Latest news with #SoutheastEurope
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bulgaria could break the euro. EU leaders will only have themselves to blame
Its inflation was in double digits only a couple of years ago. It has had seven elections over the last two years. Corruption is endemic and it has few major industries. Bulgaria is hardly anyone's idea of a stable economy. But, hey, never mind any of that. The European Central Bank (ECB) has had a great idea. Let's merge its currency with that of Germany, Belgium and France. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot, as it happens. As Greece showed 15 years ago, hustling a country into the eurozone before it is ready can bring the entire currency crashing down. The euro survived the Greek crisis, just about – but that doesn't mean it will necessarily survive Bulgaria. It certainly marks another major step forward for the euro. On Wednesday, both Brussels and the ECB confirmed that Bulgaria had finally met all the criteria for joining the euro. The formal decision is expected in July and the replacement of the lev will take place on Jan 1 next year. We can expect a ponderous speech from Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, about how the European family is expanding. There'll be some grand claims from Christine Lagarde,the ECB president (assuming she hasn't quit to run Davos instead by then) about how the euro is finally taking its place on the world stage. And there'll be some fireworks as well, as the old currency is quietly buried and the new notes and coins are introduced. Of course, on one level that will be a victory for the single currency. Bulgaria will be the 21st nation to adopt the euro, and the fact that new countries keep joining is certainly a sign of its strength, even if the really successful economies in central Europe, such as the rapidly growing Poland, show absolutely no interest in having anything to do with it. And initially it won't actually make a huge difference to the economy. The lev is already tied to the euro by a currency board, meaning it can neither appreciate or devalue. The trouble is, it is very hard to see how Bulgaria can be seen as part of a natural currency zone with Germany and France. One problem is that many of the electorate don't seem to want the euro very much. There was a rally in Sofia last weekend protesting against the decision, and the country's independent president Rumen Radev has already proposed a referendum on the issue, a demand criticised by the government as 'sabotage'. You might hope for a bit more of a settled consensus on an issue as important as adopting a new currency. Still, leaving aside that point, it is the fundamental economics that are more worrying. To start with, Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in the EU, with a GDP per capita of $15,800 (£11,700) according to World Bank data, compared with $54,000 in Germany and $44,000 in France. It is not exactly a minor gap to put it mildly. It has continually missed its inflation targets, with the rate hitting 16pc as recently as 2022. And it has bitterly divided politics, with a bewildering succession of elections, having had eight prime ministers since 2020, if we include caretaker administrations. Even worse, it is not as if Bulgaria even has a great record of paying back its creditors. For much of the post-war period it was of course part of the Soviet bloc, but before that, it defaulted on its debts in 1915 and 1932. Admittedly, that is a better record than Greece, which has defaulted on its debts six times over the last couple of hundred years, but for much of the 19th century Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire which was hardly known for its financial stability either. Over any reasonable time frame, it does not look like a very good bet for bond investors. Likewise, the lev has been through four incarnations since Bulgaria became an independent country, with the latest re-denomination in 1999, when one new lev replaced 1,000 of the old ones. Again, it is not a currency that has been a great place to store your life savings. Fifteen years have now passed since the Greek financial crisis erupted, rocking the eurozone, which is probably long enough for most of its main lessons to have been forgotten. It had multiple causes, but the nub of it was this. Greece was hustled into the zone before it was ready and before its economy had merged with its more developed neighbours, encouraging its politicians to borrow recklessly in a currency that was as good as Germany's and running up debts that turned out not to be sustainable. Eventually, the whole house of cards came crashing down, threatening the stability of the banking system right across the continent. It triggered a cascading series of crises that caught up Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland from which it took years to recover and forced the ECB to launch a bailout that everyone had assumed was ruled out by the treaties. In reality, Bulgaria is Greece on roller skates. Sure, the zone managed to recover from the Greek crisis, and has put itself back on a firmer financial footing. But it was a long hard slog, a decade was lost, and Greece suffered the worst collapse in output of any developed nation since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The zone may get lucky and Bulgaria may integrate seamlessly into the wider European financial system. And yet the blunt truth is this. Admitting Bulgaria into the zone is a very big risk, and a decision that has been made on purely political grounds. It may well end up crashing the system all over again – and the leaders of the zone will only have themselves to blame. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Bytewells Launches Revolutionary Web Scraping Platform with AI-Powered Data Enrichment — Empowering Businesses to Unlock the Full Potential of Online Data
Bulgaria, June 5, 2025 -- A web scraping platform announced the official launch of its innovative service, which is designed to simplify data extraction and enhance it with powerful AI enrichment. With an intuitive user interface, ready-made scrapers, customizable AI agents, and flexible pricing, Bytewells is set to transform how businesses, researchers, and developers access and utilize web data. In today's data-driven world, gathering and analyzing online information is critical for competitive advantage. Bytewells addresses this need by offering a comprehensive platform that extracts data from various websites and enriches it with AI-generated insights, making raw data more actionable and valuable. Bytewells' platform is designed with simplicity and power in mind. Users can quickly extract structured data from popular sources such as Google Maps, e-commerce sites, government portals, and industry-specific platforms. The platform's standout feature is its AI enrichment capability, which leverages advanced AI agents — including integrations with ChatGPT — to add meaningful context and additional information to scraped data. For example, businesses can extract business listings from Google Maps and automatically generate detailed