title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The country suffered a difficult start to 2009, after gas supplies were cut in the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute. Industrial output suffered, as well as public services, exposing Bulgaria's overdependence on Russian raw materials.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The financial crisis of 2007–2008 applied downward pressure on growth and employment by the last quarter of 2008. The real estate market, although not plummeting, ground to a halt and growth was significantly lower in the short-to-medium run.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: During 2009, the grim forecasts for the effects of the Great Recession on the Bulgarian economy largely materialized. Although suffering less than the worst-hit countries, Bulgaria recorded its worst economic results since the 1997 meltdown. GDP shrank by around 5% and unemployment jumped. Consumer spending and foreign investment dropped dramatically and depressed growth in 2010 to 0.3%. Unemployment remains consistently high at around 10%.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The government of Boyko Borisov elected in 2009 undertook steps to restore economic growth, while attempting to maintain a strict financial policy. The fiscal discipline set by Finance Minister Djankov proved successful and together with reduced budget spending it placed Bulgarian economy on the stage of steadily though slowly growing in the midst of world crisis. On 1 December 2009, Standard & Poor's upgraded Bulgaria's investment outlook from "negative" to "stable," which made Bulgaria the only country in the European Union to receive positive upgrade that year. In January 2010 Moody's followed with an upgrade of its rating perspective from "stable" to "positive."


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria was expected to join the Eurozone in 2013 but after the rise of some instability in the zone Bulgaria is withholding its positions towards the Euro, combining positive and realistic attitudes. The Bulgarian lev is anyway bound to the euro. Bulgaria regards becoming a member of the Eurozone at present as too risky. The 2012 Transatlantic Trends poll found that 72 percent of Bulgarians did not approve of the economic policy pursued by the government of the (then) ruling center-right GERB party and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Much of Bulgaria's communist-era industry was heavy industry, although biochemicals and computers were significant products beginning in the 1980s. Because Bulgarian industry was configured to Soviet markets, the end of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact caused a severe crisis in the 1990s. After showing its first growth since the communist era in 2000, Bulgaria's industrial sector has grown slowly but steadily in the early 2000s. The performance of individual manufacturing industries has been uneven, however. Food processing and tobacco processing suffered from the loss of Soviet markets and have not maintained standards high enough to compete in Western Europe. Textile processing generally has declined since the mid-1990s, although clothing exports have grown steadily since 2000.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Oil refining survived the shocks of the 1990s because of a continuing export market and the purchase of the Burgas refinery by the Russian oil giant LUKoil. The chemical industry has remained in good overall condition but is subject to fluctuating natural gas prices. Growth in ferrous metallurgy, which is dominated by the Kremikovtsi Metals Combine, has been delayed by a complex privatization process and by obsolete capital equipment. Non-ferrous metallurgy has prospered because the Pirdop copper smelting plant was bought by Union Minière of Belgium and because export markets have been favourable.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The end of the Warsaw Pact alliance and the loss of Third World markets were grave blows to the defence industry. In the early 2000s, the industry's plan for survival has included upgrading products to satisfy Western markets and doing cooperative manufacturing with Russian companies. The electronics industry, which also was configured in the 1980s to serve Soviet markets, has not been able to compete with Western computer manufacturers. The industry now relies on contract agreements with European firms and attracting foreign investment. The automotive industry has ceased the manufacture of cars, trucks, and buses. Manufacture of forklifts, a speciality in the communist era, also has stopped. In the early 2000s, shipbuilding has prospered at the major Varna and Ruse yards because of foreign ownership (Ruse) and privatization (Varna).


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Only in recent years electronics and electric equipment production has regained higher levels. The largest centres include Sofia, Plovdiv and the surrounding area, Botevgrad, Stara Zagora, Varna, Pravets and many other cities. Household appliances, computers, CDs, telephones, medical and scientific equipment are being produced. In 2008 the electronics industry shipped more than $260 million in exports, primarily of components, computers and consumer electronics.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Many factories producing transportation equipment still do not operate at full capacity. Plants produce trains (Burgas, Dryanovo), trams (Sofia), trolleys (Dupnitsa), buses (Botevgrad), trucks (Shumen), motor trucks (Plovdiv, Lom, Sofia, Lovech). Lovech has an automotive assembly plant. Rousse serves as the main centre for agricultural machinery. Bulgarian arms production mainly operates in central Bulgaria (Kazanlak, Sopot, Karlovo).


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Construction output fell dramatically in the 1990s as industrial and housing construction declined, but a recovery began in the early 2000s. The sector, now dominated by private firms, has resumed the foreign building programs that led to prosperity in the communist era. The Glavbolgarstroy firm has major building projects in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine as well as domestic contracts.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: One of the biggest Romanian investments in Bulgaria is in the construction/retail industry, namely the Budmax brand of construction supply stores (owned by Arabesque).


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria relies on imported oil and natural gas (most of which comes from Russia), together with domestic generation of electricity from coal-powered and hydro plants, and the Kozloduy nuclear plant. Bulgaria imports 97% of its natural gas from Russia. The economy remains energy-intensive because conservation practices have developed slowly. The country is a major regional electricity producer. Bulgaria produced 38.07 billion kWh of electricity in 2006


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: (in comparison, Romania, which has a population nearly three times larger than Bulgaria, produced 51.7 billion kW·h in the same year). The domestic power-generating industry, which was privatized in 2004 by sales to interests from Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States, suffers from obsolete equipment and a weak oversight agency. To solve the latter problem, in 2008 the government set up a state-owned energy holding-company (Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD), composed of gas company Bulgargaz, Bulgartransgaz, power company NEK EAD, Electricity System Operator EAD, Kozloduy nuclear power station, Maritza-Iztok II thermal power station, the Mini Maritza Iztok (Maritza Iztok mines), and Bulgartel EAD. The state holds a 100% stake in the holding company. Most of Bulgaria's conventional power stations will require large-scale modernization in the near future. Bulgaria has some 64 small hydroelectric plants, which together produce 19 percent of the country's power output.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The Kozloduy nuclear plant, which in 2005 supplied more than 40 percent of Bulgaria's electric power, will play a diminishing role because two of its remaining four reactors (two were closed in 2002) must be closed by 2007 to comply with European Union (EU) standards. Kozloduy, which exported 14 percent of its output in 2006, was expected to cease all exportation in 2007. Construction of the long-delayed Belene nuclear plant resumed in 2006 although the project was canceled in 2012. Despite that there were attempts to restart the project. Belene, planned in the 1980s but then rejected, was revived by the safety controversy at Kozloduy.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Oil exploration is ongoing offshore in the Black Sea (the Shabla block) and on the Romanian border, but Bulgaria's chief oil income is likely to come as a transfer point on east–west and north–south transit lines. Burgas is Bulgaria's main oil port on the Black Sea. Bulgaria's largest oil refinery, Neftochim, was purchased by Russian oil giant LUKoil in 1999 and underwent modernization in 2005. Bulgaria's only significant coal resource is low-quality lignite, mainly from the state-owned Maritsa-Iztok and Bobov Dol complexes and used in local thermoelectric power stations.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Thermal power stations (TPPs) provide a significant amount of energy, with most of the capacity concentrated in the Maritsa Iztok Complex. The largest TPPs include:


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: A$1.4 bln. project for the construction of an additional block for the Maritza Iztok 1 Thermal Power Station was completed on 3 June 2011.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Prospectors discovered Bulgaria's first oil field near Tyulenovo in 1951. Proved reserves amount to .


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Natural gas production halted in the late 1990s. Proved reserves of natural gas amount to 5.663 bln. cu m. The LUKOIL Neftochim oil refinery is Bulgaria's largest refining facility with annual revenues amounting to more than 4 billion leva (2 billion euro).


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: From 2010 to 2017, the import of waste for energy production increased for almost five times. Since 2014, the European Commission financed the installation of a plant for cogeneration of heat and electricity from refuse-derived fuel to be located in Sofia. In 2017, the Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment and Waters reported to the Basel convention that Bulgaria had imported "69,683 tonnes of waste for incineration in a form of RDF, SRF, pretreated mixed waste and mixed contaminated plastics."


