The Fiscal Council presented three forecast scenarios for the economic development of Bulgaria in 2026 – realistic, pessimistic and highly pessimistic, after assessing that there are significant risks in the unstable geopolitical and domestic political situation at the international, regional and local levels. The base scenario is the realistic one, with a probability of 60%, while the pessimistic and highly pessimistic scenarios are estimated with a probability of 20%. Macroeconomists predict that for 2026 the gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices will reach 126.987 billion euros with a nominal growth of 9.5%. Real growth will be 2.5%, and the deflator – 6.8 (an index that reflects the change in the prices of all goods and services included in GDP). Harmonized inflation is estimated at an average of 4.2% for the year. Real growth reflects a significant slowdown compared to 3.1% in 2025. Consumption growth is expected to decline to 11.7% from 14% in 2025. Higher inflation and limited real income growth will be key factors. Investment is expected to reach EUR 25.548 billion, representing a nominal growth of 1.4%, but in real terms a decline is recorded, typical of a supply shock. The negative real investment growth is also explained by the introduction of additional regulatory requirements and the high base for 2025. These negative factors put pressure on investment activity. Private investment is projected to decline and inventories to grow more slowly. In its analysis, the Fiscal Council also projects a significant negative trade balance of EUR 1.355 billion, due to higher import growth relative to export growth, a normal reaction to rising fuel prices.

The only chance for the municipal hospital in Gorna Oryahovitsa to continue to exist is to be taken over by a private investor, is categorically stated by the manager of the St. Ivan Rilski Hospital, Dr. Ivan Ivanov. The new requirements for raising medical standards put the existence of these medical institutions at serious risk. The changes oblige municipal hospitals to continuously invest in equipment and additional qualifications of medical specialists, which is beyond their budgets, and on the other hand - they cannot operate if they do not meet these standards. The mayor of the Municipality of Gorna Oryahovitsa has submitted a proposal to the Municipal Council for the inclusion of the two medical institutions - the Hospital and the Clinical Center - in the privatization plan in 2026, as well as for the preparation of a legal analysis and market assessment.

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has issued a license to Macroadvance Debt Management EAD to carry out activities related to the purchase and management of overdue receivables. The company has provided the necessary documents and has fulfilled the requirements of Regulation No. 49 of the central bank. After issuing a license, Macroadvance Debt Management may collect and recover payments due under a loan agreement with borrowers. The company will also renegotiate the terms of the loan agreement in accordance with the instructions given by the loan buyer, when the person servicing the loans is not a credit intermediary in accordance with the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act and the Consumer Real Estate Loans Act. The BNB has also issued a license to Finance Info Asistance EAD to collect or recover from the borrower payments due under a loan agreement and to register and consider complaints from borrowers. The BNB has issued a license to carry out activities as an electronic money company to Moneso EOOD. The central bank specifies that the conditions and requirements of the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act have been met and the company can be entered in the register of payment system operators with settlement finality.

The European Commission has announced the results of the 2025 European Defence Fund (EDF) call, with €1.07 billion to be distributed among 57 projects involving 634 organisations from 26 Member States and Norway. Bulgaria is participating in eight projects, a record performance for the country, concentrated almost entirely in the software and space segments. The total value of the projects with Bulgarian participation amounts to around €319 million, of which the EC will provide €244 million in grant funding. The public company Wiser Technology is participating in four of the eight projects. The other local representatives are EnduroSat with two projects in the space segment, neuromorphic computing startup Neuromorphica with one project, and KZU, which was founded by Greeks but qualified as a Bulgarian participant due to its Sofia R&D center. The European Defence Fund is the EU’s main instrument for financing defence research and development. The programme manages a budget of €7.3 billion for the period 2021-2027. Its aim is to reduce the fragmentation of investment between Member States and build a single European industrial base capable of producing interoperable systems. Wiser is entering with four projects worth €121 million, covering completely different sectors, from cyber defence and aviation to digital twins and naval operations. The total project value of the winning consortia in which it participates exceeds €168 million, of which €121 million comes from EU funding. At the moment, the company is involved in 7 active EDF projects and is about to redeploy its teams to start work on the new 4. The largest of them is E-DOMINION, with a total budget of €78 million and €54 million in EU funding. It aims to build a cloud environment in which ship systems from different manufacturers and countries can work as a whole. It also participates in the ECC2 project, which is developing a European platform for cyber command and control. The third is DART, which uses digital twins to manage the complexity of modern aviation systems. The smallest in terms of budget is AI-SHIELD, with 4.94 million euros in funding from the commission, which is developing a language model to support intelligence analysis and mission planning. The company has a team of over 500 people in offices in Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Nis, some of whom work entirely on the implementation of similar projects. Sofia's EnduroSat of Raycho Raychev enters the space segment with two dual-purpose projects. The total funding for the consortia in which the company participates is about 141 million euros, of which 114 million euros comes from the European fund. The first is SPIDER2, a continuation of the SPIDER project from EDF 2022, which will develop satellite constellations for space reconnaissance and surveillance. The company will participate in the design of the space segment, in the development of an on-board computer for in-orbit data processing and will provide data from its Balkan satellites. The second project, ASIMOV, will provide capabilities for recharging, repairing, inspecting and protecting satellites in a contested or degraded space environment. The second project of the EDF is the Sofia-based startup Neuromorphica, which develops neuromorphic microchips. It is included in the NEVMA project, the aim of which is to develop a camera for military operations, working on the principle of the retina, with applications for monitoring coastal strips and airspace against enemy autonomous drones. The eighth project is MANTIS, where the Bulgarian participation comes through KZU,, a company with a development center in Sofia and a business office in Thessaloniki. The project develops a modular European platform for tactical training, which combines augmented reality, a sensory textile suit and laser simulation of weapons with a portable training station controlled by artificial intelligence. This is the third project of KZU, in the EDF.