descriptions, contact information, and other relevant metadata with a single click. This seamless combination of scraping and AI enrichment saves time, reduces manual effort, and enhances data quality. Bytewells offers a vast library of pre-built scrapers tailored for popular websites across industries such as finance, healthcare, real estate, e-commerce, and more. Users can start scraping immediately without the need for technical expertise. Bytewells provides custom scraper development services for unique or niche data needs, ensuring clients get the required data. The platform's AI agents enrich scraped data by adding new columns with valuable information like names, emails, addresses, and descriptive content, enabling more profound insights and smarter decision-making. Bytewells' user-friendly dashboard allows users to monitor data extraction progress, manage projects, and visualize results effortlessly. Users can access their data programmatically via Bytewells' API, facilitating integration with internal systems, CRMs, marketing tools, and analytics platforms. Bytewells operates on a pay-per-result credit system, eliminating monthly fees and long-term commitments. Users only pay for the data they acquire, with credits rolling over and volume discounts available for large-scale projects. Bytewells prioritizes data privacy, securely storing all user data and never sharing it with third parties, ensuring compliance with industry standards. One of Bytewells' flagship offerings is the Google Maps Scraper, which enables users to extract comprehensive business listings, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and reviews. This tool is invaluable for sales teams, marketers, and researchers who rely on accurate local business data to drive outreach, competitive analysis, and market research. The Google Maps Scraper is complemented by the Google Maps Reviews Scraper, which collects customer reviews and ratings, providing rich sentiment data to inform customer experience strategies. Bytewells has developed over 200 custom scrapers tailored to specific industries and websites, including Canadian platforms like for dental services, for aerospace, for real estate, etc. This extensive catalog allows users to quickly find and deploy scrapers relevant to their sector, accelerating data acquisition and analysis. With over 1 billion data points scraped and over 5 years of combined team experience, Bytewells has established itself as a trusted partner for businesses seeking reliable and scalable web scraping solutions. The company boasts a 100% support ticket resolution rate within 24 hours, reflecting its commitment to customer success. Independent reviews and user feedback from platforms such as G2, TrustPilot, Product Hunt, and Reddit highlight Bytewells' ease of use, competitive pricing, superior AI enrichment capabilities, and responsive customer support compared to other scraping tools like PhantomBuster, Oxlyabs, and Lobstr. To encourage adoption and demonstrate the platform's capabilities, Bytewells offers a free trial with 500 credits and no credit card required. This allows users to explore the platform, test ready-made scrapers, and experience AI enrichment firsthand without financial commitment. 'We believe data should be accessible, actionable, and affordable for everyone,' said the Bytewells team. 'Our platform empowers users to unlock the full potential of web data by combining powerful scraping technology with intelligent AI enrichment. Whether you're a small business, a freelancer, or a large enterprise, Bytewells makes data extraction and analysis simple, fast, and cost-effective.' About Bytewells: Bytewells is a leading web scraping and AI enrichment platform dedicated to helping businesses and individuals easily extract, enrich, and utilize web data. Founded by a team of data and AI experts, Bytewells combines advanced scraping technology with AI-powered agents to deliver high-quality, structured data tailored to user needs. The platform supports various industries and offers flexible pricing models to suit projects of all sizes. Contact Info: Name: Ivan Petrov Email: Send Email Organization: Bytewells Website: Release ID: 89161623 If you encounter any issues, discrepancies, or concerns regarding the content provided in this press release that require attention or if there is a need for a press release takedown, we kindly request that you notify us without delay at [email protected] (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Our responsive team will be available round-the-clock to address your concerns within 8 hours and take necessary actions to rectify any identified issues or guide you through the removal process. Ensuring accurate and reliable information is fundamental to our mission.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Bulgaria given green light to adopt the euro currency
The European Union has approved Bulgaria 's entry into the Eurozone, which will make it the 21st member to adopt the euro currency. Effective January 1, Bulgaria will replace its national currency, the lev, with the euro, a move aimed at strengthening connections within the EU. To join the Eurozone, countries must meet criteria including low inflation, controlled deficits and debt, low long-term interest rates, and a stable exchange rate; Bulgaria has met these requirements after a review by the European Commission and the ECB. While 50 per cent of Bulgarians initially opposed the euro due to fears of inflation and distrust of institutions, the transition is expected to lower interest rates, ease cross-border trade, and give Bulgaria a voice in eurozone monetary policy. Despite concerns about corruption, the EU determined Bulgaria has made sufficient progress, paving the way for the currency switch, with lev notes exchangeable at banks for a limited time and indefinitely at the Bulgarian National Bank.
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
How Bulgaria Is Closing In on Joining the Euro Area
Bulgaria looks to be on track to win the European Union' s approval to adopt the euro in January 2026. The bloc's poorest member has being laying the groundwork for years to join the single currency, with successive governments claiming this will help close the wealth gap with other EU states. As Europe seeks to demonstrate unity at a time of geopolitical turbulence, Bulgaria may have a narrow window of opportunity to secure a green light from the EU. The Black Sea nation would be the second country after Croatia to adopt the euro in the past decade and one of only a handful to do so since the start of the debt turmoil that nearly caused the currency zone to implode.
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bulgaria On Track to Win EU Approval to Join the Euro Next Year
Bulgaria is close to clearing a major hurdle toward euro adoption, putting the Black Sea nation on course to join the currency area next year. The minority government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov is awaiting an assessment of its readiness on June 4, when the European Commission and the European Central Bank release their convergence reports.