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Although the contribution of services to gross domestic product (GDP) has more than doubled in the post-communist era, a substantial share of that growth has been in government services, and the qualitative level of services varies greatly. The Bulgarian banking system, which was weak in the first post-communist years, was fully reformed in the late 1990s, including stronger oversight from the National Bank of Bulgaria and gradual privatisation. In 2003 the banking system was fully privatised, and substantial consolidation began making the system more efficient in 2004. Several smaller banks grew substantially between 2004 and 2006. These processes increased public confidence in the banks. Although the system still requires consolidation, loan activity to individuals and businesses increased in the early 2000s. The insurance industry has grown rapidly since a market reform in 1997, with the help of foreign firms. An example is the Bulgarian Insurance Group (BIG), a pension-fund and insurance management company owned by the Dutch-Israeli TBI Holding Company and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The introduction of health and pension insurance plans has expanded the private insurance industry. A series of reform laws in the early 2000s enabled the Bulgarian Stock Exchange to begin regular operation. As of 2005, stock market activity was limited by lack of transparency, although the growth rate increased beginning in 2004.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: After a decline in the 1990s, in the 21st century the tourism industry has grown rapidly. In 2016 some 10 million foreigners visited Bulgaria, up from 4 million in 2004 and 2.3 million in 2000. This trend is based on a number of attractive destinations, low costs, and restoration of facilities. Most of the industry had been privatised by 2004. Infrastructure items such as recreation facilities and booking services require improvement. Development of Bulgaria's retail sales sector was slow until the early 2000s, when a large number of Western-style outlets began to appear, and Sofia developed as a retail center. By 2006, several major European retail chains had opened stores, and others planned to enter the Bulgarian market.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria has attracted considerable investment from foreigners buying property either for their own use or for investment. In 2006, more than 29% of property deals were signed by foreigners, more than half of whom were British citizens. Various companies, such as Bulgarian Dreams, actively marketed Bulgarian properties to buyers overseas.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In 2007 Bulgaria was visited by 5,200,000 tourists, ranking 39th in the world. Tourists from Greece, Romania and Germany account for 40% of visitors. Significant numbers of British (+300,000), Russian (+200,000), Serbian (+150,000), Polish (+130,000) and Danish (+100,000) tourists also visit Bulgaria. Most of them are attracted by the varying and beautiful landscapes, well-preserved historical and cultural heritage, and the tranquility of rural and mountain areas.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In Easter of 2018 it was reported that around 90% of tourists in Varna, one of Bulgaria's largest tourism locations, came from Romania.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Main destinations include the capital Sofia, coastal resorts Sunny Beach, Albena, Sozopol, Sveti Vlas; winter resorts Bansko, Pamporovo, Chepelare and Borovetz. Arbanasi and Bozhentsi are rural tourist destinations with well-preserved ethnographic traditions. Other popular attractions are the 10th century Rila Monastery and the 19th century Euxinograd château.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In the communist era, Bulgaria's agriculture was heavily centralized, integrated with agriculture-related industries, and state-run. In the postcommunist era, the process of restoring agricultural land to private owners has been in a form that ensures productivity has been slow. Bank investment and insecurity in the land market contributed to slow development in the 1990s. By 2004 some 98 percent of the workforce and output of Bulgaria's agricultural sector was private, including a number of large private cooperative enterprises. A significant amount of food also is produced for direct consumption by non-farmers on small plots, which are an important support for parts of the population. In 2000 and 2003, droughts limited agricultural production, and floods had the same effect in 2005. Bulgaria's main field crops are wheat, corn, and barley. The main industrial crops are sugar beets, sunflowers, and tobacco. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are the most important vegetable exports. Production of apples and grapes, Bulgaria's largest fruit products, has decreased since the communist era, but the export of wine has increased significantly. The most important types of livestock are cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs, and buffaloes, and the main dairy products are yogurt, cow and sheep cheese. Bulgaria is the world's 13th largest sheep milk producer and is the 15th largest producer of tobacco and 13th largest producer of raspberries in Europe. Specialized equipment amounts to some 25,000 tractors and 5,500 combine harvesters, with a fleet of light aircraft.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In 2004 an estimated one-third of Bulgaria's land mass was covered by forests, of which about 40 percent was conifers. Between 1980 and 2000, the forested area increased by 4.6 percent. In 2002 a total of 4,800 tons of timber was harvested, 44 percent of which was fuel wood and 20 percent, pulpwood. Although nominal state timber standards are very strict, in 2004 an estimated 45 percent of Bulgaria's timber harvest was logged illegally because of corruption in the forest service. Some 7.5 percent of forests are protected from all uses, and 65 percent are designated for ecological and commercial use. In 2005 about 70 percent of the total forest resource was rated economically viable.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Since Bulgaria stopped high-seas fishing in 1995, the country has imported increasing amounts of fish. The fish farming industry (particularly sturgeon) has expanded in the early 2000s, and some environmental improvements in the Black Sea and the Danube River, the principal sources of fish, may increase the take in future years. However, the catch from those sources has decreased sharply in recent decades, yielding only a few species of fish for domestic markets in 2004. Between 1999 and 2001, Bulgaria's total fish harvest, wild and cultivated, dropped from 18,600 tons to 8,100 tons, but in 2003 the harvest had recovered to 16,500 tons.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Production of the most important crops (according to the Food and Agriculture Organization) in 2006 (in '000 tons) amounted to: wheat 3301.9; sunflower 1196.6; maize 1587.8; grapes 266.2; tobacco 42.0; tomatoes 213.0; barley 546.3; potatoes 386.1; peppers 156.7; cucumbers 61.5; cherries 18.2; watermelons 136.0; cabbage 72.7; apples 26.1; plums 18.0; strawberries 8.8.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria's mining industry has declined in the post-communist era. Many deposits have remained underdeveloped because of a lack of modern equipment and low funding. Mining has contributed less than 2 percent of GDP and engaged less than 3 percent of the workforce in the early 2000s. Bulgaria has the following estimated deposits of metallic minerals: 207 million tons of iron ore, 127 million tons of manganese ore, 936 million tons of copper ore, 238 million tons of chromium ore, and 150 million tons of gold ore. Several of Bulgaria's minerals are extracted commercially; 80 percent of mining is done by open-pit excavation. Iron extraction at Kremikovtsi and elsewhere is not sufficient to support the domestic steel industry, but copper, lead, and zinc deposits fully supply the nonferrous metallurgy industries. A British firm has exploratory gold mines at Dikanyite and Gornoseltsi, and a domestic copper and gold mine operates at Chelopech. About 50 nonmetallic minerals are present in significant amounts. Substantial amounts of uranium are present in the Rhodope Mountains, but no extraction has occurred in the last 10 years.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Despite the poor performance of the mining sector, productivity has increased in recent years. Mining remains one of the most important sources of export earnings and is still a significant contributor to economic growth. The mining industry is worth $760 mln, and, along with related industries, employs 120,000 people. The rising global prices of gold, lead and copper in 2010, as well as investments in zinc and coal production, have boosted economic growth in the mining sector after the Financial crisis of 2007–2008. As of 2010 Bulgaria ranks as the 19th largest coal producer in the world, 9th largest bismuth producer, 19th largest copper producer, and the 26th largest zinc producer. In Europe, the country ranks fourth in gold production and sixth in coal production.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The "Elatsite" copper mine and reprocessing facility, built during Vulko Chervenkov's rule, takes its place as one of the largest in South-Eastern Europe. It extracts 13 million tonnes of ore annually, producing about 42,000 tonnes of copper, 1.6 tonnes of gold and 5.5 tonnes of silver.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Ferrous metallurgy has major importance. Much of the production of steel and pig iron takes place in Kremikovtsi and Stomana steel in Pernik, with a third metallurgical base in Debelt. In production of steel and steel products per capita the country heads the Balkans. the fate of Kremikovtsi steel factories has come under debate because of serious pollution in the capital, Sofia.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The largest refineries for lead and zinc operate in Plovdiv, Kardzhali and Novi Iskar; for copper in Pirdop and Eliseina (now defunct); for aluminium in Shumen. In production of many metals "per capita", such as zinc and iron, Bulgaria ranks first in Eastern Europe.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria's national road network has a total length of , of which are paved. The motorways in Bulgaria, such as Trakia, Hemus, Struma and Maritsa, are being improved and elongated to a total length of as of November 2015. Railroads are a major mode of freight transportation, although highways carry a progressively larger share of freight. Bulgaria also has of railway track and plans to construct a high-speed railway by 2017, at a cost of €3 bln. Sofia and Plovdiv are major air travel hubs, while Varna and Burgas are the principal maritime trade ports.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria has an extensive, but antiquated telecommunications network which requires substantial modernization. Telephone service is available in most villages, and a central digital trunk line connects most regions. Currently there are three active mobile phone operators - A1 Bulgaria, Telenor and Vivacom. Since 2000, a rapid increase in the number of Internet users has occurred – from 430,000 they grew to 1,545,100 in 2004, and 3.4 million (48% penetration rate) in 2010. In 2017, the Internet users in Bulgaria are 4.2 million people (59.8% penetration rate).


