PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Nov 18

SOFIA, Nov 18 (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.

ECONOMY

DNEVNIK - Bulgaria's Confederation of employers and industrialists said unemployment may jump to a two-digit figure due to the global financial crisis, well above social ministry's forecast of seven percent.

- The first victims of the global financial crisis in Bulgaria are the companies that sell goods on credit, real estate agents and car dealers as consumption shrinks, Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski said (Monitor, 24 Chasa, Duma).

- Bulgaria plans to sign the deal with German power utility RWE (RWEG.DE) for a strategic partnership in a planned 4.0 billion euro nuclear power plant Belene by the end of the year, Lyubomir Velkov, NEK chief executive said (Klasa, Standart, Trud).

BUSINESS

- Austrian waste management firm Saubermacher has won the concession competition to operate in five of Sofia's largest quarters (Dnevnik, Monitor, Klasa, Novinar).

- Dimov Dol mine, owned by mining company Rudmetal, has halted production due to the global financial crisis and the sharp drop of zinc and lead prices, forcing 200 workers to take unpaid leave, Rudmetal's chief executive, Mitko Mladenov, said (Dnevnik, Monitor, 24 Chasa, Standart).

- Bulgarian arm of UniCredit Leasing will sign a contract with the European Investment Bank for credit line worth 80 million euros ($101.2 million) to support small and middle-sized business (Pari, Klasa, Standart).

DNEVNIK - Austria's Drogeriemarkt will open its first store in Bulgaria at the beginning of 2009 in the southern town of Plovdiv and another six stores across the country by 2010, the company said.