Alexander Manolev was an official guest on the London Stock Exchange

Alexander Manolev was an official guest on the London Stock Exchange

A business forum with the participation of the London Stock Exchange will be organized in Bulgaria. This was agreed during a meeting between Deputy Minister Alexander Manolev and Nikhil Rathi, Executive Director of the financial organization. The two participated in a discussion with the management of the stock exchange, during which investment opportunities in Bulgaria were presented. This is the first visit of an official representative of Bulgaria to the headquarters of the stock exchange in Great Britain.

“We are currently preparing a voucher scheme with grant funding to support companies to go public on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange,” explained the Deputy Minister of Economy. He stressed that the expert assistance of the London Stock Exchange will be very valuable in these efforts. For its part, its management pointed out that they can participate in this process and expressed hope that more Bulgarian companies will be listed on its markets.

Alexander Manolev also presented the opportunities for investment in Bulgaria in front of the specialized television channel of the London Stock Exchange, which reaches over 200,000 companies and employees.

The Bulgarian flag was projected on the stock exchange in honor of welcoming the Bulgarian delegation.

Alexander Manolev among the commentators in the most watched financial TV channel in the world

Alexander Manolev among the commentators in the most watched financial TV channel in the world

Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev was among the guests on one of the most watched shows on the British television channel Bloomberg – “Bloomberg Surveillance”. This was reported by several Bulgarian media.

The host of the show is Francine Lacqua, who can boast not only a number of awards, but also interviews with world leaders such as incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron, former British Prime Minister David Cameron and others.

The main topic of conversation was the opportunities for investment in Bulgaria, the readiness of the country to adopt the euro, but also more global topics such as Brexit, the expected effect of US sanctions against Russia and others.

Link to the full interview (in English) here.

Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev participates in the opening of the largest exhibition of the defense industry in Bulgaria

Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev participates in the opening of the largest exhibition of the defense industry in Bulgaria

Last year we exported products from the defense industry for over 1.2 billion euros. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev during the opening of the largest exhibition in the sector – “Hemus” 2018, which is being held in Plovdiv. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Krassimir Karakachanov, Plovdiv Regional Governor Zdravko Dimitrov, Mayor Ivan Totev, deputies from the Defense Committee and others.

“About 15 thousand people work in this sector, and the companies in it allocate significant resources for the implementation of innovations and modernization of production,” said Alexander Manolev. He gave an example with the new company for the production of armored vehicles, which opened its doors a few days ago in the town of Samokov. “This is one of the many examples of Bulgarian entrepreneurs in this sector who are achieving increasing success. That is why, above all, they should be congratulated, “said the Deputy Minister of Economy. Proof of the quality with which Bulgarian companies work is the fact that we are known and operate in a number of foreign markets for decades, he said.

“An important topic we are working on with the Ministry of Defense is the active participation of the Bulgarian defense industry in the upcoming projects for the renewal of the Bulgarian Army,” he added.

The forum will last until June 2 and is under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Defense. It is held every two years and the goal is to stimulate the military industry of the country by providing an opportunity for a joint meeting of manufacturers and traders of weapons and military equipment from Bulgaria and abroad. This edition features 17 countries and over 70 exhibitors, most of them Bulgarian. Among the foreign partners and delegations are representatives of NATO and the European Defense Agency.

Deputy Minister climbs peaks to rest

Deputy Minister climbs peaks to rest

The online media Vox64.com, covering news and events from South-Western Bulgaria, tells about the man Alexander Manolev – what he likes to do in his free time and what are the important things in his life.

If you go for a walk in the mountains above Sandanski one weekend, you have a great chance to meet Alexander Manolev – Deputy Minister of Economy. You will hardly recognize him with the sports team and the backpack on his back, but he will certainly greet you and pass quickly. In fact, Manolev is not one of those people who like to stay in one place, so he goes to the mountains to move, not to admire the views. His friends say it’s hard to keep up. It happened that he made a transition of 20 km in one day, and in the evening he drew new plans for the next route.

