Eastern Europe?

[Fittster]

"Three global development banks pledged more than £20bn yesterday to avert potential financial meltdown in eastern Europe, where plunging currencies, mounting job cuts and a deepening debt crisis have sparked riots, rocked governments and stoked fears of widespread social unrest."

That's not a bail out it's loose change.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/163...

[Brown and Boris]

Yeah, I have had bigger bills from a Mercedes dealer for a service.

[kambites]

It's quite a lot of money in eastern Europe. For example, the average wage in Bulgaria for someone in full-time employment is about £1500 a year.

[karona]

<waves from Bulgaria>

Minimum wage BGN 3.5 per hour
State Pension BGN 135 per month

BGN 1 = UKP 0.46

Litre Vodka UKP 2.5
Litre White Wine UKP 0.75
Loaf Bread UKP 0.30
'leccy bill UKP 25 month
water bill UKP 2.00 month
Car tax UKP 28.00 Year
Car insurance UKP 48 Year
MOT test UKP 8.00 Year
Petrol UKP 0.65 Litre
Three Bed house, away from S*itty Beach/Burgas, fully renovated, UKP 9000.
Council Tax UKP 12 Year

Edited by karona on Tuesday 3rd March 09:22

[StevieBee]

karona said:

<waves from Bulgaria>

Minimum wage BGN 3.5 per hour
State Pension BGN 135 per month

Only those living in the rural areas earn this level of income. Most earn much more but much of it is "black". This means that the government cannot collect what it needs to in tax (which is 10%) to make improvements. The bail out pales into insignificance when you consider what the country is getting between now and 2013 in EU funding:

Agriculture: €4.6 billion
Education: €1,032 billion
Rail, Roads, Ports, Airports: €1,600 billion
Environment €1,400 billion
ICT, Innovation: €988 million

This assumes that they tackle corruption which they appear to be doing.

Romania is in a similar position.

Both countries though are poised to become considerable powerhouses with huge natural resource reserves. Lots need to be done but having been working there on and off over the past few years, I don't think they are too far away from starting to see some very real improvements.

............and the women!.........

[madala]

...the EU is well and truly fked....