The economy of Bulgaria functions on the principles of the free market, having a large private sector and a smaller public one. Bulgaria is an industrialised upper-middle-income country according to the World Bank, is a member of the European Union, World Trade Organization, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation; the Bulgarian economy has experienced rapid growth in recent years reaching estimated gross domestic product of $171.185 billion, GDP per capita of $24,595, average gross monthly salary of 1281 leva, net average monthly salary of $1505. The national currency is the lev, pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 leva for 1 euro. The lev is most stable currency in Eastern Europe; the strongest sectors in the economy are energy, metallurgy, machine building and tourism. Primary industrial exports are clothing and steel, machinery and refined fuels. Sofia is the capital and economic heart of Bulgaria and home to most major Bulgarian and international companies operating in the country, as well as the Bulgarian National Bank and the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
Plovdiv has one of the largest economies in Bulgaria. Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, Varna is among the best-performing and fastest-growing Bulgarian cities; the Bulgarian economy has developed in the last 26 years, despite all difficulties after the disband of Comecon in 1991. In the early 1990s, the country's slow pace of privatization, contradictory government tax and investment policies, bureaucratic red tape kept the foreign direct investment among the lowest in the region. Total FDI from 1991 through 1996 was $831 million. In December 1996, Bulgaria joined the World Trade Organization. After this, in the years since 1997, Bulgaria has begun to attract substantial foreign investment. In 2004 alone, over 2.72 billion euro were invested by foreign companies. In 2005, economists observed a slowdown to about 1.8 billion euro in the FDI, attributed to the end of the privatization of the major state owned companies.
After joining the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria registered a peak in foreign investment of about 6 bln euro. Low productivity and competitiveness on the European and world markets alike due to inadequate R&D funding, still remain a significant obstacle for foreign investment. According to the latest Annual report of the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the average salary in Bulgaria is a quarter of the average salary in the European Union, should be two times higher when the labour productivity is calculated in the formula. During the Great Recession, Bulgaria saw its economy decline by 5.5% in 2009, but restored positive growth levels to 0.2% in 2010, in contrast to other Balkan countries. However, the growth continued to be weak in the following years, GDP only reached pre-crisis levels in 2014; the first modern factory in Bulgaria was set up in Sliven in 1836. During the 1930s, the Bulgarian economy was described as an economy militarily bound to Germany.
In the early 1940s, as Germany began to lose the Second World War, the Bulgarian economy suffered a decline. As a whole, the period between the 1880s and 1945 was marked by strong industrialization. During the Socialism era, Bulgarian economy continued to be industrialized, although free market trade decreased, as private market initiatives became state-regulated. Still, the Bulgarian economy made significant overall progress in modernizing road infrastructure, airline transportation, as well as developing the tourism sector by building tourist resorts along the Black sea coast and the mountain regions. From the end of World War II until the widespread change of regime in Eastern Europe in November 1989, the Bulgarian Communist Party exerted complete economic and political control in Bulgaria; the party's ascent to power in 1944 had marked the beginning of economic change towards planned economy. During that time, Bulgaria followed the Soviet model of economic development more than any other member of the Eastern Bloc, while becoming one of the first members of Comecon.
The new regime shifted the economy type from a predominantly agrarian one towards an industrial economy, while encouraging the relocation of the labour force from the countryside to the cities, thus providing workers for the newly built large-scale industrial complexes. At the same time, the focus of Bulgarian international trade shifted from Central Europe to Eastern Europe and the USSR; these new policies resulted in impressive initial rates of economic development. Bulgarian economy resembled that of the Soviet Union. Soviet-style centralised planning formed by consecutive five-year plan periods had more immediate benefits there compared to the other Eastern European states where it was first applied in the early 1950s. Throughout the postwar period, economic progress was substantially assisted by a level of internal political stability unseen in other Eastern European countries during the same period; that rep
Paris Model is a 1953 American comedy drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Marilyn Maxwell, Paulette Goddard, Eva Gabor and Barbara Lawrence; the film's sets were designed by the art director William Glasgow. A new dress plays a key role in the lives of four women. A daring strapless design, "Nude at Midnight," is unveiled in Paris to the delight of socialite Gogo Montaine, who wants to dazzle the Maharajah of Kim-Kepore, her escort that night, she charges its $900 cost to a former lover, Louis-Jean, who turns up and refuses to pay. The Raj begins paying more attention to the gambling tables, so Gogo uses her dress and charms to get back into Louis-Jean's good graces. A buyer from New York City has an underling copy the Paris dress's design and manufactures a cheaper version of it. Betty Barnes, a secretary, spends $90 on one to impress her boss, attorney Edgar Blevins, hoping to woo him away from Cora, his wife. Cora eavesdrops on her at the dress shop. While her husband is admiring Betty in it, Cora turns up in the same dress, diverting her husband's wandering eyes.
