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Yoana Vasileva

Lifestyle, Money

Moving to Bulgaria. Paying your bills

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Bulgarian currency

Paying your bills in Bulgaria is easy. Whether we are talking about water, electricity or internet bills – there are a number of options which you are presented with.

  1. You can pay your bills in an office of the service provider. This means you will go to one place to pay your electricity bill, to another to pay you TV bill, to a third to pay for you mobile phone and so on and so on. This is not the best option if your daily schedule is full.
  2. Some of the service providing companies offer you the option to pay via their internet sites and not in person.
  3. There are the authorized payment agencies which have centres across the country in various places – supermarkets, gas stations, shopping centres, etc. After an initial registration you can pay all your bills in one go using their services which obviously will save you a lot of time and energy. These agencies provide on-line (for which you will need a bank account) and in person services.
  4. If you live in a village your options are somewhat more limited – you can pay your power, water and telephone bills in the post offices there but bills like the ones for TV, Internet and gas may have to be paid in person in the office of the company or over the internet.
  5. Of course there is the option for you to open a bank account and set up payments by direct debit. This way you will have no worries regarding paying your bills on time.

Images: Internet

Lifestyle, Money

Moving to Bulgaria. Mobile Phone Networks, Operators and Plans

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A map of Bulgaria showing the 3G and 4G coverage of one of the mobile operators. Veliko Tarnovo, where we are based, also benefits from the 4G connection.

As promised our new blog is about mobile phone networks, operators and plans. There are three major mobile phone operators in Bulgaria – Vivacom, Telenor and Mtel. The services and prices they provide are comparable. Within each provider prices per minute vary – you have to choose a mobile plan and decide what you want included in it and then see how much they will charge you. Generally speaking the longer the contract – the lower the price, the higher your monthly fee is – the lower prices per minute are. Also you can receive different amount of free minutes to spend talking and MB to spend surfing (we will talk about the internet in another blog but we now have 4G connection in Bulgaria) again depending on the monthly plan you select.  These operators also have additional services like providing TV and landlines so combining them with you mobile plan means you will get even further discounts.

As everywhere around the world here you can have a pay-as-you-go SIM card or go for a contract. As expected prices per minute will be much favourable if you choose the contract. An important note to make here is that to get a prepaid SIM card you have to register it to your name – that is when you are buying it you have to show a valid ID. Top up vouchers can be purchase across the country virtually from everywhere – gas stations, post offices, supermarkets, newsstands, mobile operators’ offices

Here are links to the three major mobile phone operators:

Telenor http://www.telenor.bg/en the best site in English of all three.

Vivacom https://www.vivacom.bg/en/about/about-us/company/who-are-we

Mtel https://www.mtel.bg/bg no English version here, sorry.

As a whole Bulgaria’s mobile phone network is extensive, covering the entire country. Mobile reception is generally very good; problems occur only in very remote and mountainous areas.

Next time we will tell you more about how and where you can pay your bills.

Images: Internet

Entertainment, Events and Festivals, Lifestyle, Things to do

Veliko Tarnovo marks the Chinese New Year on January, 31st

Basic RGBVeliko Tarnovo will officially mark the Chinese New Year at the end of the month with an attractive show. A program abounding in a variety of events awaits citizens and visitors of the old town on January, 31st at Vasil Levski Palace of Culture and Sport. The show kicks off at 6 pm with demonstrations of traditional Chinese crafts. The attractive New Year programme starts at 7 pm.

Entrance to the Happy Chinese New Year night is free; it is organized by Veliko Tarnovo Municipality and the Embassy of China in Bulgaria.

The program is varied and attractive, and includes 15 separate performances. The audience will see more than 40 artists – musicians, singers and dancers. Spectacular acrobatics, traditional Chinese dances, music and singing performances are among the things we will see during this exciting night. There will also be an exhibition dedicated to the Chinese culture, art and folklore. There will be also many surprises for the audience.

Everyone is invited to become part of the celebrations of the Chinese New Year on January, 31st at Vasil Levski Palace of Culture and Sport.

Images: Internet

Gorna Oryahovitsa airport, News

Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport concessioner finally approved

Letishte-Gorna-Oryahovitsa

Gorna Oryahovitsa Aiport

Civil Airport of Gorna Oryahovitsa Consortium was given the concession of Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport, according to the draft decision of the Council of Ministers, addressed to the Mayor of Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality, Dobromir Dobrev. The concessionaire was the only participant in the procedure for granting the right to operate the airport. The draft decision has yet to be voted at a meeting of the Council of Ministers which is imminent to happen. In two months’ time after the decision is passed the concession contract has to be concluded between the Minister of Transport, Ivaylo Moskovski, and the Consortium. The concession period is 35 years. The investments that the new operator will make for the duration of the concession will be not less than 32.1 million leva.

Although it took quite some time, things are really happening now so hopefully everyone from Veliko Tarnovo area will be able to fly to and from Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport. We will keep you posted with any updates!

Images: Internet

Food and Drink, Lifestyle, Money

Moving to Bulgaria. Supermarkets and Superstores

Moving-59So it’s all decided now and you are moving over to Bulgaria permanently? Great news! Sure you are wondering about the way of living here and how things are getting done. No worries! We are going to tell you about different aspects of everyday life in a series of blogs.

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Tsarevets Fortess in Veliko Tarnovo

Today the blog is about the supermarket and superstore chains which you can find in Bulgaria. Many of the world renowned brands are represented here. We are based in the beautiful town of Veliko Tarnovo or VT as some call it; the town and the area are highly liked by foreigners looking for the perfect place to relocate in Bulgaria. So we are going to tell you about the names you can find nationwide and those of them which are based in Veliko Tarnovo itself. Bulgaria is not a big country so getting to any of the places which you can’t find in VT is easy and won’t take long. Continue Reading