"Optics" and "Fraga X" join forces in the production of Bulgarian drones. "Optics" is a leader in the production of precision optics and electro-optical systems, and "Fraga X" has serious experience in the development and management of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). "Optics" for its part has many years of experience and know-how in electro-optical and thermal imaging systems. The solutions used are multi-sensor, stabilized on several axes and designed for integration into class 1 drones according to NATO standards - precisely the segment in which "Fraga X" is strongest. Combining these complementary competencies and uniting them around a clear common goal creates real prerequisites for significant improvements in both the payload and the aircraft itself. Among our key priorities is the implementation of computer vision algorithms and AI-based object classification, which will create prerequisites for achieving fully autonomous navigation based on data from onboard cameras. The partnership aims to meet the needs of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior.

Businessman Tihomir Kamenov, who has recently become famous for the serious supervisory problems of his insurance company "DallBogg: Life and Health", has transferred 54.85% of his stake in "Targovska Liga" to his son (also Tihomir Kamenov). Before the transfer, Tihomir Kamenov Sr. was the beneficial owner of 99.65% of the shares of the drug distributor, while after the deal his stake drops to 44.8%. His other son Ivan Kamenov remains with a share of 0.35%. According to the latest report of the "Targovska Liga", which is for 2024, the company's sales revenue was almost 842 million leva, and the profit was 57.9 million leva. The economic group of the "Targovska Liga" includes 18 companies, including the insurance and pension company "DallBogg: Life and Health", the hospital chain "Heart and Brain", cardiology hospitals, the drug manufacturer "Chaikapharma" (which is traded on the stock exchange), the insurance brokerage companies "Diodea" in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Italy, Germany, the food supplement company "Fanfari", as well as "Punching Race" - a company for the production, trade and transmission of electricity and management of solar and wind parks, etc.

Bulgarian private equity fund BlackPeak Capital, which invests in the Croatian company Fasal Bio in the amount of 7 million euros in exchange for a significant minority stake. The deal is the first for BlackPeak in Croatia and the last of the first regional fund of BlackPeak Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund, which is worth 126 million euros. The funds will be used to increase production capacity, and in the initial stage it is planned to build a new plant with an area of ​​2-3 thousand square meters. Part of the money will also be directed to research and development functions and to expand the product portfolio. In addition to the production of biogranulate, the Croatian company Fasal Bio also makes various consumer goods from it, using it as a substitute for both plastic and wood. For 2025, the company based near Zagreb reports a turnover of about 4.5 million euros, and the production is sold entirely in Western Europe and the USA. The production area is about 1000 sq m, but the great interest in the goods already requires their expansion. The company uses wood dust, which is obtained as a by-product of wood processing, and regular or bioplastic (polylactic acid (PLA), which is usually obtained from sugar cane or corn starch). The two are combined with plant-based binders to obtain its own, patented composite material - Naturion™. It is produced in the form of granules, which are then used in injection molding machines to produce various products by injection into specially developed molds for the company. The final products themselves are in three main areas - those that are usually made of plastic, those that are usually made of wood, as well as biodegradable products, where the main focus is on the D-Bone series of dog chews developed by Fasal Bio. In addition to its own brands, Fasal Bio also produces white label products that its customers can brand. The assortment includes various toys, figurines and building blocks for play, and in the line of products replacing wood, a strong focus is placed on clothes hangers, where customers include retailers such as H&M, Scotch & Soda, s.Oliver, Hugo Boss, Monkl, etc.

