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Bulgarian
business - real estate ans properties, investment, industry, finance and
trade, accomodation
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Bulgaria
- BUSINESS
In the early 1990s the banking system, formerly under the direction
of the government, underwent significant reform. Legislation passed
in June 1991 ended government direction of the Bulgarian National
Bank but retained a measure of bank accountability to the National
Assembly. In addition a new tier of commercial banks and other lending
institutions was introduced.
Almost two-thirds of all exports are capital goods, such as machinery
and equipment, and one-quarter are consumer goods, mainly of agricultural
origin (such as fresh and canned fruits, wine, honey, cigarettes,
dairy products, and meat and live animals). About two-fifths of all
imports are capital goods. Until its dissolution in the early 1990s,
the Soviet Union was Bulgaria's main trading partner. Likewise, membership
in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) determined
much of Bulgaria's trade patterns until the disbanding of that organization
in 1991.
The history of the Bulgarian equity market dates back almost a century
ago. The first provisional Stock Exchange Act adopted in 1907 regulated
the structure and functions both of stock and commodity exchanges.
On April 15th, 1914 under the King's Decree №7 the first real stock
exchange was established in Bulgaria. At the beginning 21 companies
were listed on the exchange with a total capital of BGL 81 million.
After the World War I the Stock Exchange was reopened in 1920 operating
predominantly forex rather than securities transactions. In the 30’s
some 30 companies got to be listed on the Exchange and generated substantial
turnover. After World War II the Stock Exchange ceased its operations.
The dynamic development of the capital market in the period 1996-1999
necessitated new legislation in this field. In December 1999 a new
Public Offering of Securities Act was adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament.
The law governs the public offering and trade in securities, the activities
of the regulated securities markets, the Central Depository, investment
intermediaries, investment companies and the conditions for carrying
out such activities, as well as the State control over them. The law
is aimed at providing protection for investors and creating the prerequisites
for development of a transparent capital market in Bulgaria with criteria
very close to the ones of the European Union.
In compliance with the new legal requirements and as a response to
the changed market conditions the BSE-Sofia has adopted new Rules
& Regulations. In October 2000 the RTS Plaza trading system, based
on the NASDAQ quotation system was launched at the BSE-Sofia with
the assistance of American and Russian experts. It is an order and/or
dealer driven trading system with multiple market-makers. On October
21, 2000 the BSE-Sofia lauched its officail index – SOFIX. The SOFIX
is price index, market capitalization weighted, with base value of
100 points. The SOFIX portfolio consists of the top domestic stocks.
The final important change in the first quarter of 2003 was the requirement
for International Accounting Standards to be observed by all institutions
in the banking sector and other financial companies traded on the
BSE-Sofia. The move represents a first step with all companies required
to adhere to the system from 2005, moving closer to international
standard regulations on transparency.
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