reader, You will probably notice that in this issue of AmCham Bulgaria Magazine we are not offering you an article on the 2007 mayoral elections, as we had promised last month when we introduced the main candidates. I am almost certain that you would not have noticed this absence, had I not mentioned it, and the reason is that the elections went by in a completely predictable fashion. Boyko Borisov, the leader of the newly formed GERB party, won in Sofia, and his associates took Plovdiv, Bourgas, Vidin, Dobrich, Stara Zagora, Yambol and Sliven. The ruling BSP got only Blagoevgrad, Varna, Lovech, Pernik and Smolian. The "democratic forces" - or what remains of them - got a mayor in Pleven only. In other words, a little over one-third of Bulgarian voters went to the polls and gave almost the entire local power to the former secretary of the Ministry of the Interior. Boyko Borisov himself - or "the General" as he is known for some reason - immediately declared that this is a harbinger of early parliamentary elections. We at AmCham Bulgaria Magazine think that the former policeman should be left to rule in Sofia, the former soccer star Yordan Lechkov, and all their GERB colleagues - where voters put them. As for the elections, we shall see. It is very unlikely that the triple coalition of Sergey Stanishev, Ahmed Dogan and Simeon II will abandon power early. Even though the current government has a nominally leftist label, its policies are rightist. The country keeps its pledges to EU and NATO partners, and the teachers' strike is already over. At the same time, the contender for Prime Minister's position Boyko Borisov has a lot to accomplish before his GERB party is in good enough shape to win parliamentary elections. In many instances, GERB supported popular candidates who were not necessarily party loy- alists, thus winning even in areas with less-than-strong support for Borisov & Co. Let us not forget that during parliamentary elections, BSP can mobilize a lot more of its vot- ers, who were now probably discouraged by weak mayoral candidates. Not the least, to win the next elections (extraordinary or regular ones, in 2009), GERB will most likely have to 2007 November Magazine AmCham Bulgaria form a coalition. The party, however, has no clear partners right now. If anything threatens the current government, it is only the slower-than-expected growth of Bulgarians' incomes compared with the fast adoption of European prices and standards. I hope the cabinet has a plan for that. On my part, I upped the pay for the magazine's staff writers as soon as I heard "Ode to Joy" at the beginning of this year. page Yours truly, 1 Milen Marchev Editor-in-Chief contents issue 84 november 2007 AmCham Bulgaria Magazine is a primary forum for political and economic analyses, news, viewpoints as well as for the presentation of new business oppor- tunities. The articles in the AmCham Bulgaria Magazine express the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria. Publisher Writers: American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria Boyko Vassilev, Marina Tzvetkova, Business Park Sofia, Mladost 4 Area Mina Georgieva, Panayot Angarev, Building 2, Floor 6, Sofia 1766, Bulgaria Yuliana Boncheva Tel.: +359 (2) 9742 743 Fax: +359 (2) 9742 741 Advertising e-mail: [email protected] AmCham Bulgaria: www.amcham.bg Nadejda Vakareeva, [email protected] AmCham Bulgaria Magazine: Editor-in-Chief Milen Marchev, [email protected] Milen Marchev Deputy Editor-in-Chief: The AmCham Bulgaria Magazine reaches a broad audience Christopher Karadjov of AmCham members, leading US, Bulgarian and internation- al companies, US and Bulgarian decision-makers, all Senior Editor: AmChams around the world. Irina Bacheva Subscription is free of charge. If you would like to subscribe to AmCham Bulgaria publications, please contact the ISSN 1312-935X AmCham Bulgaria office. 2 AmCham Bulgaria Magazine November 2007 November Magazine AmCham Bulgaria amcham bulgaria Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria President Mr. Borislav Boyanov Borislav Boyanov & Co. First Vice President Mr. Anthony Hassiotis Bulgarian PostBank Contents Second Vice President Mr. George Randelov IBM Bulgaria Treasurer Tanya Kosseva-Boshova Landmark Property Bulgaria cover story USAID in Bulgaria Celebrates End of Members Ms. Olga Borissova Ellief Center, AUBG 17 Years of Assistance . 4 Mr. Thomas Higgins Balkan Accession Fund By Jennifer Croft Mr. Andon Ichev General Electric Mr. Stefan Ivanov Citibank N.A. economy Mr. Kenneth M. Lefkowitz New Europe Corporate Advisory Budget 2008: Ms. Evgenia Stoichkova Coca-Cola Bulgaria A Wonderful Time for Fiscal Promises . 