The first young eastern imperial eagles in Bulgaria for 2012 have hatched in the wild Sakar and Strandzha Mountains in Bulgaria’s south-eastern corner.

In the last few days three of the monitored imperial eagle couples have hatched out their young, announced the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds(BSPB).

Breeding in southeastern Europe through Central Asia, the eastern imperial eagle is classified as a vulnerable species worldwide.

BSPB monitors the couples breeding in Bulgaria, which were recently counted to number 23, which is a record since systematic observation of the species began in Bulgaria.

One of the couples that have hatched out their eggs have two eaglets, while the other two couples have at least one, but new little birds could emerge from their nests, says the Society.

The other 20 couples are at present still sitting on their eggs, according to the bird protection organization.

The Society further adds that 2 of the recently discovered couples are newly formed and have occupied nests especially built by the organization for imperial eagles.

According to BSPB, this fact strengthens hopes that efforts for the promotion of the species come to fruition.

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Up to BGN 600 000 from the returned bonuses account will be transferred to the budgets of the Council of Ministries and the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs for the organization and execution of the tribute campaign.

The fund will be used for repairs and rebuilding of monuments ofsoldiers who have perished in the Wars, for displays, reinstatement of historical documents, and conferences among others.

The Defense Ministry will organize the creation of a commemorative badge “100 Years since the Balkan Wars,” and will further use the money for official military honors ceremonies, the publishing of commemorative materials, an international conference, and the making of a list of Bulgarian servicemen, who have died in the battles.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry will publish a book, will prepare an exhibit about Macedonian soldiers, who in 1912 were part of the regular Bulgarian Army, and will organize the search for tombs of Bulgarian military men on the territory of FYROM.

The information was reported by the government’s press center.

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, wished success to the two major parties in the now former right-wing Blue Coalition, after news reports about the latter’s breakup.

“Both the Union of Democratic Forces, UDF, and Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, DSB, are our political partners in the European right wing and in the European People’s Party, EPP, and I wish them success,” Borisov told the media Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, UDF‘s National Council gathered in the city of Plovdiv to decide on whether it would take part in the 2013 general elections on its own. 49 members ofUDF‘s National Council voted for leaving the Blue Coalition and 34 were against.

“It is GERB‘s principle to not comment on internal issues and decisions of other parties,” Borisov further said.

In the last weeks, working teams of both UDF and DSB negotiated in depth the coalition agreement and the decision to dissolve the Blue Coalition came as somewhat a surprise to many.

Under the UDF party code, a new leader must now be elected.

The Blue Coalition was established in the eve of the general elections in 2009 and has been marred by troubles and discord ever since. It currently has 14 Members of the Parliament after Ventsislav Varbanov left to become independent.

The Coalition registered in 2009 for the European Parliament Elections without theUDF being officially listed as a party. The former UDF leader, Plamen Yurukov, who strongly opposed a coalition with the DSB leader, Ivan Kostov, registered with the Central Elections Commission, CEK, an UDF duplicate. UDF was officially listed as a coalition partner of DSB in time for the general elections.

DSB has said it is prepared to participate in the elections on its own. However, its representatives were in favor of keeping the Coalition alive.

Recent polls have suggested that neither of the two parties would be capable of gathering 4% of all votes in the 2013 election, the bare minimum required for entering the country’s Parliament.

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The European Commission has come up with a neutral statement regarding the recent assault against Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Macedonia Ivan Petkov.

The issue has to be resolved at a bilateral level, according to Peter Stano, spokesman of EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele.

“If the case is criminal, we expect local authorities to investigate it, adhering to the rule of law,” Stano has stated, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

The European Commission expects Bulgaria and Macedonia to settle their relations “like European neighbors,” the spokesman has declared.

Brussels believes that if an issue exists between the two countries, they have to resolve it at a bilateral level.

On May 4, Petkov and a Bulgarian delegation were not admitted to Bulgarian revolutionary Gotse Delchev‘s grave in Skopje and were attacked by a group of nationalist Macedonian “hooligans,” with no one being hurt.

The attack was strongly condemned by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Presidednt Rosen Plevneliev, among others.

The authorities in Macedonia‘s capital Skopje have prevented Bulgarian diplomats and Macedonians with Bulgarian self-consciousness from honoring the grave of Gotse Delchev at several instances in the past on both Delchev’s birthday – February 4, and the day of his death – May 4.

