The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) data for the end of the first quarter of 2026 report a significant growth in loans to households and non-profit organizations of 20.8% on an annual basis, reaching nearly EUR 29.87 billion. The main driver of this process remains housing lending, which marked a jump of 27.5% compared to the same period of the previous year, amounting to EUR 17.62 billion. Consumer lending also reported double-digit growth of 13.2% to EUR 11.26 billion. At the same time, there was a slight decline of 6.8% in loans to employers and self-employed persons, which at the end of March amounted to EUR 263.4 million. Business is also strengthening its credit participation, with loans to non-financial enterprises increasing by 11.8% on an annual basis to EUR 28.28 billion. Total loans to the non-governmental sector now amount to EUR 63.037 billion, which represents 51.1% of the estimated GDP for Bulgaria. Despite the increased consumption, savings continue to grow at a stable pace. Deposits of the non-governmental sector reach EUR 84.52 billion (68.5% of GDP), increasing by 16.2% per year. The main contribution to this is made by households, whose deposits increase by nearly 20% to EUR 55.7 billion. In the case of non-financial enterprises, deposits grow by 11.9%, reaching EUR 26.76 billion. The only exception to the general growth trend is financial enterprises, where a decrease in deposited funds is observed by 12.7% to just over EUR 2 billion at the end of the reporting period.

The profit of the banking system in Bulgaria amounted to EUR 490 million as of March 31, which is EUR 35 million (7.7 percent) more than the one realized for the same period in 2025, the BNB reported. The equity capital in the balance sheet of the banking system as of March 31 was EUR 15.1 billion, EUR 82 million (0.5 percent) less than at the end of December 2025. In the first quarter of the year, the assets of the banking system increased by EUR 3.4 billion (3 percent) and at the end of March they were EUR 119.5 billion. Gross non-performing loans and advances at the end of March were EUR 2.2 billion and increased by EUR 223 million (11.1 percent) compared to the end of December 2025. Their share in the total amount of gross loans and advances is 2.82 percent (2.72 percent at the end of December 2025). The net value of non-performing loans and advances (after deducting their inherent impairment) at the end of the first quarter of the year was EUR 1.1 billion, EUR 114 million (12 percent) more than at the end of December 2025. Its share in the total net value of loans and advances at the end of the period was 1.37 percent (1.31 percent three months earlier).

Almost 2.4 billion euros are the expenses for pensions and benefits from the State Social Insurance (SSI) for the first two months of the year. Compared to the same period last year, the expenses increased by 195.7 million euros (9.0%). The total amount of revenues under the consolidated budget of the SSI as of February 2026 amounted to 1,289.7 million euros. Compared to the same period in 2025, revenues increased by 147.9 million euros (13.0%). In the structure of total expenses, the largest share is occupied by pension expenses - 2,146.0 million euros. Compared to the same period in 2025, these expenses are 191.9 million euros (9.8%) more. The number of pensioners for February 2026 is 2,068,569. This is an increase of 14,023 people (0.7%) compared to the same month of the previous year. The average monthly pension of a pensioner for February 2026 is 518.09 euros. Compared to the same month in 2025, the average amount is higher by 42.21 euros (8.9%), reports the National Social Insurance Institute. The costs of paying cash benefits and allowances under the Social Security Code as of February 2026 amount to 211.7 million euros. The net amount of transfers under the consolidated budget of the State Educational Service as of February 2026 is 1098.2 million euros, according to the National Social Insurance Institute. The total amount of revenues under the budget of the Teachers' Pension Fund as of February 2026 amounts to 10,218.2 thousand euros. Compared to the same period in 2025, revenues increase by 2106.6 thousand euros. The total budget expenditures of the Teachers' Pension Fund as of February 2026 amounted to EUR 11,233.1 thousand. The incurred expenditures were EUR 1,662.2 thousand more than in the same period of 2025. The total budget revenues of the fund as of February 2026 amounted to EUR 552.8 thousand. The revenues received were EUR 256.2 thousand more than in the same period of 2025. The total expenditures of the fund as of February 2026 amounted to EUR 198.2 thousand. The expenses incurred are BGN 50.5 thousand more compared to the same period in 2025. At the beginning of March 2026, the National Social Security Institute announced that the total amount of revenues under the consolidated budget of the State Social Security as of December 31, 2025 amounted to BGN 15,155.3 million, which represents 99.8% implementation of the specified annual plan.