A total of 65 Bulgarian suppliers produced 167 million parts for the production of refrigerators and freezers in 2025. This is shown by the latest data from the German Liebherr Home Appliances division. The value of direct materials supplied by Bulgarian companies and used in production amounts to 83 million euros, with 62 million euros of them for the Liebherr Hausgerette Maritsa plant. Among the key Bulgarian partners are companies such as Gottmar, Gamaplast, Intechna, Bunay, Tela, Tanevplast, and Moni MG. They provide important components and guarantee the high standards of quality, efficiency, and reliability that the German concern requires. In addition to suppliers of direct materials, Liebherr Hausgerette Maritsa also partners with a number of Bulgarian companies in the fields of logistics, personnel transportation, recruitment, energy supply, information technology, waste recycling, and catering. The total turnover of these partnerships reaches nearly 20 million euros for 2025.

A photovoltaic installation for the production of electricity and a modern local wastewater treatment facility have been put into operation at the production base of "LB Bulgaricum" in Vidin. The state-owned dairy company is a beneficiary of a project for a total of 699,899 euros, half of which are self-financed, and the rest are provided under the Rural Development Program. The solar system has an installed capacity of 200 kilowatts, and can provide part of the electricity for production processes. The project also includes a local energy reduction system with a capacity of 200 kWh, which allows, if necessary, autonomous power supply of the installed capacities of the enterprise even in the dark part of the day, as well as on days of intense sunlight. The reported price of the plant is 298,182.65 euros. The treatment plant is manufactured by the Turkish company Prometeus. It is tailored to the specifics of milk processing, and after passing through it, the production waters are discharged into the Danube. The facility fully covers the capacity of "LB Bulgaricum". In total, "LB Bulgaricum" employs about 180 people. The company has 26.4 million leva in revenue for 2024, with the realized profit growing to 4.7 million leva.

tbi bank has been selected as the trustee bank for HR Capital’s bondholders in the convertible bond issue, successfully placed on the BEAM market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange in February 2026. The company raised EUR 5 million, with which it financed the acquisition of an additional stake in the online supermarket eBag. tbi is authorized to protect the interests of bondholders in a total of 5 issues, including the first bond on the BEAM market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, issued by Logos TM. Over the past four years, the bank has raised nearly EUR 150 million from the local public market, and last year successfully issued the largest MREL bond issue in Bulgaria worth EUR 60 million.

From Monday, 27.04.2026, subscription for a public offering of an issue of senior, non-preferred, unsecured bonds with the issuer "Central Cooperative Bank" AD begins. Subscription will continue until 15:00, Bulgarian time, on 04.05.2026. The lead manager of the issue is "UniCredit Bulbank" AD. The minimum investment is EUR 100,000, which corresponds to the nominal value of one bond. The previously announced interest rate is in the range of 6.50% -7.25%, with the final coupon to be determined after the end of the offering. The interest will be paid once a year. The term of the issue is 4 years (48 months), with the possibility of early repayment by the issuer after the third year. The size of the bond issue is within a minimum of 15 million to a maximum of 30 million euros.

The company for the production of cereal-based children's porridges, wheat sticks and cereals "Slancho" AD - Svishtov will pay a dividend of 0.20 euros per share from its profit for 2025. The managers' proposal was voted on by the regular general meeting of the company's shareholders, held on April 20 in Svishtov. The company reported a net profit for last year in the amount of 793,338.41 euros. A total of 640,000 euros of it will be received by the shareholders of the public company. The dividend payment will begin on May 18 and will be made through "Central Depository" AD and "Central Cooperative Bank" AD. The remaining 153,338.41 euros from the positive financial result for last year will remain as undistributed profit. The shareholders also determined the amount of the remuneration of the managers and the CEO for 2026. Each board member will receive 1,650 euros per month, and the executive director - 1,200 euros per month. From the net profit for 2024, the company also paid a dividend - 0.40 leva per share, and the shareholders distributed the amount of 1,280,000 leva.

