Inflation in Bulgaria continues to slow down its growth rate in December 2025 to 5.0 percent compared to 5.2 percent in November. This is shown by the data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) for the last month before Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone. On a monthly basis, consumer prices, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), increased by 0.1 percent compared to November, when they rose by 0.5 percent. The average annual inflation for the period January 2025 - December 2025 compared to the period January 2024 - December 2024 is 3.5 percent. In December 2025, the monthly inflation, measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), is 0.1 percent, and the annual inflation for December 2025 compared to December 2024 is 3.5 percent. The average annual inflation for the period January 2025 - December 2025 compared to the period January 2024 - December 2024 is 3.5 percent. The accumulated inflation, measured by the CPI, for the last three years (December 2025 compared to December 2022), is 12.3 percent, and for the last five years (December 2025 compared to December 2020) is 41.4 percent. In December 2025, the prices of goods and services decreased in the following consumer groups: Clothing and footwear - by 2.3 percent; Communications - by 0.9 percent; Miscellaneous goods and services - by 0.1 percent. The prices of goods and services in the following consumer groups are higher: Entertainment and culture - by 2.2 percent; Transportation - by 0.8 percent; Restaurants and hotels - by 0.4 percent; Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products - by 0.3 percent; Education - by 0.1 percent; Home furnishings, household goods and services - by 0.1 percent; Health care - by 0.1 percent. The prices of goods and services in the groups: Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and Food products and non-alcoholic beverages remain unchanged.

The World Bank has raised its forecast for Bulgaria's economic growth in 2025, 2026 and 2027. The assessment is part of the international financial institution's regular analysis, which is published every six months, entitled "Global Economic Prospects". The publication states that in 2025, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 3 percent. Compared to the expectations contained in the June 2025 edition, the World Bank has revised its forecast upwards by 1 percentage point. For 2026, the Washington-based financial institution expects our economy to grow by 2.9 percent instead of 2.2 percent, as was expected in June, or a growth of 0.7 percentage points. The World Bank predicts economic growth of 3.1 percent for our country in 2027 in its latest forecast, which is also an increase compared to the 2.4 percent expected in June last year – also an increase of 0.7 percentage points. The Bulgarian National Bank also revised its forecast for growth of the Bulgarian economy in an upward direction in the period 2025 - 2027 compared to its forecast from June 2025. The BNB forecasts that real GDP growth in Bulgaria in the period 2025 - 2027 is expected to remain close to that of 2024, with it forecast to reach 3.2 percent in 2025, then to slow slightly to 3.1 percent in 2026 and 2027. In the BNB forecast from June 26, 2025, the central bank expected real GDP to reach 2.9 percent in 2025 and 2.7 percent in 2026 and 2027.

Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev and his team chose not to sign contracts with the candidates in the tender for a total of 219 million euros to clean most of Sofia for the next 5 years. And with good reason: the offers were many times higher than the estimates, and the companies were connected to "people with nicknames" such as Rumen Gaitanski - Valka and Hristoforos Amanatidis - Taki. This led to overflowing garbage containers in some areas, political attacks, temporary solutions. The Sofia Municipality has so far avoided expensive contracts and dependence on people with nicknames. But it has found itself in the delicate and vulnerable situation of over two-thirds of the city's cleaning currently depending on one company, and one with a far from impeccable image - "Titan". In the two areas, where the municipal company "Sofekostroy" and the Sofia Garbage Plant (SPTO) took over the work on an emergency basis, the performance is still far from satisfactory. After some of the old cleaning contracts expired at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, the municipality signed annexes for a large part of the zones of Sofia. The big winner are the companies from the orbit around the Titan group and the Domuschievi brothers, who either win new orders (but do not yet have contracts due to appeals), or signed indefinite annexes until the court of appeals rules and the municipality finds new contractors in some of the areas. In one zone, they also took over the temporary cleaning. Thus, the company is currently cleaning 5 out of 9 zones, which cover ¾ of the city in area.One zone each was taken over by SPTO - temporarily until a new tender, and the municipal company "Sofekostroy" - with an in-house contract until 2030, signed on December 23. The company is under the control of the Sofia Municipal Council and so far has only cleaned "Krasna Polyana", but its responsibilities have had to increase. In 2027, the last bequeathed contracts from the GERB government expire. One is with companies close to Christoforos Amanatidis - Taki, in zone 9. The other is for Zone 8 - with ZMBG. New orders are to be announced for three zones, as well as three contracts to be signed with already selected contractors, which are being appealed and are stalled in the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) and the Supreme Administrative Court. There is no appeal for the fifth zone, but the municipality is negotiating there to lower the high price proposed by the candidate "BKS Chistota" - associated with "Titan". In order to ensure the cleaning of the city, the municipality extended the current contracts in zones 1, 2, 5 and 7. The annexes are with the two associations around the "Titan" group and "Trakia Shopping Center" of the brothers Kiril and Georgi Domuschievi, who have so far cleaned the four zones. After the initial shock, capacity strengthening began with the purchase of equipment and hiring of people in "Sofekostroy" and SPTO, as well as in the "Public Works and Utilities" units of the regional administrations, which are the alternative to private companies.