10 Mr. Chris Thompson Bearing Point, CLRP By Marina GEORGIEVA Ms. Elitsa Tsaneva Ideal Standard Bulgaria Foreign Investment: New Capitals Flow in 2008 . 14 Ex-Officio Member Mr. James Rigassio US Senior Commercial Attache By Marina Tsvetkova Executive Director Valentin Georgiev secret services 3M (East) AG . AA KRES EOOD . ABB Bulgaria Ltd. Abbott Laboratories S.A. AbCRO - Bulgaria Government Starts Intelligence Shuffle . 18 . Accor Services Bulgaria . ACO Building Elements Ltd. ACSIOR . ADIS Ltd. Advance By Panayot Angarev International Transport (Balkan) EAD . AES Corporation . AFA OOD . AIG Bulgaria Insurance & Reinsurance Company EAD . AIG Life Bulgaria . AIMS Human Capital . Alcoa Packaging Bulgaria . Alexander Hughes Bulgaria OOD . ALEXANDROV GROUP CORPORATION . Alfred C.Toepfer International analysis . Alliance One Tobacco Bulgaria . Allied Pickfords Bulgaria . Alter Ego Company OOD . American Allies in Chains . 20 College of Sofia . American English Academy . American Resarch Center in Sofia . American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) . Anglo-American School of Sofia . Anton Preslavski, Liebert Hiross . APIS - BUL- By Boyko Vassilev GARIA Ltd. APOLO Ltd. Argento Human Resource Solutions . Aries Commerce . Association Integra-BDS . Association of Bulgarian Broadcasters - ABBRO . Astral Holidays AD . Astra Zeneca Energy Sector Faces New Threats UK Ltd. AT Engineering 2000 Ltd. Auditing Company Versi and Partners Ltd. Avendi Ltd. AVON over EU Emission Allowances . 22 Cosmetics Bulgaria Ltd. BAE Systems International Ltd. Balkan Accession Fund . Balkan News Corporation Plc. Balkan Star Automotive EOOD . Baxter AG . Bayer Bulgaria EOOD . BC Serdon . BearingPoint, Inc. Berlitz Schools of Languages . BG Radio . BMG Ltd. Bodyguard-Fire-K Ltd. procurement . Borislav Boyanov & Co. Braykov's Legal Office . Brown Forman Beverages Worldwide Sofia Branch Some $50 Million Will Be Spent in Bulgaria for LLC . British American Tobacco . Bulgaria Platinum Group . Bulgarian American Enterprise Fund . Bulgarian Charities Aid Foundation (BCAF) . Bulgarian Land Development EAD . Bulgarian PostBank . Contracting in 2008 . 24 Bulgarian Telecommunications Company EAD . Business Media Group . Business Park Sofia EOOD . By Irina Bacheva CallCenterBulgaria . Candole Partners EOOD . Car Rental Bulgaria Ltd. Carlsberg Bulgaria AD . Cefin Bulgaria EOOD (IVECO dealer) . Center for the Study of Democracy . Central Hali AD . CEN- TURY 21 Bulgaria . Chelopech Mining EAD . Cisco Systems Bulgaria . Citibank N.A.- Sofia Branch . Mark Lumer, contracting officer, City University . Clockwork Ltd. CMS Cameron McKenna EOOD . Coca-Cola Bulgaria EOOD . U.S. Space & Missile Defense Command: Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria AD . Coface Bulgaria Credit Management Services EOOD . Colgate-Palmolive Adria . COLLIERS International . ConsulTeam Recruitment and Selection Ltd. Cook Communications Bulgarian Companies Have an Edge in Servicing . Corstjens Worlwide Movers Group . CPM Consultancy Sllc . Curtis / Balkan Ltd. Data and U.S. Bases in Europe . 26 Information Consult . DeConi International . Deloitte Bulgaria EOOD . DENIMAR Ltd. DHL Express Bulgaria Ltd. Diageo Bulgaria Ltd . Diamed Ltd. Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. Djingov, Gouginski, Monika Schoeller, supervisory contract officer, Kyutchukov, & Velichkov . DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach Branch Sofia . Dobrev, Kinkin & Lyutskanov Law Firm . Domaine Boyar AD . Dr. Emil Benatov & Partners . Dr. I.S. Greenberg Medical Center, Ellen Ruth Defense Logistics Agency: U.S. agency looks for Greenberg, Ph.D. DuPont de Nemours International S.A. DynCorp International LLC . Economedia AD . Effekten Und Finanz - Sofia AD . Ekotoi - Service Ltd. Electron Progress AD . Eli Lilly and Bulgarian suppliers . 28 Company . Elido (Lamel Ltd.) . Elmec Sport Bulgaria Ltd. Elta consult AD associated partner of CB Richard Ellis for Bulgaria . Emerson Process Management AG . Encouragement Bank AD . Enel Maritza amcham events East 3 AD . Enemona SA . Engineeringservice Sofia Ltd. Environmental Quality Management, Inc. AmCham Launches Meet-the-new-members Epsilon Interactive International . Equest EAD . ERATO HOLDING PLC . Ernst & Young Bulgaria . European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) . Flying Cargo Bulgaria Ltd. - Licensee of FedEx Event Series . 30 . Force Delta Ltd. Forem Consulting Bulgaria . Forton International JSCo . Foster Wheeler Energia Polska Sp. z o.o.