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria had the 3rd fastest Average Broadband Internet Speed in the world, after Romania and South Korea, in 2011.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In 2017, Bulgaria ranks 27th in the world in the Mean Download Speed chart with 17.54 Mbit/s, ranks 31st in the world in the Average Monthly Broadband Cost chart with $28.81, and holds the 18th position in the world in the Speed/Cost Ratio with as much as 0.61.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In 2010, Bulgaria spent 0.25% of its GDP on scientific research, which represents one of the lowest scientific budgets in Europe.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Chronic underinvestment in the sector since 1990 forced many scientific professionals to leave the country. As a result, Bulgaria's economy scores low in terms of innovation, competitiveness and high added value exports. Nevertheless, Bulgaria ranked 8th in the world in 2002 by total number of ICT specialists, outperforming countries with far larger populations, and it operates the only supercomputer in the Balkan region, an IBM Blue Gene/P, which entered service in September 2008.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) is the leading scientific institution in the country and employs most of Bulgaria's researchers in its numerous branches. The principal areas of research and development are energy, nanotechnology, archaeology and medicine.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: With major-general Georgi Ivanov flying on Soyuz 33 in 1979, Bulgaria became the 6th country in the world to have an astronaut in space. Bulgaria has deployed its own experiments on various missions, such as the RADOM-7 dosimeters on the International Space Station and Chandrayaan-1 and the space greenhouse (a Bulgarian invention) on the Mir space station. In 2011 the government announced plans to reboot the space program by producing a new microsatellite and joining the European Space Agency.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: From June 2017, Bulgaria will have its first geostationary communications satellite. BulgariaSat-1 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by Bulgaria Sat and manufactured by SSL, based on the space-proven SSL 1300 satellite platform.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: BulgariaSat-1 is the first in the history of the country geostationary communications satellite at the Bulgarian orbital position and it is designed to provide Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service and data communications services to the Balkans and other European regions.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In this way, Bulgaria will be among other European countries with their satellites, namely Belarus, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Due to its large-scale computing technology exports to COMECON states, in the 1980s Bulgaria became known as the Silicon Valley of the Eastern Bloc.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In 2005 the labour force was estimated at 3.3 million; in 2004, 11 percent worked in agriculture, 33 percent in industry, and 56 percent in services. The unemployment rate has been in double digits throughout the post-communist era, reaching a high point of 19 percent in 2000. Since then, the rate has decreased substantially with the creation of new jobs in private and state enterprises. In 2005 the official figure was 11.5 percent, compared with 16.9 percent at the end of 2002. However, in 2003 an estimated 500,000 Bulgarians were unemployed but not officially counted because they were not seeking work. In January 2005, the government raised the minimum wage by 25 percent, to US$90 per month. The largest labour unions are Podkrepa (Support) and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria. They represent labour in the National Council for Tripartite Partnership, in which they join government and business representatives to discuss issues of labour, social security, and living standards. The unions were an important political force in the fall of the Zhivkov regime. In late autumn of 2016 reported an unemployment rate of 7%. In 2016, the government increased the minimum wage to 215 euros per month. At the end of 2016 the average monthly salary is about 480 euros a month, but there are differences in the regions of the country.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The average monthly gross salary has reached the value of 1,036 leva (530 euro) in March 2017. According to the latest Annual report of the Institute of Economic Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the average salary in Bulgaria is only a quarter (1/4) of the average salary in the EU, and should be two times higher when the labour productivity is calculated in the formula.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria's unit of currency is the lev (pl., leva). In October 2006, the U.S. dollar was worth 1.57 leva. In 1999 the value of the lev was pegged to that of the German Deutschmark, which was replaced by the euro in 2001. Following Bulgaria's admission to the EU, the lev is scheduled to be replaced by the euro.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In 2003 Bulgaria's inflation rate was estimated at between 2.3 and 3 percent. The rate was 6 percent in 2004 and 5 percent in 2005. In 2015 and 2016 it was recorded minimum level of deflation.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: As of 1 January 2008 the income tax for all citizens is set to a flat rate of 10%. This flat tax is one of the lowest income rates in the world and the lowest income rate in the European Union. The reform was done in pursue for higher GDP growth and greater tax collection rates. Some called it a "revolution" in taxation, but the changes were met with mild discussions and some protests by affected working classes. The proposal was modified to allow for compensating the perceived losers from the changes in the tax formula. The corporate income tax is also 10% as of 1 January 2007 which is also among the lowest in Europe. Currently this taxation is kept while other countries raised their taxes during the crisis. However, most of the state revenues come from VAT and excises, but share of income and corporate taxes in the revenues is increasing.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: For 2005 Bulgaria's estimated state revenues totaled US$11.2 billion, and its estimated state expenditures, including capital expenditures, were US$10.9 billion, yielding a surplus of US$300 million. In 2004 revenues totaled US$10.1 billion and expenditures US$9.7 billion, for a surplus of US$400 million.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: After the political changes, in 1991, Bulgaria had a US$11.25 billion state debt, which represented 180% of the GDP. The state debt peaked in 1994, when it reached US$14.4 billion. During 1998-2008 Bulgaria maintained policy of budget surpluses, which reduced the state debt to 5.07 billion euro. Combined with the economic growth in that period, the state debt dropped to a record low of 13.7% of GDP, one of the lowest in the European Union. In 2008 Bulgaria also maintained 4.286 billion euro fiscal reserve, meaning that net state debt at this moment was only 0.784 billion euro. After the 2008 financial crisis Bulgaria turned to policy of budget deficits and at the end of 2013 the state debt rose up to 7.219 billion euro, representing 18.1% of the GDP. In 2015, the debt rate increased further to 26.7% of the GDP, still remaining the third lowest in EU after Estonia and Luxembourg. Part of the increase was driven by the collapse of Corporate Commercial Bank in 2014, the fourth largest bank in the country, and the subsequent paying out of guaranteed deposits.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In the 1990s, Bulgaria moved gradually away from dependence on markets in the former Soviet sphere, increasing its exports to the European Union (EU). In 1999 Bulgaria joined the Central European Free-Trade Agreement (CEFTA), with whose members (Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia; Macedonia was added in 2006) it has established important trade relations. The admission of all but Croatia and Romania to the EU in 2004 reduced the significance of CEFTA trade, however. In 2004 some 54 percent of Bulgaria's import trade and 58 percent of its export trade was with EU member countries. Bulgaria has bilateral free-trade agreements with Albania, Croatia, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, and Turkey.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In the early 2000s, hydrocarbon fuels remained an important import, although beginning in the late 1990s those commodities' share of total imports decreased significantly, from 29 percent in 1996 to 13 percent in 2004. During that period, the diversification of imported products


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: improved as the volume of machinery and equipment, consumer products, and automobiles increased. A large percentage of imports is accounted for by raw materials such as cloth, metal ore, and petroleum, which are processed and re-exported. The most important imports in 2005 were machinery and equipment, metals and ores, chemicals and plastics, fuels, and minerals. The major sources of imports, in order of volume, were Germany, Russia, Italy, Turkey, and Greece. In 2005 Bulgaria's largest export markets, in order of volume, were Italy, Germany, Turkey,


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Greece, and Belgium. The most important export commodities were clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, and fuels. In 2005 Bulgaria's exports totaled US$11.7 billion and its imports totaled US$15.9 billion, incurring a trade deficit of US$4.2 billion. The trade deficit is especially severe with Russia, where markets for Bulgarian goods have shrunk drastically in the early 2000s.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In the first half of 2006, Bulgaria had a current account deficit of US$2.3 billion, a substantial increase over the deficit for the same period of 2005, which was some US$1.4 billion. Its trade deficit was US$2.78 billion, foreign direct investment totaled US$1.8 billion, and the financial account balance was US$2.29 billion. In mid-2006 the overall balance of payments was US$883 million, compared with US$755 million for the same period of 2005.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Bulgaria's large foreign debt has been an economic burden throughout the postcommunist era. At the end of 2005, Bulgaria reported an external debt of US$15.2 billion, an increase in value but a decrease as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) compared with 2002 and previous years. As a percentage of GDP, the external debt remained constant between 2004 and 2005.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: Beginning in the late 1990s, investment from the West and from Russia has contributed significantly to recovery from the economic crisis of 1996–97, but the rate of investment has remained lower than that in other countries of Eastern Europe. In 2003 the largest national sources of foreign direct investment, in order of volume, were Austria, Greece, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. In 1997 the Belgian Solve company bought the Deny Soda Combine, and in 1999 LUKoil of Russia bought the Neftochim Oil Refinery at Burgas. Union Minière, a Belgian mining company, bought the large Pirdop copper-smelting plant, giving an important boost to Bulgarian nonferrous metallurgy. A number of foreign companies have invested in the chemical fertilizer and food-processing industries in the early 2000s, China invested in the Bulgarian electronics industry. Some cooperative agreements have been made for manufacture of vehicle components. Daimler-Chrysler of Germany has a contract to update Bulgaria's military transport vehicles between 2003 and 2015. The French Eurocopter company has a bilateral protocol involving a variety of machinery, computer software, and other industrial products. In 2004 Bulgarian oil reserves attracted interest from Melrose Resources of Edinburgh. Russia's natural gas giant, Gazprom, has pledged investment in Bulgaria's natural gas infrastructure in exchange for increased purchase of its product. A three-company Israeli consortium agreed in 2004 to work with the domestic Overgas company (which is half-owned by Gazprom) on a major natural-gas distribution network in Bulgaria. In 2005 three European consortia submitted bids for construction of the Belene nuclear power plant. One such investor is the Italian ENEL energy consortium, which also owns the Maritsa–Iztok–3 thermal power plant. In 2006 Russia's Gazprom company bid against several European energy companies for ownership of newly privatized regional heating utilities, and the Austrian Petromaxx Energy Group invested US$120 million in a new oil refinery at Silistra.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: In December 1996, Bulgaria joined the World Trade Organization. In the early 1990s Bulgaria's slow pace of privatization, contradictory government tax and investment policies, and bureaucratic red tape kept foreign investment among the lowest in the region. Total direct foreign investment from 1991 through 1996 was $831 million. In the years since 1997, however, Bulgaria has begun to attract substantial foreign investment. In 2004 alone over 2.72 billion Euro (3.47 billion US dollars) were invested by foreign companies. In 2005 economists observed a slowdown to about 1.8 billion euros (2.3 billion US dollars) in FDI which is attributed mainly to the end of the privatization of the major state owned companies. After joining the EU in 2007 Bulgaria registered a peak in foreign investment of about 6 billion euros.