Economic activity in the eurozone unexpectedly contracted for the first time since late 2024 due to a sharp decline in the services sector as the US-Israeli war in Iran puts pressure on consumers, Bloomberg reports. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 48.6 points in April from 50.7 points in the previous month, falling below the 50-point threshold that separates growth from contraction. Analysts had expected a drop to 50.1 points. A similar trend is observed in Germany, where industry held steady while the services sector contracted sharply. In France, production even beat expectations with its strongest performance since 2022, although the services sector saw a decline. Meanwhile, price pressures continue to rise across the region. The unexpected weakness is likely to worry the European Central Bank (ECB), which is expected to refrain from changing interest rates at its meeting next week. While inflation in the region is already well above the 2 percent target, financiers are waiting for more data on how long the price shock will last. Markets are already pricing in two rate hikes by the end of the year. Higher energy costs, which are driving inflation, are also weighing on manufacturing, which was expected to pick up before the conflict broke out. Hundreds of billions of euros in defense and infrastructure spending — especially by Germany — will help cushion the blow. Some governments are also stepping in to offer aid as prices for goods like gasoline soar. In March, the ECB forecast that the region's gross domestic product (GDP) would grow by 0.9% in 2026 and 1.3% in 2027, although some central bankers have recently said that the eurozone is somewhere between that scenario and a more negative scenario in which a longer war leads to weaker growth.

For years, the idea of ​​unshakable American technological superiority served as a compass for financial markets and political decisions. But in practice, the landscape has changed. China, which announced its ambitions as early as 2017, is no longer content to follow; it is now setting the pace. It is no longer just a matter of quantity, but a real qualitative leap that makes the tech giants tremble. In the labs of Shenzhen and Beijing, the excitement must be palpable: the talk is no longer about catching up, but about surpassing. The numbers show a meteoric rise in the integration of artificial intelligence into the Chinese industrial structure. While the United States focuses on spectacular language models, China is deploying AI-powered robots in its factories at a rate almost ten times faster than its rival. This shift is not the result of chance, but of a long-term strategy. This is stated in a report by Stanford University from 2026. According to this report, China has already “virtually erased America’s entire lead.” This is particularly striking in the field of intellectual property. By 2024, China alone will be responsible for over 74% of the world’s AI patents, leaving the United States far behind with only 12%. This patent dominance reveals a flaw in the American system, where innovation remains “highly concentrated within a small group of large private companies.” While the United States relies on a few isolated champions, China has created a massive, interconnected ecosystem that floods the global market with new ideas and practical applications. What strikes observers most is China’s incredible efficiency. Financially, however, the competition seems disproportionate: the American private sector invested an estimated €220 billion in AI last year, compared to just €10.5 billion for China. Yet, with twenty times less money, Chinese models manage to match and even periodically surpass the performance of the leading companies in San Francisco. The once huge technical gap is now negligible. As of March 2026, the best American models led by only 2.7%, a small gap that fluctuates with each update. “American and Chinese models have traded places at the top of the productivity rankings several times since the beginning of 2025,” the Stanford report states. This instability shows that the technological crown is hanging by a thread. Beyond the numbers, this is a clash of public views. While American AI focuses on services, advertising and office productivity, Chinese AI is deeply rooted in real-world manufacturing and infrastructure. This pragmatic choice could be the deciding factor. If AI is the new engine of the global economy, China has already begun to build the roads along which that engine will run. The challenge for the United States now is to translate its massive investments into tangible results before the gap widens in the opposite direction. The digital arms race is just beginning, but for the first time in the modern era, the leader is not who we thought it would be. As the report concludes, America, once alone at the top, now has to contend with a competitor that has already begun to rewrite the rules of global science.

The Chinese yuan is on track to overtake the yen as the second most traded currency against the dollar in the currency options market, London-based clearing house LCH said. The use of the Chinese currency in global financial markets has increased in recent years as China’s economy grows and the government takes steps to promote the currency’s globalization. There is currently a “golden window” to promote the internationalization of the yuan as U.S. policy weakens confidence in the dollar, former People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said this month. The Chinese currency accounted for 8.5 percent of global foreign exchange transactions, including spot, forward, swap and options, according to the Bank for International Settlements’ latest research, published last year. That compares with 7 percent in 2022. The US dollar leads the pack with an 89% share, followed by the euro at 28.9%, the yen at 16.8% and the pound sterling at 10.2%. The use of the yuan is being driven by a number of factors, including increased trade with the real economy and cross-border flows, Batchelor said. Other drivers include the growing need to manage risk arising from international markets and the growing participation of non-bank institutions seeking trading opportunities in the currency. The use of both the dollar and the yuan has been boosted by the conflict in the Middle East. The share of international transactions in dollars rose to a record 51.1% in March, according to global financial messaging network SWIFT. Meanwhile, China’s cross-border yuan payments system CIPS reported its highest single-day transaction volume in early April. There is significant potential for using Chinese government bonds as collateral globally, as banks in the country hold a significant amount of these securities and are increasingly shifting their positions overseas to diversify their portfolios.