, st petersburg, brussels, london, vienna, paris, belgrade, kremnica, budapest and berlin. for over six decades now, since the bulgarian mint opened up in 1952, bulgaria has been producing its own circulation coins, and since 1965 commemorative coins as well. in 1994 the bnb printing works was established as a structural unit of the central bank, and four years later the printing of bulgarian banknotes began. in 2013 a joint venture for production of banknotes was set up by the bnb printing works and one of the world ’ s leading banknote printers francois - charles oberthur group, france, and thus bulgaria became an important player in the banknote industry. it is interesting to note that over its 137 - year history the bnb has organised the production, issue and circulation of more than 500 types of coins, including commemorative coins and medals produced by the bulgarian mint in sofia. you know that a few months ago, on 7 december, the new 2 leva coin came into circulation. the design of that coin enjoys enormous public approval. but let ’ s come back to our exhibition. along with the coins struck after bulgaria ’ s liberation until now, the visitors will be able to catch a glimpse of the history of money on the bulgarian lands going back centuries. i am convinced that the displayed items can tell a lot about the bis central bankers ’ speeches long history and background of the economic and political life on the territory of today ’ s bulgaria. i wish much success to this exhibition. i hope many citizens and guests of burgas will come to see it, to learn more about the money used on the bulgarian lands, and to feel, as we do today, deep respect for the history and accomplishments of our ancestors. bis central bankers ’ speeches

ivan iskrov : review of 2014 as a starting point of reflection on the challenges ahead in bulgaria speech by mr ivan iskrov, governor of the bulgarian national bank, before the association of banks in bulgaria on the occasion of the banker ’ s day, sofia, 4 december 2014. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i ’ m happy that we are together again on our professional holiday – on the celebration of the banker ’ s day, saint nicholas day. keeping the tradition, this year again, with the bnb governing council members we are marking the occasion with you – the management representatives of the banks in bulgaria. please accept our presence here as an expression of acknowledgement of your work and professional attitude in running your entrusted institutions. also, today we would like to underscore our appreciation of the efforts and contribution of many of you here for safekeeping the financial stability in our country. the banks deserve congratulations for the positive results the sector has achieved amid a very unfavourable market, media and political backdrop in 2014. at the same time, let us use the recapitulation of this year as a starting point of reflection about the challenges that may lie ahead. the passing year has proved one of the toughest for the banking system in bulgaria since the time of the big crisis in 1996 – 1997. the reasons for this have been several and i would conditionally divide them into two groups. within the first group fall all those challenges in 2014 that were not at all unexpected. we have commented these challenges in previous years. thus, for instance, the forecasts that this year also the economic growth would not accelerate, have materialised. that has held back the quality of bank assets from improving more tangibly. accordingly, loan demand from enterprises and households has stayed weak. as a result, for yet another year, the banks ’ profitability has been subdued and their possibilities for income from lending, i. e. their core activity, have remained limited. also expected were the tasks related to the transposition into the bulgarian legislation of the capital requirements directive and the capital requirements regulation adopted in 2013 by the european parliament and the council of eu. this time last year in my statement before you i qualified this as a kind of a “ supervisory revolution ” and the largest one - off change to have occurred in our supervisory framework over the last more than 15 years. earlier this year, amendments were adopted in the law on credit institutions and in the regulatory framework, including by dropping out