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: The data on ICT usage in households and by individuals are based on an annual sample survey which is part of the European Community Statistical Programme. The methodology and the statistical tools are completely harmonized to Eurostat requirements and Regulation No.808/2004 of the European Parliament and the council. The aim of the survey is to collect and disseminate reliable and comparable information on the use of Information and Communication Technologies in households at European level and covers the following subjects:


title: Economy of Bulgaria

text: "This article incorporates public domain material Bulgaria country profile (October 2006) from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Federal Research Division.


title: Peter Lupus

text: Peter Nash Lupus Jr. (born June 17, 1932) is an American bodybuilder and actor. He is best known for his role as Willy Armitage on the television series "" (1966–1973).


title: Peter Lupus

text: Lupus was one of three siblings born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Mary Irene ( Lambert; 1910-2003) and Peter Nash Lupus (1898-1981). His father was from what is now Saraain El Tahta, Lebanon.


title: Peter Lupus

text: Lupus attended the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University, where he also played football and basketball, graduating in 1954. He and his wife, Sharon, have a son, Peter Nash Lupus III, who is also an actor.


title: Peter Lupus

text: Standing with a developed physique, Lupus began his career by earning the titles of Mr. Indianapolis, Mr. Indiana, Mr. Hercules and Mr. International Health Physique. Lupus was one of many bodybuilders who followed Steve Reeves into the "sword and sandal" films of the 1960s, occasionally credited as Rock Stevens for such films as "Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon" (1964), "Challenge of the Gladiator" (1965) and "Muscle Beach Party" (1964) where he starred as "Mr. Galaxy" Flex Martian.


title: Peter Lupus

text: During the early 1970s, Lupus promoted European Health Spa, traveling the country to make appearances and sign autographs at several of the gyms' grand openings.


title: Peter Lupus

text: Lupus played Willy Armitage in the original "" television series in the 1960s. Armitage was the Impossible Missions Force's muscle man, and featured in nearly all episodes of the series. The character of Willy Armitage was the strong, silent type, usually with very little dialogue. Late in the show's run, during season five, the producers decided that his character was superfluous and he was dropped to recurring status, appearing in a little over half of that season's episodes. Outcry from fans and lack of success in finding a replacement for his character — originally replaced by Sam Elliott — resulted in his return to regular status the following season and to his getting a greater role in the stories, often assuming disguises as a convict or a thug. Only Lupus and Greg Morris sustained regular roles through the show's entire run, although Morris appeared in more episodes.


title: Peter Lupus

text: Lupus' other television work included a guest spot as Tarzan on Jack Benny's television show, a boxer with a glass jaw on "The Joey Bishop Show", a caveman on an episode of "Fantasy Island", and the recurring role of Detective Norberg on the short-lived sitcom "Police Squad!"


title: Peter Lupus

text: Lupus was one of the first well-known male actors to pose with full frontal nudity for "Playgirl" magazine, in April 1974. Photographs of Lupus appeared in a number of issues. Before this, he was hired by the United States Air Force to appear in a series of commercials playing the role of Superman (with the permission of what is now DC Comics). He appeared for many months until the "Playgirl" pictorial was published.


title: Peter Lupus

text: On July 19, 2007, at age 75, Lupus set a world weightlifting endurance record by lifting over the course of 24 minutes, 50 seconds at the Spectrum Club in El Segundo, California. This topped the record Lupus set five years earlier in celebration of his 70th birthday of in 27 minutes.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: The 2021 WWE Draft was the 16th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the October 1 episode of "Friday Night SmackDown" (in Baltimore, Maryland) and concluded with the October 4 episode of "Monday Night Raw" (in Nashville, Tennessee), with "SmackDown" airing on Fox and "Raw" on the USA Network. Unlike previous drafts, in which results took effect immediately, the results of the 2021 draft did not go into effect until the October 22 episode of "SmackDown".


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: The WWE Draft is an annual process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE while a brand extension, or brand split, is in effect. The original brand extension occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the second and current brand split began in 2016. During a brand extension, the company divides its roster into brands where the wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand's respective television show, and the draft is used to refresh the rosters of the brand divisions, typically between the Raw and SmackDown brands. The 2021 draft was WWE's 16th draft and was officially announced during the September 13 episode of "Raw". It was scheduled to occur during the October 1 and October 4 episodes of "SmackDown" and "Raw", respectively, with "SmackDown" airing on Fox and "Raw" on the USA Network.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: The rules of the 2021 draft were revealed by WWE correspondent Megan Morant on Twitter during the day before the first night of the draft on October 1. Over 60 wrestlers (including tag teams) were eligible to be drafted across the two nights, with half being eligible the first night and the other half eligible the second night; however, no draft pools were revealed for which wrestlers were eligible for each night. Tag teams were counted as one pick unless Fox or USA Network officials (who were promoted as draft decision makers) specifically only wanted one member of the team. Wrestlers from NXT were also eligible to be drafted to either Raw or SmackDown, while any non-NXT wrestlers who were not drafted became (kayfabe) free agents and could sign with the brand of their choice. Unlike previous drafts, in which results took effect immediately, results of the 2021 draft did not become effective until the October 22 episode of "SmackDown", the night after the Crown Jewel pay-per-view.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: There were four rounds of draft picks during night 1 of the 2021 draft. Unlike previous drafts in which Raw received three picks and SmackDown only received two, both brands had two picks each round. WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville announced the draft picks.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: These picks were announced on October 1 via WWE's social media accounts and on the October 2 episode of "Talking Smack".


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: There were six rounds of draft picks during night 2 of the 2021 draft. Like the first night, both brands had two picks each round. WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville again announced the draft picks.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: Several wrestlers were made free agents due to injury, inactivity, or simply not being drafted despite being an active member of the rosters. Free agents can (kayfabe) sign with the brand of their choosing. The chart is organized by date.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: During the draft, Raw drafted SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch while SmackDown drafted Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair. Neither lost their respective championship before the October 22 episode of "SmackDown", the night that the draft results went into effect. The day of the show, WWE announced that Flair and Lynch would exchange titles to keep the championships on their respective brands. In turn, Lynch became the Raw Women's Champion while Flair became the SmackDown Women's Champion.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: Also during the draft, SmackDown drafted NXT North American Champion Isaiah "Swerve" Scott as part of his stable, Hit Row. Swerve claimed he would be taking the title to SmackDown, however, on the October 12 episode of "NXT 2.0", Swerve lost the championship to Carmelo Hayes, thus keeping the North American Championship on NXT before the draft results went into effect on October 22.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: In November, vignettes began airing to hype Veer's post-draft appearance on Raw. His ring name was changed to Veer Mahaan. He finally debuted in April 2022, but in October, he was moved to NXT.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: On November 4, 2021, WWE released several wrestlers due to budget cuts. Mia Yim, Hit Row's B-Fab, Nia Jax, Karrion Kross, and Keith Lee were among those who were released, without a single appearance post-draft. Among those not drafted who were released included Eva Marie and Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado). Several NXT wrestlers were also released, including Franky Monet, Oney Lorcan, Ember Moon, Jeet Rama, Katrina Cortez, Trey Baxter, Zayda Ramier, Jessi Kamea, Harry Smith, and Kross' real-life fiancé, Scarlett, who served as Kross' on-screen manager when Kross was still in NXT and she was expected to eventually join Kross on Raw. On November 18, the remainder of Hit Row, John Morrison, Tegan Nox, Shane Thorne, Drake Maverick, and Jaxson Ryker were also released. Not long after, Jeff Hardy would be released on December 9 after being sent home from a live event tour and refusing rehab. On December 29, Toni Storm requested and was immediately granted a release from her contract. On February 24, 2022, it was reported that Cesaro and WWE had failed to agree on new contract terms and that he had quietly left WWE when his contract expired, ending his 11-year tenure in the company.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: At WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to win both championships, thus allowing Reigns to appear on both brands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, then in May 2022, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defeated Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) to win both championships, thus allowing The Usos to appear on both brands as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. By proxy, this allowed other members of The Bloodline stable (Sami Zayn, Solo Sikoa, who was promoted from NXT to SmackDown in September, and the group's manager Paul Heyman) to appear on both brands.


title: 2021 WWE Draft

text: Also in April 2022, Mustafa Ali was moved back to Raw, then in June, Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez were moved to NXT. At Money in the Bank in July, Liv Morgan won the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, and later that same night, she cashed in the contract and won the SmackDown Women's Championship, subsequently transferring her to SmackDown. Later in October, Rey Mysterio was transferred to the SmackDown brand, and in turn, Happy Corbin, who returned to his Baron Corbin name, was moved to Raw. Also in October, Zelina Vega was moved back to SmackDown to be the manager of Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Cruz Del Toro), who were promoted to SmackDown from NXT.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: Yajamana is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language social action film written and directed by V. Harikrishna and Pon Kumaran and produced by Shylaja Nag and B. Suresha. It stars Darshan, Rashmika Mandanna and Tanya Hope in lead roles. It also features an ensemble cast of Thakur Anoop Singh, Devaraj, P. Ravi Shankar, Dhananjay in key supporting roles. The film's background score and soundtrack is also composed by V. Harikrishna.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: Yajamana was released on 1 March 2019 and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. The film completed 100 days in theatres and emerged as commercially successful film at the box office.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: Devi Shetty is an oil trader/businessman, who controls the oil business with the help of his related oil mafia contacts in Mumbai. He asks for coordinates about a village Hulidurga which has not entailed in the oil market. Hulidurga is maintained by chieftain Hulikar Nayaka's daughter Kaveri's love interest Krishna, who is the protector of the village's oil mill. One day, Devi Shetty arrives at the village to convince the villagers of entitling its co-operation in his oil marketing. A reporter Ganga covers the news, broadcasting the same.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: Krishna opposes and warns the people of Devi Shetty's plan to infiltrate and plunder all the oil resources of the village and that they were bound to lose everything, if they were to pledge co-operation. Krishna also warns Devi Shetty not to take anything from Hulidurga, thereby insulting him. The news gets telecast all throughout where Devi Shetty plans to avenge the insults from Krishna by the aid of Krishna's rival Mittai Suri, who successfully deceives the village and its people from him. Devi Shetty's men capture Krishna and try to kill him, but Krishna fights them off and warns Devi Shetty that he will arrive in Mumbai and bring down his oil profits. Krishna arrives in Mumbai where he stays in Ganga's grandfather's house. Krishna with the help of the oil owners, starts to sell oil.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: However, Krishna faces obstacles where he must even fend off a few men in the market, but eventually consumers start buying his oil brand acknowledging his oil to be the best. Krishna succeeds in the oil market. In Hulidurga, all the people began to lose the market price for their products and started to commit suicide. Kaveri arrives to meet Krishna in Mumbai where she reveals all the incidents to him. Kaveri plans to approach Devi Shetty asking help for the sake of the village where Krishna joins her and meets Devi Shetty and pretends to apologise on behalf of his people. Devi Shetty reveals it to the people on video conference. Krishna reveals that when people stopped the oil mill, people will start the oil mill again and they will get back what they were losing. All people recall their oil mill by his words and insults Devi Shetty.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: Krishna excels in the oil market and later leaves for the village to get the marketing rights from the Huliyappa and starts selling oil in the market where he names his brand as "Nandhi Oil Brand". Devi Shetty befalls a loss in the market. Pulla Reddy, his supporter arrives to meet Krishna in the name of an ally, to put an end to Devi Shetty. Devi Shetty hatches a vice plan and Krishna gets arrested by police on the grounds of stocking illegal oil. In the court, Krishna proves his innocence by revealing that all of oil stocks are actually owned by Devi Shetty. Krishna had took some brands unknowingly from Pulla Reddy and draws the brand's name stamp on those where he asks the judge to scratch the brand with a coin which reveals them to be those of Devi Shetty's and also reveals, much to his happiness that Nandhi Brand is also used at the courtroom's canteen.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: The Judge sends Devi Shetty's brand for testing at the lab only to find it chemically hazardous. The court orders Devi Shetty to be taken into custody and also orders to seize his brand in the market and the company suffers from major downfall whereas, Krishna is released from custody after proving his innocence. Devi Shetty targets Krishna and his family, but Krishna sends them away to a safe place. Devi Shetty sends Pulla Reddy to snatch the documents (which contains the illegal oil business orchested by Devi Shetty and Pulla Reddy), but to no avail.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: Unfortunately, Hulikar and Kaveri are caught by Devi Shetty and Hulikar was given rat poison and dies minutes later, after revealing everything to Krishna. Krishna arrives at Devi Shetty's oil godown where he defeats him and during the fight, the place is set ablaze on fire and Devi Shetty is burnt alive and Krishna becomes the main oil trader in Mumbai and starts to produce oil from Hulidurga.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: "Yajamana" was released on March 1, 2019 across more than 600 Silver screens world wide only in Kannada language. It was released covering more than 495 theatres in Karnataka alone and hit 50+ screens in other states of India on 1 March 2019.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: The release date of "Yajamana" in United States and Canada was postponed to 8 March 2019. It was released across 55 theatres in USA and 3 theatres in Canada by Weekend cinema distributors.