Marion Parmalee wants a promotion for her husband, whose boss P. J. Sullivan is retiring to Florida with his wife. At the retirement party, wearing a "Nude at Midnight" dress she bought for $59, Marion flirts with P. J. a bed manufacturer. When they get caught atop a bed together, P. J.'s wife names another man at the party as her husband's successor. In far-off Los Angeles, a 21st-birthday party and a desire for boyfriend Charlie to propose marriage to her motivate Marta Jensen into buying an eye-catching dress, "Nude at Midnight," a copy of which she finds on sale for $19, they have difficult getting a table at Michael Romanoff's popular restaurant, frustrating Charlie until he gets an eyeful of Marta in her gown. At a nearby table appreciating her beauty in this dress, sits the Maharajah of Kim-Kepore. Marilyn Maxwell as Marion Parmalee Paulette Goddard as Betty Barnes Eva Gabor as Gogo Montaine Barbara Lawrence as Marta Jensen Cecil Kellaway as Patrick J.'P. J.' Sullivan Robert Hutton as Charlie Johnson Leif Erickson as Edgar Blevins Tom Conway as Maharajah of Kim-Kepore Michael Romanoff as Prince Romanoff Florence Bates as Mrs. Nora Sullivan El Brendel as Papa Jensen Laurette Luez as Lisa Jones Robert Bice as Jack Parmalee Aram Katcher as Louis-Jean Vacheron Gloria Christian as Cora Blevins Byron Foulger as Ernest Boggs Bibs Borman as Berta Courtallez Paris Models as Himself Pamela Robertson Wojcik.
New Constellations: Movie Stars of the 1960s. Rutgers University Press, 2012. Paris Model on IMDb
William Heathcote DeLancey was a bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and the sixth Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. DeLancey was known as a High Churchman, served as the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York. DeLancey was born at Mamaroneck, New York into a celebrated New York family descended from Caleb Heathcote, he was the son of John Peter DeLancey, a Revolutionary War soldier, his wife, Elizabeth Floyd. His sister married James Fenimore Cooper. DeLancey graduated from Yale College in 1817 and studied divinity with Bishop John Henry Hobart of New York, he served in several positions in New York before being ordained to the ministry in 1822. He married Frances Munro, daughter of Peter Munro, in 1820, they had three daughters. Their eldest son, Edward Floyd DeLancey, was president of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. After his ordination, DeLancey took a position in Philadelphia as general assistant to William White, he held various clerical offices in Philadelphia and, in 1826, was elected a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania.
Delancey was elected provost of the University in 1828, continuing in that office until 1834. The next three years showed a distinct improvement in other areas. In 1839 DeLancey was elected first Bishop of the newly created Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, he was the 34th bishop of the ECUSA, was consecrated by bishops Alexander Viets Griswold, Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk. DeLancey remained in that position for more than 25 years. In 1852, he attended the fifteenth anniversary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts as one of the two representatives of the American House of Bishops, being the first American Bishop to be recognized as one of their own body by the Anglican Bishops. DeLancey was active in matters of church organization and legislation, was instrumental in placing Hobart College and several other educational institutions on a firm basis, he was involved in the establishment of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, dedicated as the DeLancey Memorial Church.