Manolev himself admits that the mountain charges him, and the Pirin Mountain is a magical place where he feels very different. “For me, the best time of the week is with the family, and that’s in the mountains. And if the two combine, you get the perfect vacation, “said the Deputy Economy Minister.

However, he admits that he does not have as much time as he wants for the long hikes, but that is why there is no season for his favorite hobby. “The mountain is always beautiful. Even maybe winter more than summer “, says Alexander Manolev. He considers Tevnoto Lake in Pirin to be his favorite place. “This is a very special place. “Even in the summer, when many people come, the beauty of nature surrounds you and you can be left alone with your thoughts,” he said.

He loves winter sports, but rather they are another reason to be in the mountains. In fact, he combines many of his favorite activities so that there is always time for steep peaks and breathtaking views.

And why exactly the Pirin Mountain? There are many legends about the mountain and the places in it that old people tell. According to one of them, when Christianity came to our places and the people turned their backs on the old idols, the revered Slavic god Perun retired to the highest place in the mountain. So he gave it his name and in time from Perun became Pirin. This confirms something else that Alexander Manolev told me – Pirin is a magical place. And people have believed in this since ancient times.

I hope more of us realize this wealth we have.

Click here for a link to the article (in Bulgarian). 

What Bulgaria won from the visit of the Bulgarian Prime Minister in Riyadh – comment by Alexander Manolev to Bloomberg Bulgaria

What Bulgaria won from the visit of the Bulgarian Prime Minister in Riyadh – comment by Alexander Manolev to Bloomberg Bulgaria

The visit of the Bulgarian Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia was very beneficial from an economic point of view. There has been a strong economic boost in the field of relations we can have with Riyadh from now on.

This was commented in the program “The world is business” by the Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev, who was part of the delegation of the Bulgarian Prime Minister in Saudi Arabia.

There is a lot of untapped potential in the field of economy between the two countries.

“The potential is in two directions. The first is in terms of trade, which is not at the required levels. There is interest in several sectors – food industry, agriculture. There is also great potential in the field of energy, furniture industry, woodworking industry”, said the deputy head of the economic department.

“The second direction is investment. “Bulgaria is quite interesting for Saudi investors not only because of the key geographical location of Bulgaria, but also because of the macroeconomic indicators we have,” he added.

There is interest in other sectors, said Manolev – tourism, transport, etc. In the field of tourism, Saudi interest is focused on the Black Sea coast, but not only that, the spa sector is also attracting attention.

“Operational work is now to be completed. The doors for business are already wide open, “said the guest in the studio.

According to the Deputy Minister, good intentions will not remain only in words, but will be materialized. “The interest from the Saudi side was not protocol,” he said.

Link to the interview (in Bulgarian).

Alexander Manolev with an interview for the Bulgarian National Television

Alexander Manolev with an interview for the Bulgarian National Television

The Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev was a guest in the morning block of the Bulgarian National Television.

During the conversation, the challenges facing the Bulgarian economy and the opportunities for financing the business were commented on.

Link to the media website.

Alexander Manolev was a guest at a regional event on eBay

Alexander Manolev was a guest at a regional event on eBay

The share of online trade in Bulgaria is estimated at about BGN 700 million, and this industry has grown steadily over the years. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev during the opening of the “eBay European Seller Summit 2017”. For the first time, the technology giant’s annual event is being organized in an Eastern European country. For its opening in Sofia was the vice president of the company Kris Beyens, and among the participants were guests from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia and others.

“The latest Eurostat data from the report” Digital Economy and Society in the EU “show that about 9% of companies in Bulgaria sell online, and about 27% of consumers have shopped online in the last year,” said Deputy Minister Manolev. According to him, data from various studies show that the growth of online trade in our country is ahead of the average for the European Union, but we are still at the stage of catching up with Western countries on this indicator.

In his speech, attention was paid to the “Concept for Digital Transformation of Bulgarian Industry (Industry 4.0)” developed by business and the state, as a basis for developing a Strategy for Bulgaria’s participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “Bulgaria has its strengths – quality Internet, strong IT sector, strong electronics, electrical engineering and mechatronics, which we must effectively use to digitize our economy,” said Alexander Manolev.