title: Yajamana (2019 film)

text: Sunayana Suresh of The Times of India gave the film a rating of 3/5 and wrote "Yajamana is definitely a must-watch for fans of commercial cinema. It has all the necessary masala and also manages to slip in a message towards the end of the film." A Shardhha From  The New Indian Express wrote "Yajamana does put in a serious thought on globalisation and monopoly, and comes out with both mass and class elements, holding good for all kinds of audience." SHASHIPRASAD S.M of Deccan Chronicle wrote "Along with the oil, Yajamana is mixed well with a short love story, in which Rashmika as Kaveri is paired opposite Darshan and the rest of it garnished with comedy and loads of action in addition to challenging dialogues." Aravind Shwetha of The News Minute gave the film a rating of 3/5 and wrote "The movie is predictable but that can be overlooked as it is a strong family entertainer with the necessary commercial elements."News18 Kannada wrote "V. Harikrishna and P. The film is directed by Kumar. Suresh and Shailaja Nag are investing. Rashmika Mandanna and Tanya Hope have appeared alongside Darshan. Anoop Thakur Singh is a villain in this film. Dhananjay plays the lead role in the film."


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: The mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. In social psychology, this effect is sometimes called the familiarity principle. The effect has been demonstrated with many kinds of things, including words, Chinese characters, paintings, pictures of faces, geometric figures, and sounds. In studies of interpersonal attraction, the more often people see a person, the more pleasing and likeable they find that person.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: Gustav Fechner conducted the earliest known research on the effect in 1876. Edward B. Titchener also documented the effect and described the "glow of warmth" felt in the presence of something familiar; however, his hypothesis was thrown out when results showed that the enhancement of preferences for objects did not depend on the individual's subjective impressions of how familiar the objects were. The rejection of Titchener's hypothesis spurred further research and the development of current theory.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: The scholar best known for developing the mere-exposure effect is Robert Zajonc. Before conducting his research, he observed that exposure to a novel stimulus initially elicits a fear/avoidance response in all organisms. Each subsequent exposure to the novel stimulus causes less fear and more interest in the observing organism. After repeated exposure, the observing organism will begin to react fondly to the once novel stimulus. This observation led to the research and development of the mere-exposure effect.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: In the 1960s, a series of Robert Zajonc's laboratory experiments demonstrated that simply exposing participants to a familiar stimulus led them to rate it more positively than other, similar stimuli that had not been presented before. At first, Zajonc looked at language and the frequency of words used. He found that overall positive words were used more than their negative counterparts. Later, he showed similar results for liking, pleasantness, and forced-choice measures from a variety of stimuli, such as polygons, drawings, photographs of expressions, nonsense words, and idiographs.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: In 1980, Zajonc proposed the affective primacy hypothesis: that affective reactions (such as liking) can be "elicited with minimal stimulus input." Through mere-exposure experiments, Zajonc sought to provide evidence for the affective-primacy hypothesis, namely that affective judgments are made without prior cognitive processes. He tested this hypothesis by presenting repeated stimuli to participants at suboptimal thresholds such that they did not show conscious awareness or recognition of the repeated stimuli (when asked whether they had seen the image, responses were at chance level), but continued to show affective bias toward the repeatedly exposed stimuli. Zajonc compared results from primes exposed longer, which allowed for conscious awareness, to stimuli shown so briefly that participants did not show conscious awareness. He found that the primes shown more briefly and not recognized prompted faster responses for liking than primes shown at conscious levels.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: One experiment to test the mere-exposure effect used fertile chicken eggs. Tones of two different frequencies were played to different groups of chicks while they were still unhatched. Once hatched, each tone was played to both groups of chicks. Each set of chicks consistently chose the tone prenatally played to it.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: Another experiment exposed two groups of people to Chinese characters for short times. Participants were then told that these symbols represented adjectives and were asked to rate whether the symbols held positive or negative connotations. The symbols the participants had previously seen were consistently rated more positively than those they had not. In a similar experiment, people were not asked to rate the connotations of the symbols, but to describe their mood after the experiment. Members of the group with repeated exposure to certain characters reported being in better moods than those without.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: In yet another variation, participants were shown an image on a tachistoscope for a very brief duration that could not be perceived consciously. This subliminal exposure produced the same effect, though it is important to note that subliminal effects are unlikely to occur without controlled laboratory conditions.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: According to Zajonc, the mere-exposure effect is capable of taking place without conscious cognition, and "preferences need no inferences". This claim has spurred much research in the relationship between cognition and affect. Zajonc explains that if preferences (or attitudes) were based merely on information units with affect attached to them, then persuasion would be fairly simple. He argues that this is not the case: such simple persuasion tactics have failed miserably. Zajonc states that affective responses to stimuli happen much more quickly than cognitive responses, and that these responses are often made with much more confidence. He states that thought (cognition) and feeling (affect) are distinct, and that cognition is not free from affect, nor is affect free of cognition: that "the form of experience that we came to call feeling accompanies all cognitions, that it arises early in the process of registration and retrieval, albeit weakly and vaguely, and that it derives from a parallel, separate, and partly independent system in the organism."


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: According to Zajonc, there is no empirical proof that cognition precedes any form of decision-making. While this is a common assumption, Zajonc argues it is more likely that decisions are made with little to no cognition. He equates deciding upon something with liking it, meaning that we cognize reasons to rationalize a decision more often than deciding upon it. In other words, we make judgments first, and then seek to justify them by rationalization.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: Charles Goetzinger conducted an experiment using the mere-exposure effect on his class at Oregon State University. Goetzinger had a student come to class in a large black bag with only his feet visible. The black bag sat on a table in the back of the classroom. Goetzinger's experiment was to observe if the students would treat the black bag in accordance to Zajonc's mere-exposure effect. His hypothesis was confirmed. The students in the class first treated the black bag with hostility, which over time turned into curiosity, and eventually friendship. This experiment confirms Zajonc's mere-exposure effect, by simply presenting the black bag over and over again to the students their attitudes were changed, or as Zajonc states "mere repeated exposure of the individual to a stimulus is a sufficient condition for the enhancement of his attitude toward it."