At the end of the year, construction of Estrea Park Lyulin by Park Lane Developments will begin, located opposite the future "Petar Dertliev" metro station, near the roundabout of the ring road and "Tsarina Yoanna" Blvd., with its 220-meter extension planned for access to the future retail park. The main retailer "Fantastico" will build a large supermarket with an area of ​​over 10,500 square meters on its own property. Estrea Park Lyulin itself will have 11,000 square meters of retail space, with a large store for sporting goods, fashion, home goods, electronics, a drugstore, a pet store, optics, a fitness center and restaurants planned. The parking lot will have about 350 spaces, but in addition, there will also be a public buffer parking lot opposite because of the metro. The ambition of Park Lane Developments, which has behind it projects such as SAP Center Sofia and the renovation of the Printing House, is to open at least 10 retail parks with the Estrea Park brand. The first one is already under construction in the Hadji Dimitar district, where the large Kaufland hypermarket is located, and again in Sofia, the start of work on Estrea Park in Nadezhda is being prepared, where there will also be a large Fantastico store.

The Bulgarian company for managing individual crypto portfolios Belayer received a MiCA license from the Financial Supervision Commission. This makes it the first company focused entirely on the crypto sector to pass the regulator's scrutiny, and the second with a permit. The first license was received by Alaric Securities, which, however, specializes in traditional financial and brokerage services, but its management sees the crypto sector as a natural continuation of their activities. After July 1, 2026, companies without a license under the MiCA regulation will not be allowed to offer services in Bulgaria and the EU. Belayer was founded 9 years ago by Filip Matov and Atanas Mateev, but after an increase in capital, Angel Gyaurov, who has an MBA from INSEAD, as well as a certified financial analyst (CFA) with experience in managing hedge funds and private equity firms, joined the company as a managing partner. Currently, the main partner in Belayer OOD is Filip Matov (87%), and with smaller shares are Angel Gyaurov (10%) and Gergana Zlatanova (3%). The company presents two main typified management strategies - Belayer Apex, which focuses on established crypto assets with a proven foundation, liquidity and growth potential in its sector. It is aimed at investors with a higher tolerance for volatility, and the other is Belayer Anchor Yield, which is a conservative low-risk strategy with low volatility and more predictable potential for profitability, the company says. The minimum investment is 5,000 euros. Currently, 21 European regulators have issued nearly two hundred MiCA licenses, according to the ESMA register.

The municipal council in Karlovo decided to put to a referendum the investments of the German arms concern Rheinmetall, prepared through a joint venture with the state-owned VMZ-Sopot. The project is widely known as a "new gunpowder plant", and in repeated statements it has been described, in fact, as two plants - for gunpowder and ammunition. The contract with the giant Rheinmetall was signed by the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov in the fall, and about 1 billion euros are planned to be invested. The project was presented as strategic, changing the "future of the Bulgarian defense industry", with significance for the EU, NATO, high technologies, etc. The referendum is scheduled for June 28, but it is possible that the referendum will be declared illegal. While it was in resignation, Zhelyazkov's government adopted a decision on the presence of an interest related to national security in the project. And local referendums are convened only on topics within the competence of local authorities.

ConverterTec assembles and repairs wind turbines in Sofia. The activity began five years ago with a team of 20 people, whose task is to support the engineering and service business of the German parent company. This happens after the Aurelius investment group buys the Bulgarian division for renewable energy systems of the American company Woodward, which manufactures and sells components for the aviation industry. Today, the unit in Sofia has been expanded, has a focus on wind energy and is structured to support ConverterTec's business on several continents. ConverterTec Group is a German company with over 30 years of history in power electronics for wind energy production. It was founded in 1969 as SEG in Krefeld. The group is headquartered in Kempen, Germany, and since 2020 is owned by Aurelius Group. It operates in 47 countries with over 23 thousand installed converters and 45+ GW of capacity. Its first Concycle variable speed generators and power conversion technologies have been used since 1995 in marine applications, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, as well as in emerging wind and photovoltaic applications. It maintains R&D centers in Kempen, Krakow and Sofia, as well as service hubs in other countries. In Sofia, the company occupies over 600 sq m of office space on Botevgradsko Shose Blvd., another 600 sq m of production, laboratory and test areas and more than 800 sq m of warehouse space. The company has built a specialized repair center and spare parts warehouse for Europe, as well as high-tech test stations of its own design - for power modules and for control electronics. The operation began two years ago, after the completion of the central warehouse and logistics center. The investment in logistics infrastructure, production units and the repair center in the capital exceeds 500 thousand euros within a year and a half. Now deliveries to customers from all over the world are made directly from the warehouse in Sofia. The Bulgarian company works mainly for the Scandinavian markets, Southeast Europe and India. Customers are mainly companies - owners of wind farms, and companies that service wind turbines and provide technical support for end customers. ConverterTek's revenues for 2024 are over 13 million leva, having almost doubled in a year, and the net profit is nearly 2.4 million leva. In the future, the company will develop the next generation of control and management systems for energy converters - controllers (CSC series). The integration of AI functionalities in analytical and service digital products is an essential part of the plans, as well as the focus on multi-brand solutions, including the development of modules for GE 1.X turbines. This opens up a new type of market - for the maintenance and modernization of equipment manufactured by competitors. In 2025, the Bulgarian office takes its first step towards multi-brand solutions - it begins to develop modules for GE 1.x MW wind turbines. This is the first multi-brand modernization project of "ConverterTec", which extends the life and efficiency of turbines by ten years or more. The project will allow the company to offer technological solutions for spare parts and repairs for converters of its competitors. There are also plans to launch solutions for two more brands by the end of 2026.

