23
March
2009
Bulgaria will participate in the Earth Hour 2009 global campaign, initiated by the international environmental organisation World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) said on March 11 2009.
The campaign’s goal is to inspire real actions against the climate change. On March 28, at 8.30pm local time, the organisers are urging people around the world to switch electricity off for one hour. More than one billion people in 1000 cities are expected to join.
Gergana Passi, European Integration Minister, said as quoted by BNR that everyone should contribute to the preservation of Bulgarian natural heritage. Passi and British ambassador to Bulgaria Steve Williams are the official representatives of the campaign.
Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, where 2.2 million households and firms turned their lights off for one hour. Only a year later, the initiative was embraced worldwide with more than 100 million participants from 35 countries.
This year, among the cities confirmed participation are London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Athens, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Toronto, Mexico City, Manila, Cape Town, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dubai, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.
tony 
Eco Lifestyle 
No Comments »
30
June
2008
Be it the mermaid in Copenhagen, 7,000 km of coastline in Jutland or several hundred islands, Denmark, the country between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, has a lot to offer – also regarding organic products.
Many a product of Danish origin finds its way into German organic food customers’ trolleys. Denmark is not only the pioneer and trailblazer in terms of wind energy, but the Danes are also the leaders when it comes to organic product consumption. When the international organic market meets for the twentieth anniversary of BioFach in Nürnberg from 19-22 February 2009, exhibitors and trade visitors will be greeted by a fresh breeze of Scandinavian flair in the exhibition halls: Denmark is Country of the Year in 2009. At the world’s leading fairs, BioFach for organic products, and Vivaness for natural personal care and wellness, around 2,900 exhibitors (2008: 2,764) and once again more than 46,000 trade visitors (2008: 46,484) are expected.
tony xStep Forward No Comments »
27
June
2008
A procedure on giving a land plot in municipal ownership on concession has already started. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
The park will comprise a wind generator park and photovoltaic park. By year-end, the procedure is expected to be completed. The concession is expected to last 35 years. The project is expected to give 250 jobs, of which 60 individuals would be full-time.
Negotiations between investors and the NEC, as well as EVN are at an advanced stage so as to ensure sale of the electricity market, the municipal councillors decided.
tony xStep Forward No Comments »
24
June
2008
The protest was organised by the initiative committee of Mladost residents and Zelenite political party (Bulgarian Greens). On June 24 Lydmil Zahariev, who started the website of the local neighbours http://www.sofia-mladost.com/, told The Sofia Echo that he handed out about 4000 flyers calling on people to join the rally, but that did not result in a mass turnout.The new detailed master plan foresees about 150 new apartment and office buildings in the whole Mladost, as their number in Mladost 2 is the smallest - 26, Zahariev said. During the protest on June 23, Mladost mayor Petko Dyulgerov, the district’s chief architect Boyka Kudreva and municipal councillor Atanas Cheresharov went out of the municipality building and told the citizens that after the first round of public hearings on the detailed master plan and the various complaints they received, the construction density that was initially projected, was decreased by more than 70 per cent.
“We will believe this after the first public hearings from the second round takes place today, when we will have the chance to see the changed detailed master plan,” Zahariev said. He said the public hearing for Mladost 1 part will take place in Mladost 1 community centre at 6.30 pm on June 24.
On June 24, Sofia chief architect Petar Dikov also said in an interview with Bulgarian National Radio that the planned construction density is changed, Zahariev said, adding that the residents hoped that this is true. The final decision will depend on the vote in the Sofia municipal council.
tony Eco Lifestyle No Comments »
16
June
2008
The European Commission is sending a first written warning to Bulgaria for taking insufficient measures to protect nature. The case concerns Bulgaria’s failure to designate adequate Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for migratory and vulnerable wild bird species, which violates the EU directive on the conservation of wild birds.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “The network of Special Protection Areas is the key to safeguarding the future of migratory and vulnerable bird species. It is imperative that Member States fulfill their obligations to protect them.”
Special protection areas
Under the Wild Birds Directive,[1] Member States are obliged to designate all the most suitable sites as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for the conservation of wild bird species. The designation of SPAs must be based on objective, verifiable scientific criteria. To assess whether Member States have complied with their obligation to classify SPAs, the Commission uses the best available ornithological information. Where the necessary scientific information is lacking, national inventories of Important Bird Areas (IBAs), compiled by the non-governmental organisation Birdlife International, are used. While not legally binding, the IBA inventory is based on internationally recognised scientific criteria. The Court of Justice has already acknowledged its scientific value, and in cases where no equivalent scientific evidence is available, the IBA inventory is a valid basis of reference in assessing whether Member States have classified a sufficient number and size of territories as SPAs. Read the rest of this entry »
tony Sustainability No Comments »
5
June
2008
Unintentionally, the green topic again appears in my weekend blog for second time. The reason is simple: green things are happening in Bulgaria, which makes me happy, but also alert that some of them might only use the colour green to paint themselves green as nature, but are in fact green as money. And create further problems.