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The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) will file a lawsuit at the European Court of Human Rights over the death of a 15-year-old at a state-run childcare institution.

The human rights NGO will sue the state over the death of a 15-year-old mentally disabled girl at an institution located in the northeastern village of Strazha.

The girl died in 2006 from gastrointestinal perforation.

She was subjected to an operation, which failed to save her life, but recovered the following items from her stomach: 25 insoles, 8 cloth rags, 3 dishwashing sponges, 6 socks, 3 pieces of paper and 3 stones (3-4 cm in size).

The prosecuting authority did not hold anybody liable for the death.

The inspection covered only the activities of the hospital staff, while the activities of the child institution, under whose supervision the child had swallowed the deadly pile of objects, were left unexamined.

No details were revealed about how the accident had happened.

The BHC appealed the ruling for the termination of the pre-trial proceedings on the, claiming that the circumstances surrounding the death of the 15-year-old girl had to be clarified.

In November 2011, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office of Cassation upheld the termination of the pre-trial proceedings conclusively.

In its claim to the ECHR the BHC will claim that the state violated a number of rights in the case, including the girl’s right to life, right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment, right to private life, right to an effective domestic remedy and the right to freedom from discrimination.

The vanishing of sentenced Bulgarian businessmen known as Galevi Brothers will have a negative effect on the EU‘s July monitoring report on Bulgaria, according to Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

“Of course, there is no way that this event can be positively taken. The European Commission has repeatedly insisted that it wants to see criminals punished,” explained Tsvetanov.

Controversial Dupnitsa businessmen Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov were convicted to 3 and 4 years in jail for organized crime activities.

But May 3 it turned out that they are nowhere to be found, after they failed to present themselves to serve their sentences.

Saturday Tsvetanov did not fail to use his usual rhetoric device by blaming Bulgaria’sjudiciary for the disappearance of the so-called brothers.

“It is the court that could have prevented this to happen by imposing detention on the defendants, rather than a bail,” said the Bulgarian Minister of Interior.

The Galevi Brothers were on BGN 100,000 bail, which they chose to forfeit rather than render themselves after being sentenced.

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov and Qatari PM Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thaniin Bulgaria on Friday, reports say.

Al Thani is to arrive to the Bulgarian capital on Thursday on the invitation of Borisov, while Erdogan’s short visit on Friday was announced yesterday.

The Bulgarian National Radio has cited Turkish sources saying that the three Prime Ministers will hold a joint meeting on Friday. They are expected to focus on trade,energy and transport issues, as well as specific projects and investments.

Borisov and Erdogan are expected to discuss the construction of a natural gas interconnection pipeline between Bulgaria and Turkey, which is to allow the former to receive gas supplies from Azerbaijan.

An agreement for Qatari investments of USD 100 M that was discussed during Borisov mid-March to Qatar is also expected to be among the key topics.

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Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach expects to welcome large groups of Russians, Brits, Germans and Irish in the last ten days of May 2012, according to Elena Ivanova from the Union of Hotel Owners in Sunny Beach.

In Ivanova’s words, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), demand before the start of the summer season indicates that the industry will continue its upward trend in 2012.

The expert predicts that the bed occupancy rate in Sunny Beach will exceed 20% after May 20, 2012.

She adds that tourists who made reservations in early spring will be able to take advantage of great discount rates.

The peak of the summer season is expected between July 25 and August 20.

Local business representatives anticipate a 5-8% growth in foreign tourist arrivals in the summer of 2012.

The number of visitors from Russia is expected to increase by 12-15% mainly due to the alleviated visa regime.

The number of tourists from Israel is also expected to go up from the rate in 2011.

Bookings by German tourists for the summer season have so far registered a 4% increase and are growing at about the same rate as bookings by Brits.

The 2012 summer season in Sunny Beach will be officially declared open in the beginning of June.

According to Dimitar Nikolov, representative of the Managing Board of the newly established “Sunny Beach” business association, the resort needs a long term image strategy.

He explains that a number of Bulgarian and foreign journalists have been invited to visit Sunny Beach and get an in-depth view of the resort.

“There are people who criticize Sunny Beach without even knowing it. The resort is actually quite attractive, it is very well appreciated and is a top destination for young holidaymakers from all over Europe,” Nikolov argues.