One of the smaller pension companies in our country - "Pension Insurance Institute" AD, announced a change in its name, and will now operate as "Lev Ins Pension Insurance" AD. The change includes not only a new name and logo, but also a modernization of the corporate website and the implementation of digital platforms for service, access to information and interaction with customers. The company has had a license since the beginning of 2008. According to the data of the Financial Supervision Commission for 2025, "Pension Insurance Institute" is in ninth place out of a total of 10 players on the market in terms of parameters such as share, insured persons, assets and revenues. Net assets are about 297.5 million leva, insured persons are 83,438, revenues - just over 4 million leva with a realized profit of 730,000 leva.

The American giant in alternative investments Blackstone will invest up to 2 billion euros in the Danish Eurowind Energy, which is a partner in the hybrid renewable energy project "Tenevo" in Bulgaria. Earlier this month, the American fund also became a shareholder in the Bulgarian renewable energy company "Sunotec". The investment in Eurowind will be made by funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure - the infrastructure investment unit that manages assets worth over $ 160 billion. The agreement itself has already been signed, and the deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year. By the end of 2025, Blackstone's total investments in Europe are worth $ 400 billion in various areas. The company sees an opportunity to invest in European assets worth over $ 500 billion by 2035, including in the energy transition, energy security, electrification, reindustrialization and digitalization. For Eurowind, the deal brings a long-term perspective, as its strategic goal is to become a leading independent power producer in Europe. Eurowind currently operates in 16 markets in Europe and has around 700 employees. It owns and operates 1.5 GW of wind and solar parks, and projects for around 55 GW are under development. The company was founded in 2006 by Jens Rasmussen, Søren Rasmussen and Jakob Kortbeck. Half of the capital is owned by the Danish energy and telecommunications conglomerate Norlys, which owns the largest electricity distribution network in the country, the largest optical network and half of the largest mobile network (TNN). In Bulgaria, Eurowind is a 50% partner in Tenevo Solar Technologies, where the other 50% is owned by Renalfa IPP, in which the co-publisher of "Capital" Ivo Prokopiev is also a shareholder. The company owns one of the largest and most complex renewable energy projects in the country - near the village of Tenevo in Yambol. It includes 237 MW of photovoltaics, a 315 MW/760 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) and over 250 MW of wind turbines, and is planned to be built in parts. The photovoltaic part is already operating, as well as 65 MW of the batteries.

Alcomet AD realized a loss of 1.53 million euros for the first quarter of 2026 compared to a profit of 60 thousand euros for the same period in 2025. Net sales revenue increased by 2% year-on-year to 88 million euros for January-March 2026. The Shumen-based manufacturer of aluminum products works over 90% for export, and the raw material is aluminum scrap or ingot from abroad. The main shareholders are Alumetal AD with a share of 73.25% and FAF METAL SANAYII VE TICARET AS with 16.86%. For aluminum sheets, the growth in demand was 198% at the beginning of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. For aluminum strips of Alcomet AD, the increase was 59.4% for the cited period. The reason for this is the intensive development of construction and infrastructure in early 2026, as well as the application of this type of products in electrical infrastructure and green technologies. In many industries, steel, plastic and other metals are gradually being replaced by aluminum solutions, which offer a better ratio between weight, strength and durability.

The shareholders of Eurohold Bulgaria AD decided that the company will issue bonds with a total nominal value of up to 300 million euros at an annual interest rate of 6.5%, with a deviation of plus/minus 3 percent. It will have a term of up to 7 years. The decision was voted on by the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on April 28 in Sofia. These are ordinary, non-negotiable, non-convertible interest-bearing bonds. They will be issued under the terms of a private and public offering on the international capital markets. The funds will be used to refinance debts and provide the subsidiary Eastern European Electric Company II (EEEC II) - the owner of CEZ's assets in Bulgaria. Eurohold Bulgaria currently has two bond issues. One is in the amount of 700 million euros with a maturity in early June this year. The interest is 6.5% per annum. The other issue is for EUR 10 million and matures at the end of 2026, with an interest rate of 8% per annum. Both issues are guaranteed by Euroins Insurance Group AD and are traded on the Irish Stock Exchange.