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: A meta-analysis of 208 experiments found that the mere-exposure effect is robust and reliable, with an effect size of "r"=0.26. This analysis found that the effect is strongest when unfamiliar stimuli are presented briefly. Mere exposure typically reaches its maximum effect within 10–20 presentations, and some studies even show that liking may decline after a longer series of exposures. For example, people generally like a song more after they have heard it a few times, but many repetitions can reduce this preference. A delay between exposure and the measurement of liking actually tends to increase the strength of the effect. The effect is weaker on children, and for drawings and paintings as compared to other types of stimuli. One social psychology experiment showed that exposure to people we initially dislike makes us dislike them even more.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: In support of Zajonc's claim that affect does not need cognition to occur, Zola–Morgan conducted experiments on monkeys with lesions to the amygdala (the brain structure that is responsive to affective stimuli). In his experiments, Zola–Morgan proved that lesions to the amygdala impair affective functioning, but not cognitive processes. However, lesions in the hippocampus (the brain structure responsible for memory) impair cognitive functions but leave emotional responses fully functional.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: The mere-exposure effect posits that repeated exposure to a stimulus increases "perceptual fluency", the ease with which a stimulus can be processed. Perceptual fluency, in turn, increases positive affect. Studies showed that repeated exposure increases perceptual fluency, confirming positive affect in autobiographical memory and perceptual learning. Also supported in later studies.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: The most obvious application of the mere-exposure effect is in advertising, but research on its effectiveness at enhancing consumer attitudes toward particular companies and products has been mixed. One study tested the mere-exposure effect with banner ads on a computer screen. College-age students were asked to read an article on the computer while banner ads flashed at the top of the screen. The results showed that the students exposed to the "test" banner rated the ad more favorably than other ads shown less frequently or not at all. This research supports the mere-exposure effect.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: A different study showed that higher levels of media exposure are associated with lower reputations for companies, even when the exposure is mostly positive. A subsequent review of the research concluded that exposure leads to ambivalence because it brings about a large number of associations, which tend to be both favorable and unfavorable. Exposure is most likely to be helpful when a company or product is new and unfamiliar to consumers. An "optimal" level of exposure to an advertisement may not exist. In a third study, experimenters primed consumers with affective motives. One group of thirsty consumers was primed with a happy face before being offered a beverage, while a second group was primed with an unpleasant face. Those primed with the happy face bought more beverages, and were also willing to pay more for the beverage than their unhappy counterparts. This study bolsters Zajonc's claim that choices are not in need of cognition. Buyers often choose what they "like" instead of what they have substantially thought about.


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: In the advertising world, the mere-exposure effect suggests that consumers need not think about advertisements: simple repetition is enough to make a "memory trace" in the consumer's mind and unconsciously affect their consuming behavior. One scholar explained this relationship as follows: "The approach tendencies created by mere exposure may be preattitudinal in the sense that they do not require the type of deliberate processing that is required to form brand attitude."


title: Mere-exposure effect

text: The mere-exposure effect exists in most areas of human decision-making. For example, many stock traders tend to invest in securities of domestic companies merely because they are more familiar with them, even though international markets offer similar or better alternatives. The mere-exposure effect also distorts the results of journal-ranking surveys; academics who previously published or completed reviews for a particular academic journal rate it dramatically higher than those who did not. There are mixed results on the question of whether mere exposure can promote good relations between different social groups. When groups already have negative attitudes to each other, further exposure can increase hostility. A statistical analysis of voting patterns found that candidates' exposure has a strong effect on the number of votes they receive, distinct from the popularity of their policies.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: The Bradford Hill criteria, otherwise known as Hill's criteria for causation, are a group of nine principles that can be useful in establishing epidemiologic evidence of a causal relationship between a presumed cause and an observed effect and have been widely used in public health research. They were established in 1965 by the English epidemiologist Sir Austin Bradford Hill.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: In 1996, Fredricks and Relman remarked on Hill's criteria in their seminal paper on microbial pathogenesis.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: In 1965, the English statistician Sir Austin Bradford Hill proposed a set of nine criteria to provide epidemiologic evidence of a causal relationship between a presumed cause and an observed effect. (For example, he demonstrated the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.) The list of the criteria is as follows:


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: Some authors consider, also, Reversibility: If the cause is deleted then the effect should disappear as well.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: Bradford Hill's criteria had been widely accepted as useful guidelines for investigating causality in epidemiological studies but their value has been questioned because they have become somewhat outdated.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: In addition, their method of application is debated. Some proposed options how to apply them include:


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: An argument against the use of Bradford Hill criteria as exclusive considerations in proving causality is that the basic mechanism of proving causality is not in applying specific criteria—whether those of Bradford Hill or counterfactual argument—but in scientific common sense deduction. Others argue that the specific study from which data has been produced is important, and while the Bradford Hill criteria may be applied to test causality in these scenarios, the study type may rule out deducing or inducing causality, and the criteria are only of use in inferring the best explanation of this data.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: Debate over the scope of application of the criteria includes, whether they can be applied to social sciences. The argument proposes that there are different motives behind defining causality; the Bradford Hill criteria applied to complex systems such as health sciences are useful in prediction models where a consequence is sought; explanation models as to why causation occurred are deduced less easily from Bradford Hill criteria because the instigation of causation, rather than the consequence, is needed for these models.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: Researchers have applied Hill’s criteria for causality in examining the evidence in several areas of epidemiology, including connections between ultraviolet B radiation, vitamin D and cancer, vitamin D and pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, alcohol and cardiovascular disease outcomes, infections and risk of stroke, nutrition and biomarkers related to disease outcomes, and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases. They have also been used in non-human epidemiological studies, such as on the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on honey bees. Their use in quality improvement of health care services has been proposed, highlighting how quality improvement methods can be used to provide evidence for the criteria.


title: Bradford Hill criteria

text: Since the description of the criteria, many methods to systematically evaluate the evidence supporting a causal relationship have been published, for example the five evidence-grading criteria of the World Cancer Research Fund (Convincing; Probable; Limited evidence – suggestive; Limited evidence – no conclusion; Substantial effect on risk unlikely).


title: Javier Mendez (mixed martial arts trainer)

text: Javier Mendez was born in Mexico and moved to the United States with his family at the age of 6. He was raised in San Jose, California and attended Andrew Hill High School. His father spent most of his money on alcohol and gambling and told Mendez that he would never amount to anything which gave Mendez motivation to achieve success. Like most of his peers of his generation, Mendez grew up admiring the late Bruce Lee.


text: Mendez started training in martial arts in 1978, studying the discipline of Tang Soo Do. From there, he went to West Coast Tae Kwon Do and trained under Scott Coker (former CEO of Strikeforce and current president of Bellator MMA).


text: After fighting his way through the kickboxing ranks, Mendez won his first world championship in 1992 when he became the ISKA Light-Cruiserweight Champion. In 1995, Mendez defeated Conrad Pla (founder of Tristar Gym) via split decision to win the vacant ISKA Light Heavyweight Championship.


text: In 1996, Mendez became exposed to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), when local UFC fighter Brian Johnston sought out Mendez to help him improve his kickboxing ability. That exposure led other fighters like to seek out Mendez as he rode the wave of MMA's growing popularity. Going forward Mendez stopped competing professionally as a fighter to become a full-time MMA coach.


text: Mendez would train his first UFC champion in 1997, when Frank Shamrock joined AKA. Mendez would be his trainer until 2003 where during that period Shamrock became the first UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and had remained undefeated.


text: Due to hearing about this successful partnership, BJ Penn joined AKA in 2001 in preparation of his MMA career debut and would eventually become UFC champion in both the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions.


text: In 2015, Mendez became the only trainer to have 3 concurrent UFC Champions (Cain Velasquez at heavyweight, Daniel Cormier at light heavyweight and Luke Rockhold at middleweight).


title: Inflo

text: Dean Josiah Cover, professionally known as Inflo, is an English record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He helms the R&B music collective project Sault, which foregrounds black-centric issues.


title: Inflo

text: In 2014, British rock band the Kooks worked with Inflo on their fourth studio album "Listen" after frontman Luke Pritchard discovered him via SoundCloud. Pritchard described Inflo as a "young Quincy Jones" as Pritchard applauded Inflo's bravery and conceptuality in his production. In 2016, Inflo worked with Max Jury, Michael Kiwanuka, and Tom Odell. In 2017, Inflo won the Best Song Musically and Lyrically at the Ivor Novello Awards for co-writing "Black Man in a White World", performed by Kiwanuka.


title: Inflo

text: In 2020, Inflo received the Mercury Prize for his production work on Michael Kiwanuka's third studio album "Kiwanuka". He also won the Best Album at the Ivor Novello Awards the same year for his work on the album "Grey Area" by Little Simz. In 2021, it was reported that he was working with Adele on her upcoming fourth studio album "30".


title: Inflo

text: On 30 September 2021, Inflo was announced as the winner of the acclaimed MPG (Music Producers Guild) UK "Producer of the Year" award.


title: Inflo

text: On 8 February 2022, Inflo was announced as the "Producer of the Year" at the 2022 Brit Awards, this was especially significant due to Inflo being the first black person to receive this honour since the inception of the Brits in 1977.


title: Inflo

text: On 18 October 2022, Inflo was thanked by Little Simz for his production work on her album "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert".


