All Countries and All Sectors

Although the privatisation of the country's main telecoms company is now apparently settled, Bulgaria's telecoms market is far from displaying signs of any tranquillity these days. With new moves on both the fixed-line and mobile phone front this month, the industry seems to be set for some heightened competition in the months ahead.

With a good new crop of statistics in this week on the state of the nation's economy, there was also some focusing on the state of the nation's banks. This came in on the back of news of an important merger, and of some more worrying news from a previously welcomed share bid.

There was some good news for Bulgaria's tourism sector this month, as figures showed arrivals up, even from some unexpected quarters. Meanwhile, there were also developments in the long-running saga over improvements to the country's tourism infrastructure, with a number of overseas companies reported to be lining up for contracts at Sofia's controversial international airport.

The February 13 bomb blast that killed former Chechen president Salim Khan Yandarbiyev on the streets of Doha pulled Qatar briefly into the forefront of the "war on terror". It also highlighted the emirate's difficulty in balancing disparate, often conflicting, political interests, as with it have come international dispute, contradictory accusations and some tough decisions.

In a week of pregnant pauses, while the nation awaited the outcome of Sunday's local elections and a new round of negotiations on Cyprus, the government's privatisation strategy also looked to be imminent, if not yet actual. Delays in formulating strategies were compounded too by news that the body set up to sell off Turkey's state industries - thereby helping save the country from penury - was itself substantially in debt.

With the IMF in town and talk in Sofia of ending any further loans, attention shifted this week to the question of debt in general. The difficulty of finding a reliable method of calculating how the country's borrowing has shifted was given an airing, while the growing role of the private sector in accounting for the nation's debts was given wide comment - along with its implications for the banking sector.