On September 11, Slovakia’s parliament passed a new bill introducing a tax on sugary drinks. The base rate is set at 15 cents per litre for standard sweetened soft drinks, such as colas, with special rates applied to energy drinks and syrups. The legislation was backed by coalition members, while opposition MPs either abstained or…
Approximately 10% of individuals who previously qualified for home loans would no longer be eligible under new regulations set by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), according to brokers’ estimates. This change predominantly impacts those with incomes below the national average. The BNB has implemented stricter conditions for loan approvals by commercial banks. One significant new…
Ukraine is significantly ahead of many European countries in terms of its share of decarbonized energy, with most of Ukrainian electricity being produced without carbon dioxide emissions. The Energy Minister German Galushchenko said this at the Yalta European Strategy forum. “Today, most of the electricity in the country is produced without carbon dioxide emissions. This…
The Government is creating a humanitarian demining market and engaging private mine action operators to speed up this process. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on September 13. “The financial support of our partners helps our Government to finance non-military expenditures, social programmes, and rapid…
In June, Bulgaria’s services sector saw a monthly production increase of 0.6%, while Eurostat data showed a decline in the EU for the same period. Production in the Eurozone’s services sector dropped by 0.8% compared to May, with the overall EU figure falling by 0.9%. This follows May’s figures where services output in the Eurozone…
The Parliament of Bulgaria decided to extend by six months the deadline given to the government for negotiations on the sale of two Russian nuclear reactors and auxiliary equipment to Ukraine. Authorities in Sofia received the reactors from Russia’s Atomstroyexport more than six years ago, but they were already unusable, because the country had given…
Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko met with a delegation from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, led by EBRD Vice President Matteo Patrone, to discuss cooperation to strengthen the resilience of the power system and prepare for winter. “We need to accelerate the implementation of projects as much as possible to support…