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. It remained the fourth largest in New York City when it closed permanently on April 1, 2020. After years of unsuccessful preservation battles, it is being demolished and replaced by 15 Penn Plaza, a 68-story tower.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In the late 19th century, the site around the Hotel Pennsylvania was mostly residential, with three- and four-story row houses and four- and five-story tenements. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) had completed the original Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, in 1910. In construction with the railroad station's opening. the PRR had acquired all lots on the eastern side of Seventh Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, directly east of the station, though the railroad did not initially develop the sites. The northern site, which became the Hotel Pennsylvania, measured long on 32nd and 33rd Streets and long on Seventh Avenue. The southern site was sold in 1921 to Equitable Holdings, which developed 11 Penn Plaza there.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In January 1916, the PRR announced that it would build a 1,000-room hotel on the Seventh Avenue site for about $9 million; the hotel itself would cost $5 million, while the furnishings and land would cost $4 million. The hotel was to be designed by McKim, Mead & White, which had also designed the original Pennsylvania Station. The planned hotel was cited as being either ten or twelve stories. The PRR hoped that the hotel's construction would spur development in the surrounding area, particularly after the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's 34th Street–Penn Station subway station opened in two years. In addition, the site was near several major attractions, including multiple Broadway theaters, department stores, and hotels. The PRR wished to compete with the New York Central Railroad, which was concurrently constructing the Commodore Hotel near Grand Central Terminal, as well as attract business travelers and professional conventions.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The PRR hired the George A. Fuller Company as the hotel's general contractor in March 1916; the Fuller Company constructed the Pennsylvania and the Commodore simultaneously. The PRR also hired Post & McCord as the steel contractor. The hotel's cost had increased to $11 million by that April; this cost included $7.5 million for the actual hotel, $2.5 million for the land, and $1 million for furnishings. The PRR filed plans for a 20-story hotel in May 1916, to be designed by McKim, Mead & White. Initially, the PRR leased the hotel to Franklin J. Matchette for 21 years. In December 1916, Ellsworth M. Statler of the Statler Hotels chain purchased a controlling interest in Matchette's lease. Matchette and Statler formed the New York Hotel Statler Company, which issued stock to finance the hotel's construction. Both men initially had a 50 percent stake in the company, but Matchette turned over a 25 percent stake to Statler shortly after the company was established.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The PRR announced in December 1916 that the hotel would be named the Hotel Pennsylvania and that construction of the hotel's foundations would commence the next month. Matchette's firm, the Servidor Company, also provided the hotel's original equipment and furnishings including the doors for each guestroom. The hotel's construction required over of steel and nine million bricks, although some of these materials were difficult to obtain because of World War I restrictions. During construction, in July 1917, one worker was killed by a falling steel girder. In addition, the hotel's dynamo room caught fire and then exploded in April 1918, damaging the facade and a sidewalk shed around the hotel. That June, Statler Hotels issued $3 million in bonds to finance the hotel's construction. Roy Carruthers was hired as the hotel's first general manager in late 1918. Statler planned to rent rooms within a relatively narrow price range, saying: "I am working on the assumption that New York wants a first-class hotel where the ratio between the minimum and maximum rates will be nearer together than is usually the case."


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The Hotel Pennsylvania was formally dedicated on January 25, 1919. On that day, 3,000 spectators viewed the hotel, and 2,000 people ate in the main dining room. The Pennsylvania's 2,200 guest rooms and baths made it the largest hotel in the world at the time; it was slightly larger than the Commodore, which opened a few days later on January 28. However, only 1,200 rooms were available when the hotel opened, and some of the public rooms were still incomplete. Thirty days after the hotel opened, Statler Hotels started paying $200,000 in annual rent for the site; this amounted to five percent of the hotel building's assessed value of $4 million. In addition, Statler would pay six percent of the construction cost each year. One architectural critic wrote that the hotel's completion "marked a great step forward in hotel efficiency", as it had an efficient design that was not overly ornate.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In the hotel's early years, it hosted such events as a charity event for the Jewish Federations of North America, a meeting for veterans, and a showcase of radio equipment. Employees established a newspaper called "The Pennsylvania Register" in 1921, which according to "The Christian Science Monitor" was "said to be the only daily newspaper published in a hotel". In addition, the Pennsylvania became the first hotel on the East Coast of the United States to receive telegraph service in 1922. The Pennsylvania remained the world's largest hotel until the late 1920s, when the New Yorker Hotel was constructed.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: E. M. Statler managed the hotel until January 1928, when Frank A. Duggan took over as the hotel's manager. After Duggan left for the Hotel McAlpin that April, Statler again became the hotel's manager, although Statler died two weeks later. Following Statler's death, Leo Molony was appointed as the hotel's manager. In 1929, Matchette filed two lawsuits in the New York Surrogate's Court, seeking a combined $10 million in damages from the New York Hotel Statler Company Inc. and Ellsworth Statler's estate. Matchette claimed that Statler had given excessive salaries to himself and his family members and that Statler had mismanaged the hotel's construction. Matchette filed four lawsuits in the New York Supreme Court in 1930, seeking $17.5 million in damages from Statler's estate, the Hotel Statler Company, and the directors of the hotel company.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: PRR received a $5 million mortgage loan from Prudential Insurance in 1933, replacing two loans that the hotel had received in 1917 and 1923. The Automobile Club of New York moved its headquarters to the hotel in 1933, and the hotel's Room, decorated with cartoons depicting life in New York City, opened the same year. The hotel continued to host large events in the 1930s, including ping-pong matches, home equipment exhibitions, National Board of Review conferences, and architects' conventions. Molony managed the hotel until January 1937, when Duggan replaced him. James H. McCabe became the hotel's manager that June after Duggan was promoted to a vice president within Statler Hotels.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: Statler Hotels agreed to buy the property outright from the Pennsylvania Railroad on June 30, 1948. Statler Hotels president Arthur F. Douglas officially took over the hotel that August, paying approximately $13 million. The Statler chain renovated the hotel's main dining room, Cafe Rouge, that year. The Pennsylvania was renamed the Hotel Statler on January 1, 1949. The hotel's managers had supported the name change because the Pennsylvania had hosted Statler Hotels' main offices for many years. Statler Hotels spent $200,000 on replacing items with the hotel's old name or initial, including nearly 800,000 pieces of linen, 127,000 pieces of china, and 134,000 pieces of silver. The hotel also replaced signs in subway stations and sent notices to 300,000 people who held Statler-branded credit cards. The hotel was branded as the "Hotel Statler, formerly the Hotel Pennsylvania" for two years after the name change.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In August 1954, Conrad Hilton acquired a controlling interest in all 17 of Statler Hotels' properties, including the Hotel Statler. Hilton paid an estimated $76 million for the controlling stake. At the time, Hilton already owned multiple large hotels in New York City. Hilton was installing air conditioners in all of the hotel's guestrooms by early 1956. The hotel became The Statler Hilton in 1958. Over the years, the hotel was reduced to 1,592 rooms. Many of the smaller rooms had been combined to create larger suites with alcoves for businessmen. In 1960, Hilton renovated the hotel at a cost of $1 million. The work included the reduction of the original two-story lobby to one story, to add more meeting space.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In January 1979, Hilton Hotels agreed to sell the New York Statler Hilton to developer William Zeckendorf Jr. for $24 million. At the time, the hotel had 1,756 rooms. Hilton completed its sale in May 1979, recording an estimated after-tax profit of $8.8 million. The hotel was renamed the New York Statler and was operated by Dunfey Hotels, a division of Aer Lingus. Dunfey Hotels sought to market the hotel to business travelers and conventions. During April 1981, the hotel was affected by two fires in as many weeks; the second fire caused damage to the grand ballroom.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The hotel was sold again in August 1983 for $46 million. A half-interest in the hotel was acquired by Abelco, an investment group consisting of developers Elie Hirschfeld, Abraham Hirschfeld, and Arthur G. Cohen, and the other half was bought by the Penta Hotels chain, a joint venture of British Airways, Lufthansa, and Swissair. The new owners renamed the hotel the New York Penta. Anna Quindlen of "The New York Times Magazine" wrote: "Real New Yorkers, who will be damned if they will call Sixth Avenue Avenue of the Americas, still call it the Statler." The owners renovated the facade and the public spaces, creating two restaurant spaces within the hotel. They also refurbished its 1,705 guestrooms, combining some of the rooms to create larger suites. The project was expected to cost $23 million and was timed to coincide with the completion of Javits Center on the west side of Manhattan. Despite the cost of the renovation, the Abelco/Penta partnership planned to retain the hotel's $100 nightly room rates.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: A grand reopening celebration for the Penta was held from December 7 to 10, 1985. It was one of two major structures to open on the west side of Midtown Manhattan that month, the other being the Axa Equitable Center. The Penta's owners hired James Parry Inc. as the hotel's marketing agency. When James Parry Inc. shuttered in 1988, the hotel's partners hired Kirshenbaum & Bond as the Penta Hotel's new agency.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In 1991, the Hirschfelds acquired the Penta Hotels chain's stake in the hotel. The hostelry was renamed the Ramada Pennsylvania Hotel in April 1991, two weeks after the Penta chain exited the venture. Hampton Hotels Co. took over the hotel's operation in 1993. The hotel remained the third-largest in New York City, after the New York Hilton Midtown and the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. Hampton Hotels spent $15 million on renovations over the next two years. In advance of the 1992 Democratic National Convention, the hotel's owners spent $4 million to $6 million on renovations, including a refurbishment of the lobby. By the early 1990s, celebrities no longer frequented the Ramada Pennsylvania, which tried to attract guests by offering discounts for guests' pets. A Sports Authority store at the hotel's base was announced in 1993, and it opened the following year, within the hotel's former bar and mezzanine.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The board of directors of the Best Western hotel chain voted in November 1993 to rename the hotel New York's Hotel Pennsylvania, pending an inspection of the hotel's quality. The Image Group leased the hotel's ballrooms in February 1995 for twenty years, converting the seldom-used ballrooms into television studios. Best Western also added a business center to the hotel the same year, equipped with fax machines, computers, and televisions. At that point, the Pennsylvania no longer had any restaurants, and guest-service directories instead listed restaurants near the hotel. Hirschfeld rebranded the hotel as the Hotel Pennsylvania in 1995, and he placed the hotel for sale in April 1996 for $150 million. Hirschfeld had installed "Lover's Bench", a bronze sculpture depicting a nude couple and a partly clothed woman, outside the Pennsylvania's entrance. The sculpture was ultimately removed in 1997.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In June 1997, Vornado Realty Trust and Singaporean developer Ong Beng Seng agreed to buy the hotel for $159 million. Vornado and Ong sought to convert the Pennsylvania to a sports-themed hotel operated by Planet Hollywood (in which Ong held a large stake), citing the hotel's proximity to Madison Square Garden. The plans were complicated by the fact that the Riese family held a long-term lease on commercial space at the Pennsylvania. At the end of June 1997, Vornado paid $75 million to terminate the Rieses' lease and acquire several buildings that the family owned nearby. Vornado and Ong finalized their acquisition on September 25, 1997, with plans to convert the Pennsylvania into Planet Hollywood's first Official All Star Hotel. Vornado and Ong would each own a 40 percent stake in the hotel, while Planet Hollywood would own 20 percent. The Official All Star Hotel plan was announced amid a revival in tourism in New York City, as well as demand for office space in Penn Plaza. The hotel's renovation was expected to cost about $200 million. Vornado would operate about of commercial and office space at the hotel.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The planned conversion did not happen, as Planet Hollywood suffered major financial losses in the late 1990s. Vornado bought out Ong's 40 percent stake in the hotel in early 1998 for $70 million, paying $22 million in cash and taking on $48 million in debt. When Ong decided to sell his stake, many Asian companies were selling off real estate in New York City. Vornado Realty Trust transferred the hotel's management to a subsidiary, Vornado Operating Company, in October 1998 because of regulations concerning non-real-estate holdings of real estate investment trusts. Vornado then acquired the remaining 20 percent stake from Planet Hollywood in August 1999 for $42 million, paying $18 million in cash and assuming $24 million in debt. Vornado thus obtained full ownership of the hotel. The Planet Hollywood transaction valued the hotel at $216 million. By late 1999, to attract business travelers, the Hotel Pennsylvania was advertising rooms at $150 to $300 per night.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: As early as 2001, a Lehman Brothers analyst said that Vornado officials were considering replacing the hotel with a 50- to 60-story tower. Through the 2000s, the hotel remained popular enough that its managers trademarked the slogan "World's Most Popular Hotel" in 2002. However, the hotel had become noticeably rundown, and guests reported bedbug infestations, darkened windows, and dirty carpets, among other things. By the mid-2000s, Vornado officials said the hotel was merely "a placeholder, sort of like a parking lot". "Observer" described the hotel as having "devolved into a cheap, decrepit tourist trap more commonly associated with reported bedbug attacks than big-band nostalgia". The hotel was divided into two sections by then: the main hotel and the more upscale Penn 5000 Club. Vornado also rented out some of the hotel's space to small businesses during the 2000s, and the T. R. Engle Group gradually renovated the hotel's lobby and rooms during this decade. As part of the planning process for the 7 Subway Extension, in 2003, city and state officials determined that the Hotel Pennsylvania was eligible for official landmark protections on the city, state, and national levels.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: With the redevelopment of west Midtown in the mid-2000s, the Hotel Pennsylvania was again being considered as a prime site for redevelopment. In early 2007, Vornado announced plans to demolish the hotel and develop the 15 Penn Plaza skyscraper there, as part of a redevelopment of the area around Penn Station. Vornado intended to complete the building by 2011, marketing the tower to financial tenants. At the time, there was little interest in protecting the hotel as a landmark. Investment firm Merrill Lynch & Co. announced plans to relocate from lower Manhattan to the skyscraper that October. Had the hotel been demolished at that time, Vornado would have been required to maintain a "museum-quality" exhibit of the Hotel Pennsylvania's history in the new building's lobby. Ultimately, Merrill Lynch opted to move to the World Financial Center in January 2008, in part because of the firm's financial troubles. At a conference call in June 2008, Roth said he was considering downsizing his planned development or renovating the Hotel Pennsylvania.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The redevelopment plans prompted the staff of "", a magazine that sponsored biennial HOPE hacker conventions at the hotel, began investigating possible ways to save the hotel from demolition. They were joined by the new Save the Hotel Pennsylvania Foundation (later the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society), whose members included a number of city organizations and politicians to aid in designating the hotel as a landmark, including the Historic Districts Council, Manhattan Community Board 5, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried. In November 2007, Manhattan Community Board 5 voted 21-8 in support of a landmark designation. Three months later, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected the landmark request. Emmanuel Goldstein of "2600" noted that while people overseas expressed concern over the fate of the hotel:New Yorkers might not care enough to get involved. The hotel was old; the rooms weren't as big and luxurious as other more modern facilities; and New Yorkers simply weren't in a position to grasp the importance of such a place since they normally don't need cheap and easily accessible hotels if they already live here.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In May 2010, the hotel was again in danger of demolition. Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer gave a conditional approval overruling Manhattan Community Board 5. The LPC reviewed the hotel's Cafe Rouge for landmark status based on a request by the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society, but on October 22, 2010, the LPC declined to designate the cafe as a landmark. On July 14, 2010, the New York City Department of City Planning voted unanimously in favor of the construction of the tower. On August 23, 2010, the NYC Council voted to approve the proposed Uniform Land Use Review Procedure submitted by the building owners. In December 2011, Vornado announced a delay in the demolition of the hotel because it was financially infeasible to do so at the moment. Steven Roth said in March 2013 that he wanted to renovate the hotel instead of demolishing it.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: By 2014, Vornado was again looking to develop a skyscraper on the Hotel Pennsylvania's site. Due to uncertainty over the site's future, Roth opted not to renovate the hotel during the mid-2010s. In the hotel's final years, the mezzanine levels above the lobby were operated as a separate business, the Penn Plaza Pavilion, a series of raw spaces used as function facilities. They were the site of numerous trade shows and conventions, including the annual Big Apple Comic Con. The guestrooms were frequented by students and shoppers who sought discounted room rates.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In March 2018, Vornado renewed special permits from the City Planning Commission to develop 15 Penn Plaza on the Hotel Pennsylvania's site. In an April 2018 letter to investors, Roth mentioned the demolition and 15 Penn skyscraper plan as a continued option, but also described Vornado as being at "a tipping point" with regard to redeveloping the Pennsylvania into a "giant convention/entertainment hotel". In June 2019, Vornado unsuccessfully tried to lure Facebook to rent space in the proposed office building, with a new design done by Rafael Viñoly.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The hotel was forced to close in April 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Seeing an opportunity to redevelop the site, Steven Roth again contemplated closing the hotel permanently. Roth announced plans in April 2021 to replace the hotel with a skyscraper, now known as Penn15. According to Roth, "the hotel math has deteriorated significantly over the last five years", and the benefits of continuing to operate the hotel were outweighed by the drawbacks of maintenance, taxes, and lack of demand. Several groups, such as the Hotel Trades Council, supported the plans for redeveloping the Pennsylvania's site. By then, the hotel had been neglected for several years. Christopher Bonanos of "Curbed" wrote: "Architecturally, it is like a lot of early-20th-century midsize hotels and office buildings around the city, only larger; it is surely a better-quality example from its period [...] Even if you're a hardcore preservationist, your energies might be better spent elsewhere."


