Bulgaria

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will release Ђ40 million for Bulgarian commercial banks to extend loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by the end of this year.

The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria for January 2004 totalled US$ 39.5 million (0.2 per cent of GDP), a reduction of 54.3 per cent or US$ 47 million from the January 2003 level when FDI stood at US$ 86.5 million, or 0.4 per c

A nine-member delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Board of Directors are in Bulgaria to sign two agreements on credit lines for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and energy efficiency projects.

The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEDB) and Raiffeisenbank - Bulgaria signed Ђ20 million framework agreement for financing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Direct foreign investments (FDI) to Bulgaria jumped by 50.4 per cent reaching BGN 1360.7 million in 2003 as compared to 2002, preliminary data show.

The World Bank Sofia Office has announced the start of its Small Grants Programme 2004 in Bulgaria.

The number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) per capita in Bulgaria is close to that in the countries from the European Union, Antonio Fanelli of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said during a meeting at the

The Bulgarian Foreign Investment Agency (BFIA) expects the inflow of foreign investments in Bulgaria in 2004 to exceed 1,600 million US dollars, up some 20 per cent from 2003.

Credits of more than 42 m Bulgarian Leva were allocated to small enterprises under the Social Ministry's "Guarantee Fund for Micro Crediting" project over the past year, a Ministry report showed.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) in Bulgaria over the first three months of 2003 mounted to some $US 202 million, as compared to US$122 million for the same period last year, according to Brussels' CANSTAT Statistical Bulletin, which provides a r