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issue 154 november 2014 Analyses: The New Government Perspectives Events: Why Healthcare Matters? Member News: Postbank, AIMS, Mtel, ContourGlobal, BCAF, Unicredit, Aurubis Thanksgiving Charity Dinner Raises 55,000 BGN American ChamberC hamber of CommerceC ommerce in BulgariaBulgaria 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, Imagine yourself relaxing with your tablet in the living room; suddenty, just before midnight, you catch a glimpse of the muted television. You see a virologist dressed up in protective gear like Dustin Hofman in “Outbreak,” and a running caption: Ebola in Bulgaria*. Chief expert on Viruses in the Sofia Military Hospital professor Kamen Plochev speaking in front of TV cameras at the moment the ebola-suspected patient was hospitalized. I got a tad panicked, to be honest, but by the time I got to increasing the volume with the remote, the news pro- gram had moved on to another item. Since there were no current events shows on any of the other channels, I went online in search of information. This turned out to be a heart-attack-inducing mistake, because Bulgaria’s news sites have the tendency to exaggerate every bit of suspicion into a near-Apocalyspe. A half-maybe uttered in some ministry becomes “certain to happen;” every random word by a low-level bureucrat is treated as “official statement.” This is the end of journalism as we know it, since Bulgaria’s online and even mainstream media seem to have forgotten some of the cardinal rules of reporting. For instance, they fail to confirm the news from at least two independent sources and rarely provide proper attribution. Even worse, television, radio, newspapers and web sites oftentimes neglect the who-what-when-where-why-how of the event, passing off murky conjectures and rumors as bona fides news. Here are a few other examples of this decline that are less frightening than Ebola. For over a month the media report- AmCham Bulgaria Magazine November 2014 November Magazine AmCham Bulgaria ed as fresh information all speculations of politicians negotiating the new government’s composition (read Marina Tsvetkova’s and Boyko Vasilev’s analyses on pages 8-13 explaining who will run Bulgaria’s affairs in the end). A cacaphony of rumors and little hard news came out of the other popular events – the case of Filip Zlatanov, the former chairperson of the Commission on Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest, the crisis with the KTB bank and much much more. What will be the further developments surrounding the executive power, is there any hope that Eurofunds may be page restored, and how likely it is that Bulgaria’s winter may be as severe as Chicago’s – all remains to be seen, with 1 news happening in future tense. Sincerely, Milen Marchev Editor-in-Chief *The Ministry of Health announced officially on Nov. 21 that no Ebola cases had been registered in Bulgaria. contents issue 154 november 2014 AmCham Bulgaria Magazine is a primary forum for political and economic analyses, news, viewpoints as well as for the presentation of new business opportunities. 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] Editor-in-Chief AmCham Bulgaria Magazine: Milen Marchev Milen Marchev, [email protected] Deputy Editor-in-Chief The AmCham Bulgaria Magazine reaches a broad audi- Christopher Karadjov ence of AmCham members, leading US, Bulgarian and international companies, US and Bulgarian decision-mak- Senior Editor: ers, all AmChams around the world. Irina Bacheva Subscription is free of charge. If you would like to sub- scribe to AmCham Bulgaria publications, please contact ISSN 1312-935X the AmCham Bulgaria office. 2 AmCham Bulgaria Magazine November 2014 November Magazine AmCham Bulgaria amcham bulgaria Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria President Mr. Peter Lithgow AES Corporation Vice President Mr. Alex Nestor Individual Member Vice President Mr. Daniel Berg European Bank for Reconstruction Contents and Development (EBRD) Treasurer Ms. Petya Dimitrova Eurobank Bulgaria cover story Members Mr. Borislav Dimitrov Cisco Systems Bulgaria Mr. David Butts CMS Cameron McKenna EOOD AmCham Thanksgiving Dinner Ms. Diana Pazaitova Fama Consulting Mr. George Brashnarov Nemetscheck Bulgaria Raises 55,000 Leva . 4 Ms. Krassimira Chemishanska Amgen Bulgaria Mr. Sergey Koynov Forton International Mr. Solomon Passy Atlantic Club Bulgaria analysis Mr. Venislav Yotov AIG Europe Limited (Bulgaria Branch) Ex-Officio Member Mr. Thomas Bruns Senior Commercial Officer, Who Is At The Helm? . 