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: In late 2021, International Content Liquidations finished selling the hotel's contents in preparation for demolition. Items for sale included chandeliers and lighting, guest room furniture, unused mattresses and linens, televisions, the entirety of the hotel's fitness center and commercial kitchens, banquet tables and chairs, and the original, historic guest room doors known as Servidors. The hotel's demolition began in January 2022, and the main entrance was converted to a turnstile for demolition workers. The Pennsylvania caught fire on February 7, 2022, while it was being demolished. By the middle of that year, demolition of the hotel had resumed.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The Hotel Pennsylvania was designed by William Symmes Richardson of McKim, Mead & White. The hotel measured 22 stories high, including the street level and the rooftop; there was also a three-story penthouse. The hotel's design was intended not only to complement that of the original Penn Station, which was demolished in 1963, but also that of the General Post Office one block west, which still exists.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The first four stories occupied nearly the entire site. The hotel was set back from the property line on Seventh Avenue, creating a plaza in front of the hotel's entrance. The plaza had been intended as a forecourt for the original Penn Station, though the hotel's height blunted this effect. When the PRR had leased the site to the hotel's original operators, the lease agreement included a clause that prevented the hotel's operators from constructing any structure, except for an entrance portico, on the westernmost 15 feet of the site for twenty-one years. Three light courts on the southern facade, each measuring wide, divided the hotel into four wings that faced south. Each wing measured wide. There was another light court facing eastward toward the former Gimbels department store (now Manhattan Mall), which measured wide. The two western wings collectively contained 1,000 rooms, while the two eastern wings collectively contained 1,200 rooms.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: The Indiana Limestone facade of the lower stories was intentionally designed to closely mirror the architecture of the station. A colonnade of Ionic-style pilasters divided the lowest three stories vertically into bays, with lightly rusticated walls between each set of pilasters. Over the years, the first three stories were modified significantly, and storefronts with various signs and awnings were installed. In the center of the Seventh Avenue facade was a portico of six Ionic columns marking the main entrance. This portico protruded from the facade, although it remained well within the property line. When the entrance was widened in the hotel's later years, four of the columns were truncated to make way for a marquee. The fourth story was faced in plain ashlar.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: Above the fourth story, the facade was made of buff-colored and gray brick. Over the years, the windows on the upper stories were replaced in a piecemeal fashion, and numerous signs were installed on the facade. Near the end of the hotel's existence, the upper stories contained aluminum windows of various designs. The top three stories contained a colonnade of pilasters, above which was a cornice made of terracotta. Sometime during the hotel's existence, a half-story penthouse was installed above part of the cornice.


title: Hotel Pennsylvania

text: Above the westernmost wing was a roof garden with a restaurant, which was topped by the elevator penthouse. The roof restaurant had a simple design, with a plaster vaulted ceiling supported by a colonnade, which formed a central hall with aisles. The walls were of plaster above a tile wainscoting, and the restaurant had simple details, which allowed the decorations to be changed between different seasons. The second-westernmost wing contained an outdoor lounge, connected to the restaurant by a wide bridge. When the hotel opened, the roofs of the two eastern wings were left undeveloped.