The 2012 summer season in Black Sea resorts will take place against the backdrop of improved security.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov announced Monday that a total of 500 police officers would be dispatched to Bulgarian seaside resorts for the summer season.

Tsvetanov predicted that the number of tourists would increase by up to 8% as compared to the summer season in 2011.

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The preferential prices for purchasing energy from renewable sources will be reduced from July 1, 2012, according to Angel Semerdzhiev, Chair of the State Commission for Energy and Eater Regulation (DKEVR).

“Analysis is now underway, but energy prices will definitely drop, especially prices of energy generated by photovoltaic plants, because capital expenditures are also decreasing,” the DKEVR Chair explained Tuesday, without citing concrete figures.

He refused to comment on prices of natural gas in Q3, 2012, adding that the proposal of state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz was yet to be received.

Bulgargaz published Monday its Q3 2012 gas price forecast, noting that the US dollar exchange rate was supposed to be the only influence.

Bulgargaz argued that the 11% discount negotiated with Russian Gazprom had already been calculated into the tariff which entered into force on April 1, stressing that the company’s request for a gas price increase of 26% had been downsized to 13% at that point.

The state-owned gas supplier is to submit its Q3 2012 gas price request with DKEVRin one month.

Semerdzhiev further defined the appointment of DKEVR member Evgenia Haritonova as Deputy Energy Minister as a sign of recognition of the watchdog’s expertise.

He added that the energy watchdog was now looking to fill out its staff after Haritonova’s departure.

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The Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in Bulgaria in the first quarter of 2011 increased by 0.5%, compared with the same quarter of the previous year.

GDP remains at the same level compared to the fourth quarter of 2011.

These flash estimates were released Tuesday by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI.

According to the flash GDP estimates for the first quarter of 2012, the GDP at current prices amounted to BGN 15 661 M.

Bulgaria’s Gross Value Added, GVA, at current prices amounted to BGN 13 358 M. The services sector have the largest share (63.7%) in the total value added, followed by industrial sector (32.3%). The agricultural sector constitutes 4% of the value added in the total economy.

In the structure of GDP by the expenditure approach, final consumption (86.9%), which in nominal terms amounted to BGN 13 612 M, has largest share in GDP. In the first quarter of 2012 the Gross Fixed Capital Formation is BGN 3 346 M and has a share of 21.4% in GDP. The external balance (exports minus imports) was negative.

According to the seasonally adjusted data, the GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2012 remains at the same level compared with the previous quarter

According to the seasonally adjusted data, in the first quarter of 2012 the Gross Value Added of the total economy decreased by 0.4%, compared to fourth quarter of the previous year.

The GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2012 remains at the same level compared with the previous quarter

According to flash estimates of GDP by final expenditure, the Final Consumption Expenditure increased by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012. For the same period, the Gross Fixed Capital Formation increased by 2.5%. In the first quarter of 2012, the exports of goods and services decreased by 4.6%. During the same period, imports of goods and services decreased by 2.4% over the previous quarter.

During the first quarter of 2012, GDP increased by 0.5% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Gross Value Added decreased by 0.3% compared to same quarter of previous year. The indicator’s movement is determined mainly by the increase recorded in the agricultural sector (12.4%) and industry (2%). Services have a negative contribution to Value Added with a decline of 0.8% over the period.

Regarding the expenditure component of GDP, a major contributor to registered positive economic growth of 2.2% is final consumption. Gross Fixed Capital Formation recorded a decrease of 3.4% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Exports and imports of goods and services decreased respectively by 1.9% and 1.6% compared to the corresponding quarter of previous year.

The Eurostat (the statistical office of the EU) defines a flash estimates as: „…the earliest picture of the economy according to national accounts concepts, which is produced and published as soon as possible after the end of the quarter, using a more incomplete set of information than that used for traditional quarterly accounts…”

Flash estimates for GDP are based on the preliminary available monthly and quarterly indicators for the components of GDP structure (subject to subsequent update and revisions).

Flash estimates of GDP for the first quarter of 2012 were prepared within 45 days after the reference period. They are presented in a standard format for publication of quarterly national accounts data – current prices, relative shares of the components in the GDP structure and growth rates as compared with the previous quarter and compared with the same period of the previous year.

According to the Calendar of statistical surveys, NSI will prepare and publish official quarterly estimates of GDP for the first quarter of 2012 on 6 June 2012.