In Brief
Bulgarian property boom goes bust SOFIA (AFP) – Bulgaria’s real estate boom is turning to bust as its key British and Irish property buyers are now discouraged by financial difficulties at home and the ugly concrete views outside their windows. According to a study by the Bulgarian Properties real estate agency, which works exclusively with foreign clients, holiday property sales in Black Sea and mountain resorts dropped 40 percent in the first half of 2008 compared to 2007. «The withdrawal of British and Irish buyers from the Bulgarian market was prompted by the financial crisis in their countries, but also by the bad infrastructure and the excess of concrete here,» said Dobromir Ganev of the Property Association in Varna on the Black Sea. Many areas of great beauty have been scarred, as elsewhere, by sprawling developments built for a quick speculative gain while the money flowed in. Between 20 and 30 percent of newly-built apartments on the coast have no chance of finding a buyer over the next two years, said Ganev. Prices that soared to 1,000 euros (1,477 dollars) per square metre (yard) last year now look fanciful and empty hotels in the southern Sunny beach resort are being sold as vacation flats for as low as 500 euros per square metre, agents said. Meanwhile, properties offered for sale doubled this year compared to 2007, according to Lachezar Iskrov, head of the National Real Estate Association. Turkish threatens to limit Russian imports ISTANBUL (AP) – Turkey threatened on Saturday to restrict imports from Russia in a trade dispute that has seen hundreds of Turkish trucks carrying exports held up at Russian border posts for weeks. The trade row has raised questions about whether Russia is trying to punish Turkey for allowing US warships carrying aid to Georgia to recently pass through the Bosporus to the Black Sea. Turkey, a NATO member, has also helped train and equip Georgia’s military, which recently lost a brief war with Russia over the separatist region of South Ossetia. Russia is Turkey’s top trading partner and supplier of two-thirds of its natural gas. The countries generally have had good relations. But Turkish Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin complained on Saturday about the restrictions on Turkish exports to Russia and suggested his country could do the same to Russian exporters. Turkish media have said that hundreds of trucks trying to carry Turkish exports to Russia have been held up at the country’s checkpoints for up to four weeks. «Reciprocity is essential in foreign affairs,» Sahin was quoted as saying by state-run media. «If another country is engaged in unfair conduct against us, that gives us the right to do the same thing.» But he also said, «I believe reason will prevail, and I hope these disruptions without any valid reason will end.» Zloty rises Poland’s zloty has risen against the euro, paring its first monthly drop since January, after a government report showed economic expansion in the second quarter exceeded forecasts. The zloty snapped a five-day loss on Friday after Poland’s statistical office said the economy grew 5.8 percent, compared to 6.1 percent in the first quarter. (Bloomberg)