The US has extended until February 28, 2026 the license that allows operations related to the sale of foreign assets of the Russian oil giant Lukoil with an official document of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. The license gives the right to negotiate and act on the “sale, disposition or transfer” of Lukoil International GmbH – the Austrian-based subsidiary of Lukoil, which manages the group’s assets outside Russia, including those in Bulgaria. The previous authorization expired on January 17. In October, the US Treasury Department included Lukoil, Rosneft and 34 other of their subsidiaries in a new package of sanctions. Subsequently, on December 4, the US authorities authorized operations for the purchase of goods and services at Lukoil facilities outside Russia until April 29, 2026, as previously the term of this license was until December 13. OFAC explicitly emphasizes that the extended license does not allow the transfer of funds to individuals or bank accounts in the territory of the Russian Federation, regardless of the nature of the transactions.

Bulgaria allocates more and more funds for hospital treatment, the hospital network is huge, but this does not "produce" more health because the system works with the wrong incentives - taking into account more clinical pathways, produces a greater volume of inefficiency. Bulgaria is by no means the country with the lowest public spending on hospital treatment in the EU. After it as a share of GDP are Hungary, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Ireland, etc. In 2025, Bulgaria allocated 1.9% of GDP only for hospital treatment, which is the equivalent of 2.81 billion euros. For treatment in a clinic alone, Bulgaria is a leader in public payments in the EU. With an average level of money for health of 40-50%, in Bulgaria it is 53%. In addition, patients endure 340-350 hospitals, with 2.055 million hospitalizations recorded last year, of which 1.3 million were emergency. In 36 out of 72 municipal hospitals, there was not a single birth in 2024, and in only three of them did births exceed 300, that is, at least one child per day. The IME analysis examined data from the 17 university state hospitals, 20 multi-profile (district hospitals) and 72 municipal clinics. It compares the number of doctors, healthcare specialists and number of beds with the number of patients. The average level of efficiency achieved by the 17 university hospitals is 80.7%. At the border of efficiency (100%) are three medical institutions - University Hospital "St. Ivan Rilski", University Hospital "St. Georgi" - Plovdiv and University Hospital "Lozenets". At the other end are two hospitals - "St. Ekaterina" and the National Cardiology Hospital, which specialize in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, which often require larger than average resources and longer hospital stays. Even if they are excluded, there are several university hospitals with lower efficiency than the others. "St. Kirkovich" - Stara Zagora, "St. Anna - Varna", "St. Anna - Sofia" and "Tsaritsa Ioanna ISUL" have an efficiency between 52 and 82% compared to the limit. Of the regional hospitals, the hospital in Pernik has the lowest efficiency. Since Bulgaria is in last place in terms of beds for long-term treatment and follow-up treatment, clinical pathways should be reviewed and these services should be fairly priced.

"PIMK Rail Express" plans to launch fast trains from Sofia to Burgas, which will stop only in Plovdiv and Stara Zagora. For this purpose, tests are currently being conducted, and a passenger car has been rented from the German company "Deutsche Bahn Cargo" (DB Cargo), announced Penko Nestorov - managing partner at "PIMK Holding Group". The start of the private carrier's express trains on the rails depends on the regulatory framework and the conditions offered by the state. "PIMK Rail Express" submitted an application to serve the Sofia - Plovdiv - Stara Zagora - Burgas railway line at the end of May 2024 as part of the market consultations on the tender for the selection of a new public railway carrier for the next 15 years. However, the company did not participate in the public tender, which ended at the end of 2025. The most attractive lot was won by "BDZ Passenger Transport" and thus the state carrier maintained its monopoly on the market. The other two went to the newly established Ivkoni Express. The two companies will receive a subsidy from the state for the service, which last year was about 220 million leva. In addition, they will share the new trains that the state bought from Skoda. PIMK Rail Express will offer private passenger transport on a market basis and this is the reason why it did not participate in the tender, explained Penko Nestorov. PIMK's idea is to create "unsubsidized private passenger transport that offers higher quality, faster travel and amenities that are missing in the current standard model of BDZ". In addition to passenger express trains on the Sofia - Plovdiv - Burgas railway line, PIMK Rail Express has asked the state to allow it to carry passengers on four more routes from December 13, 2026.

The Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) has officially concluded the contract, which leaves the management of the toll system in the hands of the Kapsch Traffic Solutions consortium until the end of 2030. The signatures under the document were placed on December 19 last year and it comes into force on December 24. So far, RIA has not officially announced that it has concluded a new contract for nearly 65.2 million euros (over 127.5 million leva) excluding VAT, even though the toll system and its maintenance are part of the list of strategic objects and activities of importance for national security. Everything between the state and the Austrian technology giant is happening in conditions of a complete lack of competition and with an information blackout regarding key applications in the contract, which would clarify exactly what the taxpayers' millions will be spent on. The signing of the new, third consecutive contract with Kapsch came after RIA opened a procedure for "negotiation without prior announcement" in November last year. The state's argument was the technical dependence on the Austrian consortium, which built the system in 2018 under a contract for nearly 92 million euros (180 million leva). In 2021 (at the end of the Borisov 3 cabinet's term), the company also received a contract for "proactive monitoring" worth over 60.2 million euros excluding VAT (117.7 million leva) - a contract that the Court of Auditors later subjected to sharp criticism. Now the new post-warranty maintenance from "Kapsh" is increasing in price by 5 million euros (over 9.7 million leva). While in the 2020 contract the subject of the activities were named by their real names - integration of national suppliers, system upgrade, proactive monitoring - now RIA and "Kapsh" have relied on dry references to points and paragraphs. The total amount of the new contract is calculated for 60 months, but the mechanism of absorption is not particularly clear. This total amount is in practice formed by different components: Basic support: 50.2 million euros (over 98.2 million leva) have been allocated for it. The state will pay about 837 thousand euros (over 1.6 million leva) per month. An additional 15 million euros (over 29.3 million leva) are set aside for upgrading and integration.

The Rahila Angelova Multi-Profile Hospital for Active Treatment (MBAL) in Pernik has been sentenced in a second instance to pay over 800 thousand leva in a case involving a deceased patient, announced the director of the medical facility, Dr. Yavor Drenski. The case dates back to 2017 and concerns a relatively young patient who had a heart attack. According to the court, there was a lapse in his treatment. The patient was prepared by a nurse for follow-up treatment, but he fell between two doctor's shifts. His relatives themselves decided to transport him to the Pirogov University Hospital and Medical Center in Sofia, where he later died. The initial claim was for 400 thousand leva, but with interest and legal fees, the amount already exceeds 800 thousand leva. The hospital management is negotiating with the patient's relatives for an installment payment and is discussing the possibility of a bank loan, since the amount is too large to be paid at once.

The turnover of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange for 2025 reached 611 million euros, the funds raised amounted to 710 million euros. The award for "Investment Intermediary with the Highest Turnover in 2025" was presented to IP "ABV Investments" OOD (242.5 million leva turnover for the year), with the runner-up to the winner being IP "Euro - Finance" AD (229.1 million leva turnover) and CB "Central Cooperative Bank" AD (228.8 million leva turnover). The award for "Investment Intermediary with the Highest Number of Transactions in 2025" was given to IP "Karol" AD (64,902 transactions for the period), and the awards for second and third place went to "Elana Trading" AD (31,425 transactions) and IP "BenchMark Finance" AD (17,516 transactions). The awards "Investment intermediary with the highest turnover and transactions on the beam market in 2025" and "Investment intermediary with the highest turnover and the largest number of transactions on the MTF BSE INTERNATIONAL market in 2025" were presented to II "Karol" AD, after the investment intermediary reported 10.8 million leva turnover and 7870 transactions on the beam market and 38.6 million leva turnover and 3540 transactions on the MTF BSE INTERNATIONAL market. For "Investment intermediary with the highest activity in working with issuers in 2025" II "South Market" EAD, II "Focal Point Investments" AD and II "Sofia International Securities" AD were awarded. The award for "Most Liquid Issuer on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange in 2025" went to "Shelly Group" AD (7081 transactions for the period), and the second and third place awards went to "Sopharma" AD (6570 transactions) and "Bulgarian Stock Exchange" AD (4139 transactions). The award for "Most Liquid Issuer in the Standard Segment on the Main Market in 2025" was presented to "Doverie Obedinen Holding" AD, and the runners-up in this category were "Eleven Capital" AD and "Smart Organic" AD. The award for "Issuer that Raised the Largest Capital on the Beam Market in 2025" went to "Webit Investment Network" AD with 12.1 million leva raised. For "Issuer of Bonds with the Highest Value Admitted to Trading on the Regulated Market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange in 2025." TBI Bank AD was awarded with issues worth EUR 94 million. The award for "SOFIX Index Issuer with the Largest Price Growth in 2025" was awarded to Sirma Group Holding AD, which reported a growth of 90 percent for the period.

