Section: Novinite (Bulgaria)
S&P Downgrades Russia’s Credit Rating to `Junk`
The US rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded Russia’s credit rating to junk, which is below investment grade. Russia’s credit rating has been lowered to such a level for the first time in a decade, the BBC reports. Having a rating of BB+, Russia is on par with Bulgaria and Indonesia, which makes it...
NATO Urges Russia to Stop Supporting Separatists in Eastern Ukraine
Following the Mariupol attack on Saturday, an extraordinary ambassadorial meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission took place in Brussels on Monday. ”In recent weeks, Russia has supplied hundreds of pieces of advanced equipment, including rocket systems, heavy artillery, tanks, armored vehicles and electronic warfare systems,”...
Bulgaria Launches EU-funded Advertising Campaign to Boost Domestic Tourism
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Tourism has launched a campaign to advertise 50 little-known tourist sites around the country. The financing for the campaign is provided under a project worth BGN 1.9 M, VAT excluded, under the EU operational program “Regional Development”. The project aimed at promoting domestic tourism involves TV spots...
Bulgaria ‘Unable to Halt South Stream Construction’ – Ex-Energy Minister
Sofia cannot move to suspend activities related to the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, a former Energy Minister and current MP said on Sunday.”If we suspend activities unilaterally… this would be a violation of the shareholders’ agreement between the two shareholders [sic!]. This is why we cannot put an end to the...
Ukraine Marks Day of National Mourning after Mariupol Rocket Attacks
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has called a day of national mourning following a series of rocket attacks in the port city of Mariupol.The violent attacks have claimed 30 lives and have left scores injured, with Kiev throwing the blame on militants operating in the Donbass region and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in...
Ukraine’s PM Calls for Urgent UN Security Council Meeting over Mariupol Shelling
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Saturday called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the shelling of the city of Mariupol that has claimed the lives of at least 21 people. “Today I held a meeting with the ambassadors of Big Seven and ambassadors of countries-members of the UN Security Council,”...
Rocket Fire Kills At Least 15 in Ukraine’s Mariupol, Police Says
At least 15 people have been killed and 76 injured in a series of rocket attacks allegedly launched by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol on Saturday. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said in a statement houses in the government-held city had been hit by rockets fired by the rebels. The Defence Ministry of the...
OSCE Urges Restraint on All Paries in Ukraine Conflict to Protect Civilians
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has again called for restraint of all parties involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine following new killing of civilians in the Donetsk region. “Our observations in Donetsk, Debaltseve and Volnovakha confirmed the injuries and loss of civilian lives during the past week,” the...
Donetsk Separatists Reject Ceasefire Talks, Continue Offensive
The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Zakharchenko announced that his troops are on the offensive and the separatists are unwilling to hold truce talks with Ukraine. Zakharchenko said that his forces, which are in control of the city of Donetsk, will push the front line back to the borders of the Donetsk...
Bulgaria’s President Calls for Defence Spending Update to Meet Pledges to NATO
Bulgaria needs to update its defence spending in 2015 to meet its pledge to improve defence capabilities made at NATO’s Wales summit in September, President Rosen Plevneliev said on Thursday. Speaking at a joint news conference in Sofia with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Plevneliev said that Bulgaria has pledged to...