He received the following honorary degrees: Doctor of Divinity from Yale in 1827, Doctor of Laws from Union College in 1849 and Doctor of Civil Laws from Oxford University, in 1852. He died in Geneva, New York on April 5, 1865, where his remains were interred in St. Peter's Episcopal Church. "William Heathcote DeLancey". Penn Biographies. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 15 December 2008. Documents by and about DeLancey from Project Canterbury Yale Obituary Record William H. DeLancey at Find a Grave
Kevin Drew is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which consisted of Drew and Charles Spearin, another current member of Broken Social Scene. Drew has shared in the direction of Broken Social Scene videos under the name Experimental Parachute Movement. In 2008 he wrote and directed a short film called "The Water," inspired by and starring his bandmate and former girlfriend Leslie Feist. In 2009, Drew contributed to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization. Drew grew up in west Toronto and attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts, along with Metric's Emily Haines, Stars' Amy Millan and novelist Ibi Kaslik, where he, Amy and Emily studied drama, he was married to Jo-ann Goldsmith, a social worker and an occasional trumpet player in BSS. Drew's second solo album, was released on 18 March 2014. On January 15, 2013, Drew announced in an interview that he had begun working on a new album with The Archies songwriter Andy Kim.
The album, It's Decided, was released in 2015. Drew and Dave Hamelin coproduced The Tragically Hip's album Man Machine Poem, Gord Downie's subsequent solo album Secret Path. Drew produced Downie's final album Introduce Yerself and Reuben and the Dark's third album, un love. Spirit If... Darlings Feel Good Lost You Forgot It in People Bee Hives Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock Record Hug of Thunder Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub - Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills - Apostle of Hustle Cheap Like Sebastian Broken Social Scene Ibi Dreams of Pavement Almost Crimes Cause=Time Fire Eye'd Boy Constantines Our Age 2009 Stars Your Ex-Lover is Dead Bitches in Tokyo Still Life Still Pastel The Most Serene Republic Content Was Always My Favourite Colour The Water Starring Cillian Murphy, David Fox & Feist Official Site Interview with Kevin Drew on kevchino.com Kevin Drew Interview with No Tofu by Kelly O'Rourke with Kevin Drew at Prefix Interview with Kevin Drew on AOL Music Canada
The Pittsburgh Glass Center is a gallery, glass studio, public-access school dedicated to teaching and promoting studio glass art. It is located on Penn Avenue in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh, it has features works by Paul Joseph Stankard and classes taught by Dante Marioni, Davide Salvadore, Cesare Toffolo. The origins of the Pittsburgh Glass Center date to 1991, when David Stephens visual-arts officer of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, approached glass artists Ron Desmett and Kathleen Mulcahy a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, about the idea of a center for studio glass, it was to have been the Elizabeth Glass Center in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. However, by 1999, the plans had changed and the center was re-oriented to Pittsburgh, it was opened in 2001. The current facility in Garfield is LEED-certified, its development has aided the growth of Garfield with the adjacent Glass Lofts residential development. In fall 2010, the Pittsburgh Glass Center entered into talks with Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
By May 2011, the talks had failed, with the Pittsburgh Glass Center withdrawing from negotiations. In 2012, the Glass Center purchased residential housing adjacent to its main gallery space to be used as student and artist-in-residence housing. By 2012, the center had a $1 million budget, with 10 full-time employees
Clover Industries Limited is a branded foods and beverages group, listed on the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as of 14 December 2010. The Group produces and distributes a diverse range of dairy and consumer products to customers and consumers through one of the largest and most extensive distribution networks in South Africa. Clover's history began in 1898 with a series of meetings among a group of farmers in the lush pastures of the Natal Midlands. 1898 – Farmers meet in Mooi River to discuss the establishment of a butter factory. At follow-up meetings the name Natal Creamery Ltd and co-operative principles are approved. 1899 – Joseph Baynes starts the first butter factory in Natal on his farm Nel's Rust. Due to the absence of proper legal channels to register a co-operative, Natal Creamery Ltd is registered under the Natal Companies Act and H Blaker is appointed as the first chairman. 1901 – The first reference is made to Model Dairy as a partnership between Natal Creamery Ltd and Joseph Baynes Ltd for the marketing of fresh milk in Durban.