Industrial production in the euro area and the European Union recorded an annual growth in November 2025. This is shown by the first estimates of Eurostat, the EU's statistical office. Against this background, however, in Bulgaria it decreased sharply again, as its annual decline continues to be the largest within the entire European Union, and this is happening for the sixth consecutive month. The largest annual growth in industrial production was registered in Ireland (10.6 percent), Cyprus (10.5 percent) and Croatia (8.8 percent). The most significant decreases were recorded in Bulgaria (9.3 percent), Malta (8.2 percent) and Hungary (5.5 percent). In November 2025, compared to November 2024, industrial production in the euro area increased by 2.5 percent, and in the EU - by 2.2 percent. In the euro area, intermediate goods grew by 1.1 percent year-on-year, energy by 0.5 percent, capital goods by 3.6 percent and consumer durables by 3.4 percent. At the same time, the production of consumer durables decreased by 2.1 percent. In the EU, industrial production grew by 0.9 percent year-on-year in intermediate goods, 4.0 percent in capital goods and 2.6 percent in consumer durables. Energy fell by 0.3 percent and consumer durables by 2.9 percent.

In 2025, Russia imported frozen beef from Brazil worth almost $473 million, a record high since 2015. Russia is increasing its purchases of meat from Brazil for the fourth consecutive year, with imports in 2025 jumping by an impressive 80% compared to the previous year. This makes last year’s figure the highest in 10 years, as imports in 2015 reached $546 million in financial terms. In 2025, Brazil increased its total exports of frozen beef by 43% compared to the previous year, reaching $14.4 billion in monetary terms. Thus, Russia, together with Mexico, ranks third among the largest importers of beef from the country that produces and exports the most of this staple food in the world. Both Russia and Mexico bought 3% of all exports of this product. However, the largest volume of Brazilian beef in physical and financial terms was purchased by the country of China. A whopping 61% of Brazilian beef supplies last year went to the country with the second largest economy in the world alone. The second largest buyer of Brazilian beef is the country with the largest economy in the world, the United States. This destination accounted for 8% of Brazil's beef exports abroad.

Trade between Russia and China shrank for the first time in five years in 2025, amid falling demand for Chinese cars in Russia and a drop in the value of Russian crude oil exported to the Asian country. This was reported by Reuters, citing official data from the General Administration of Customs of China. The value of total imports and exports between the two countries last year reached $228.1 billion. This represents a decrease of 6.9% compared to the record $244.8 billion reported in 2024. According to the analysis of the data, several key factors contributed to the annual decline. Chinese exports to Russia fell by 9.9% year-on-year, with the main reason for this being a significant decline in car exports. At the same time, the value of imports from Russia to China decreased by 3.4%, mainly due to falling oil prices on international markets. Here is a breakdown of the key indicators: Chinese exports to Russia: down 9.9%, Automobile exports (January-November 2025): down 46%, Imports from Russia: down 3.4% Despite the overall annual decline, trade relations showed signs of revival at the end of the year. Data for December 2025 showed that Chinese exports to Russia increased by 2.2%, while imports from Russia jumped by 17.1% year-on-year. On a global level, China's General Administration of Customs reported a record trade volume of $6.48 trillion in 2025, up 3.8% year-on-year. The country's exports increased by 6.1%, mainly thanks to markets outside the US, while imports remained almost unchanged, recording minimal growth of 0.5%.