Some time ago, when a friend of mine from the recently established new green party Zelenite (Bulgarian Greens) told me that he and the other environmental activists are planning to get into the politics with a new party, I reacted as many of my acquaintances now react: “One more party? Who needs this?“
I suggested they melt into the Green Party, already in existance since 1989, but the person I am talking about, who also has a long experience in the environmental protests since the very beginning, told me this party is not the thing they want to transform into.
Anther member of Zelenite recently changed his car engine to one that uses methane, as he could not separate that easily from the comfort of driving his vehicle, but at least tries to make it in the most environmentally friendly way. The same person spends any free day at his village house, now transforming it into an energy-efficient place to live, with solar panels and other environmental improvements. Read the rest of this entry »
tony Media Info No Comments »
31
May
2008
This was announced by Zhevago’s representative in Bulgaria Victor Demianuk at the presentation of Zhevago’s offer for the purchase of 71% of the mill’s capital.
Zhevago’s representatives promised that their company Vorskla Steel is to turn “Kremikovtzi” into a modern plant in the next 5 years.
Between 60 and 120 million USD will be invested to bring the mill to the ecological standards and to reduce pollution, which is considered to be “Kremikotvzi’s” main problem.
Demianuk promised that the Ukrainian businessman would regularly supply the mill with raw material and the production would not be interrupted. Transportation expenses for raw materials will be reduced by 60 USD/ton since they will no longer come from Brazil but from Ukraine. “Vorskla Steel” is prepared to supply the raw materials immediately since the company already has 100 000 tons of them at the port of Lom and another 70 000 tons in Bourgas.
Zhevago also intents to reduce the intermediary companies’ contracts when the “Kremikovtzi” production is being sold.
The Ukrainian businessman insists that the purchase goes trough the declaring of bankruptcy. Zhevago holds around 30% of the bond loan of over 320 million EUR. His representatives were definite that if Zhevago was to purchase the mill, the loan would be forgiven.
The mill’s trade unions have declared once again their support for the Ukrainian offer since, according to them, it is more precise and includes strictly defined intentions.
Earlier today Petar Dimitrov had a working meeting with representatives of “ArcelorMittal”. They confirmed that they were conducting active negotiations with the majority owner Pramod Mittal as well as with the bonds’ owners who would become the mill’s biggest creditor if “Kremikovtzi” was to declare bankruptcy.
tony xStep Forward No Comments »
24
May
2008
Bulgaria should work more for the popularisation of its natural beauties, Japan’s ambassador to Sofia, Tsuneharu Takeda, said during a meeting with Vidin regional governor Krustio Spassov.
According to Mr. Takeda, Bulgaria could attract a great number of Japanese tourists by promoting its historical monuments and nature.
During his visit to the Danube town, the ambassador also highlighted the importance of planned infrastructure projects and expressed his readiness for support.
Mr Takeda also visited a milk processing plant in Vidin and commented Bulgarian diary products are highly valued in Japan.
“About 24 million Japanese eat Bulgarian yoghurt daily,” the ambassador pointed out.
source: Novinite
tony Media Info No Comments »
12
May
2008
Answer given by the European Commissioner for Environment Mr Stavros Dimas on behalf of the Commission on 7.5.2008:
In the series of related written questions the Honourable Members ask the Commission about the state-of-play of a number of ski resorts in the Rila Mountains, which they consider to be illegal and representing an infringement of Community law. The Commission thanks the Honourable Members for providing technical information about the habitat types and species found in the areas in question. Read the rest of this entry »
tony Sustainability No Comments »
7
May
2008
A financial bubble is a market aberration manufactured by government, finance, and industry, a shared speculative hallucination and then a crash, followed by depression. Bubbles were once very rare—one every hundred years or so was enough to motivate politicians, bearing the post-bubble ire of their newly destitute citizenry, to enact legislation that would prevent subsequent occurrences. After the dust settled from the 1720 crash of the South Sea Bubble, for instance, British Parliament passed the Bubble Act to forbid “raising or pretending to raise a transferable stock.” For a century this law did much to prevent the formation of new speculative swellings.
Nowadays we barely pause between such bouts of insanity. The dot-com crash of the early 2000s should have been followed by decades of soul-searching; instead, even before the old bubble had fully deflated, a new mania began to take hold on the foundation of our long-standing American faith that the wide expansion of home ownership can produce social harmony and national economic well-being. Spurred by the actions of the Federal Reserve, financed by exotic credit derivatives and debt securitiztion, an already massive real estate sales-and-marketing program expanded to include the desperate issuance of mortgages to the poor and feckless, compounding their troubles and ours.
That the Internet and housing hyperinflations transpired within a period of ten years, each creating trillions of dollars in fake wealth, is, I believe, only the beginning. There will and must be many more such booms, for without them the economy of the United States can no longer function. The bubble cycle has replaced the business cycle. Read the rest of this entry »
tony xStep Forward No Comments »
Loading ...