This partnership breaks up in October 1901. 1902 – Milk distribution by Natal Creamery Ltd commences in Pietermaritzburg. 1903 – Milk is dispatched to Johannesburg on a daily basis and Natal Creamery Ltd decides to investigate the Johannesburg milk industry. 1906 – Natal Creamery Ltd takes over the Johannesburg Milk Supply Company Ltd. 1908 – Heilbron Government Creamery is established. 1923 – Natal Creamery Ltd is registered under the Co-operatives Societies Act of 1922. 1932 – By 1932 Natal Creamery Ltd is operating in 32 centres countrywide. 1934 – The operation of a 100% co-operative style system is approved and the name Natal Creamery Ltd is changed to National Co-operative Dairies Ltd. 1994 – Clover S. A. Ltd is established. 1995 – Clover S. A. Ltd and Compagnie Gervais Danone join forces as joint venture partners. 1997 – Clover Holdings Ltd is established to act as a holding company for Clover S. A. Ltd. 1998 – Danone and Clover S. A. Ltd form the Danone Clover Ltd joint venture. 2003 – The conversation of National Co-operative Dairies Ltd from a co-operative to a public company took place during November 2003.
A name change to Clover Industries Ltd was approved during a series of special general meetings. The dynamics incorporated in Clover Industries Ltd in respect of ordinary shares exercising control and preferential shared being tradable, opens a new era for the Group. Clover S. A. Ltd and Danone form the Clover Danone Beverages Ltd joint venture. 2004 – Clover Holdings Ltd is unbundled. Clover Industries Ltd is the new holding company of Clover S. A. Ltd, one of the largest branded consumer goods companies in South Africa, South Africa's largest dairy company and one of the leading manufacturers and marketers of food products in South Africa. 2005 – Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd acquires a 25.1% shareholding in Clover Industries Ltd as a BBBEE partner. 2006 – Clover S. A. Ltd and Fonterra Ltd of New Zealand form the Clover Fonterra Ingredients Ltd joint venture. 2007 – Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd, the BBBEE partner, exercises its option to increase its ordinary shareholding to 34.9% and Clover S.
A. Ltd buys 39.8% of the shares in Clover Danone Beverages Ltd from Danone. The company's name is changed to Clover Beverages Ltd. 2008 – Danone Clover Ltd acquires a 70% interest in Mayo Dairy Ltd. 2009 – Deconsolidation/Recapitalisation of Danone Clover Ltd. 2010 – Clover sells its 45% shareholding in Danone Clover Ltd to Danone and commences with the capital restructuring of Clover Industries Limited. Removal of the condition that only milk producers may hold ordinary shares and de-linking the ordinary share from milk supply. Repurchase of 34.9% ordinary shares from Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd. Conversion of preference shares to debt-only instruments. Clover Industries Limited was listed on the main board of the JSE Limited on 14 December 2010. 2011 – Buy-out of the non-controlling interest in Clover Beverages Limited and the subsequent transfer of the non-alcoholic beverages business to Clover SA. 2012 – Bought the Real Juice Co. Holdings Ltd from AVI Limited. Acquired the minority interest in Clover Botswana Ltd and Clover Manhattan Ltd respectively.
2013 – Clover Waters Ltd is created resulting in the expansion of Clover's portfolio of value-added and branded beverage products. Clover is associated with global brands such as Nestlé Purelife and Nestea which opens up opportunities in the sub-Saharan market. 2014 – Clover Futurelife joint venture is established to launch a functional dairy based product. Various other initiatives are being explored. Today, Clover is a branded consumer goods and products group operating in South Africa and other selected African countries in: • The production of dairy and non-alcoholic beverages. Clover implemented a capital restructuring on 31 May 2010, a milestone in its corporate development and resulted in both economic benefits and voting control vesting in the ordinary shares. In addition, the delinking of the ordinary shares from the milk delivery agreements enabled persons other than dairy producers to acquire ordinary shares, facilitating its ability to raise equity capital. Capital scarcity has been a key constraint for Clover's growth and development.
W. I. Büchner: non-executive director N. A. Smi