PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Oct 27

SOFIA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

GENERAL AND POLITICS

- Two members of the Supreme Judicial Council resigned after it was revealed they were in contact with a businessman who is currently investigated over offering posts in the council in return for 200,000 euros ($300,700). They denied any wrongdoing (Dnevnik, Sega, Monitor).

ECONOMY

DNEVNIK - The price of toll stickers for all motor vehicles will increase as of next year as part of the government's efforts to avoid an end-year deficit in 2010, Construction Minister Rosen Plevneliev said.

- Unemployment may reach 15-16 percent at the end of 2010 as a result of the drop in funds for boosting the labour market in times of economic crisis planned in the budget draft for next year, trade unions said (Dnevnik, Sega).

- Bulgaria has offered South Korea a joint project for building tankers for transportation of liquefied natural gas across the Black Sea, President Georgi Parvanov said during his visit to the Asian country (Klasa, Sega, Monitor, Novinar, Standart).

BUSINESS

- The consumption of soft drinks fell six percent in the first nine months of 2009 on an annual basis, the steepest drop being in the consumption of energy drinks, which were down 17 percent on the year, the Bulgarian Soft Drinks Association said (Dnevnik, Monitor, Pari).

DNEVNIK - Battery producer Monbat MONBAT.BB posted revenues from sales of 80.5 million levs ($61.92 million) for the first three quarters of 2009, down 40 percent from the same period a year ago.

- The net profit of Bulgaria's Corporate Commercial Bank CORP.BB rose 39.7 percent in the first nine months of the year to 42.9 million levs from a year ago (Monitor, Pari).