Annual inflation in Bulgaria accelerated to 6.2 percent in April 2026, the highest level among eurozone countries, according to preliminary data from the European statistical office Eurostat. Against this background, inflation in the eurozone as a whole is expected to increase for the fourth consecutive month, reaching 3.0 percent in April compared to 2.6 percent in March, according to Eurostat's estimate based on the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). Among the eurozone countries, which Bulgaria joined on January 1, 2026, the highest annual inflation rates, apart from our country, were recorded by Lithuania (4.9 percent), Greece (4.6 percent), Belgium (4.3 percent) and Slovakia (4 percent), and the lowest - by Finland (2.3 percent), Malta (2.4 percent), the Netherlands and France (both 2.5 percent). Among the main components of inflation in the euro area, energy is expected to record the highest annual growth in April - 10.9 percent compared to 5.1 percent in March, followed by services - 3 percent compared to 3.2 percent in March, food, alcohol and tobacco - 2.5 percent in April compared to 2.4 percent a month earlier and non-energy industrial goods - 0.8 percent compared to 0.7 percent in March. The so-called flash inflation provides early information on inflation rates before the publication of the final and detailed statistical data, with which Bulgaria can now be compared on this indicator with the other 20 countries in the euro area, after it became part of the monetary union on January 1 this year. The NSI data are for inflation measured through the CPI, while those of Eurostat - through the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP),

The European Union’s biggest economies are unhappy with a U.S. proposal to resolve a dispute over metals tariffs, adding new uncertainty to final talks to implement a delayed trade deal. Germany and France were among the countries that expressed their disappointment at a meeting of EU envoys. The backlash came after the U.S. recently changed its tariff rate on hundreds of products, including steel and aluminum. The change was intended to help address Europe’s long-standing concerns about the tariffs. The dispute has heightened tensions over a long-delayed U.S.-EU trade deal. The two sides initially reached an agreement last July, but EU lawmakers have yet to ratify the pact as they seek further amendments. Under the original transatlantic trade agreement, the EU agreed to eliminate tariffs on U.S. manufactured goods in exchange for a 15 percent tariff cap on most EU products. The bloc accepted the lopsided deal in hopes of preserving President Donald Trump’s engagement with Ukraine and avoiding a complete breakdown in trade relations. In August, the US expanded a 50% tariff on steel and aluminium to hundreds of new products that include the metals. The move prompted claims that Washington was already breaching its latest commitments. Companies also faced the difficult task of calculating the tariffs, which were based on the percentage of those metals in their products. EU lawmakers then twice blocked ratification of the deal, once after Trump threatened to annex Greenland, a Danish territory, and again after the Supreme Court struck down the US’s global tariff regime. But both sides recently expressed a desire to finally adopt the trade deal. As part of that push, the US agreed to change the way it calculates the expanded metals tariff, insisting that it would calm frustration over the issue. In addition to simplifying how the tariff is calculated, the US said it would exempt some items with only small amounts of steel and aluminium. Meanwhile, other products will face a 25% tariff. Yet after EU officials and business groups analyzed the data, they said the changes would improve the situation for only about half of the products. VDMA, a German industry association, warned that the average tariff rate for affected companies had risen from 21% to 26%. For now, the US and EU have agreed to continue technical discussions on the issue. The Commission has told EU envoys that full implementation of more of the bloc’s commitments under the trade deal could help secure concessions on metals tariffs. If the situation remains unresolved, the EU’s executive arm has told envoys it will consider taking further measures, without providing details, the sources said. The metals tariff standoff comes as EU lawmakers negotiate with member states on their desired changes to the US-EU trade deal, including an expiry date and more safeguards for European industries. The Commission warned that some of these clauses risked derailing the agreement.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is helping to improve regional connectivity in Central Asia and increase the operational efficiency of Kazakhstan Railways (Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, KTZ) by investing up to USD 125 million in a Eurobond issue by the company worth up to USD 1 billion. Its shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and the Astana International Exchange. The EBRD investment will help modernize passenger stations in Kazakhstan, supporting improvements in their safety and operational performance. The renovated stations will have higher throughput capacity, modern lighting and significant improvements for passengers with disabilities. Additional infrastructure improvements financed by the bonds will be carried out along the Trans-Caspian Corridor and will help make rail transport between Europe and Asia more sustainable. KTZ owns and operates a 16,400-kilometre railway network and operates over 1,700 locomotives, 46,800 freight wagons and 2,300 passenger coaches. The EBRD will also mobilise technical cooperation funds to help KTZ adopt international standards for passenger rail transport. This will include support for the company’s efforts to strengthen its cybersecurity. The EBRD has invested almost US$12 billion (€10.8 billion) in Kazakhstan through 352 projects, making the country the largest and longest-standing recipient of EBRD investment in Central Asia.