8 U.S. Embassy Executive Director Mr. Valentin Georgiev By Marina Tsvetkova 3M Bulgaria EOOD . AA KRES EOOD . Abbott Products EOOD . AbbVie EOOD . Actavis Bulgaria . Adecco Bulgaria ltd. Advance International Transport EOOD . AES Corporation . AFA OOD . AGORA-IN Ltd. Weakness and Strength . .12 AHNtech Branch Bulgaria . AIG Europe Limited (Bulgaria Branch) . AIMS Human Capital . Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG . Albena AD . Alfred C. Toepfer International Bulgaria EOOD . ALICO Bulgaria ZhZD EAD, a MetLife Inc. Company . All Channels Communication . Alliance One Tobacco Bulgaria . Allied Pickfords Bulgaria . Alpha By Boyko Vasilev Bank Bulgaria . America for Bulgaria Foundation . American College of Sofia . American English Academy . American Research Center in Sofia . American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) . Amgen Bulgaria EOOD . Amway Romania Marketing Srl . Anglo-American School of Sofia . AON Bulgaria . APOLO Ltd. Arexim Engineering Will the Economic Priorities of the . Ashtrom International Ltd. Association Srednogorie Copper Industrial Cluster . Astra Zeneca Bulgaria EOOD . AT Engineering 2000 Ltd. Atlantic Club Bulgaria . Atos IT Solutions and Services EOOD . Attica Media Bulgaria Government Move the Economy Forward? . .14 Ltd. August Research . Aurubis Bulgaria AD . Auto Bavaria Ltd. AVON Cosmetics Bulgaria . AW-Tronics . Axway Bulgaria EOOD . Baker Tilly Bulgaria . Balkan Star Automotive EOOD . Ballistic Cell Ltd. Baxter Bulgaria EOOD . BC Serdon . Berlitz Schools of Languages . BG Radio . BICA International Ltd. BMG amcham events Ltd. BMW Vertiebs GmbH - Branch Bulgaria . BNP Paribas S.A. - Sofia Branch . BOYANOV & Co. Braykov's Legal Office . British American Tobacco Bulgaria . Brown Forman Beverages Worldwide Sofia Branch LLC . bTV Media Group . Bulgarian American Enterprise Fund . Bulgarian Charities Aid Foundation (BCAF) . Bulgarian Executive Investment, Innovations in Healthcare Examined . .16 Search Association . Bulgarian Property Developments EOOD . BulPros Consulting JSC . Bulstrad Life Vienna Insurance Group . Business Intellect Ltd. Business Park Sofia EOOD . Carat Bulgaria . Castello Precast OOD . Center for the Study of Democracy . Cheque Dejeuner Bulgaria Ltd. Chevron Bulgaria Exploration and Production EOOD . Cisco Systems Bulgaria . Citibank Europe Plc, Bulgaria Branch . Club 50 Plus . CMS Cameron member news McKenna LLP - Bulgaria Branch . Coca-Cola Enterprises Services Bulgaria EOOD . Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria AD . Coface Bulgaria Credit Management Services EOOD . COLLIERS International Bulgaria . Comverse . Congress Engineering Ltd. Construction Management Group . Contitrans M Ltd. ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 AD . AIMS Human Capital Bulgaria Celebrates Credit Agricole Bulgaria EAD . Curtis / Balkan Ltd. Dalkia Bulgaria EAD . Danailov, Mihaleva, Nedelchev & Co. Delchev & Partners Law Firm . Deloitte Bulgaria EOOD . denkstatt Bulgaria OOD . Deutsche Bank AG . its 20th Anniversary . .18 Devin AD . DHL Express Bulgaria Ltd. Diamed Ltd. Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov, & Velichkov . Dobrev & Lyutskanov Law Firm . Dr. I.S. Greenberg Medical Center . Drujba Glassworks SA . Dundee Precious Metals Inc. DuPont Pioneer . EcoPack Bulgaria AD . Edenred Bulgaria . Ekoterm Proekt Aurubis Bulgaria opens Rainwater EAD . Ekotoi - Service Ltd. Ekzotika EOOD . Electron Progress EAD . Elevat Ltd. Legal House . Eli Lilly and Company . Eltrak Bulgaria Ltd. EMC Computer Systems Austria GmbH . Emerson Process Management . Treatment Plant Worth € 6.3 million . .20 EnergoService AD . Engineeringservice Sofia Ltd. Enterprise Communications Group OOD . EOS Matrix Ltd. Ernst & Young Bulgaria EOOD . ESRI Bulgaria Ltd. Etap Adress . Eurobank Bulgaria . Eurohold Bulgaria . European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) . European Trade Center EOOD . Expat Capital . Amgen Celebrates 5 Years of Experian Bulgaria EAD . FairPlay International . Fama Consulting OOD . Flying Cargo Bulgaria Ltd. - Licensee of FedEx . Force Delta Ltd. Forton International AD . Foundation Glob@l Libraries - Bulgaria . Fox International Innovations in Bulgaria . .22 Channels Bulgaria EOOD . GAEA - Green Alternative Energy Assets EAD . Galardo EOOD . Gasstroymontaj Jsc . General Electric International . Georgiev, Todorov & Co. Geostroy AD . Geotechmin OOD . Geotrading AD . Gi Group . GIFTA . GlaxoSmithKline . Grand Hotel Sofia .
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