The electrical industry is one of the sectors of the Bulgarian economy with the largest contribution to Bulgaria's exports. For 2025, the exports of the electrical industry are about €4.5 billion, which is about 11% of the total exports of the processing industry in the country, despite a slight decrease of 4.6% compared to 2024. The largest share in exports is electrical panels, parts for devices for voltages above 1000V, electronic integrated circuits, transformers, refrigerators, batteries, cable forms for cars and boilers. The main market for Bulgarian production remains the EU countries with about 71%, and the largest share is Germany (23%), Romania (6.4%), Italy (6.2%) and the Czech Republic (6.1%). Production in Bulgaria has decreased, with this most strongly affecting companies working for automotive production. One ongoing problem in our country is that over 60% of the tenders in electrical engineering are won by companies outside the EU. Another problem that has a particularly severe impact on business is the high product taxes. For certain products, the tax reaches between 7 and 10% of its cost. For photovoltaic panels, which have been popular in recent years, it reaches 12, even 15%. In the case of batteries, it is 7-8%. The competitiveness of the Bulgarian electrical industry goes through a combination of measures, especially in the "battle" with companies from countries such as China, India and Turkey, which subsidize their producers and distort the market - which puts European companies in an unequal position.

Investments in enterprises in the Bulgarian brewing sector last year reached 88 million leva (45 million euros) - the highest level in the last two decades. More than half of these funds are directed to the construction and modernization of production facilities, with a strong focus on malt production. These are long-term capital investments that remain in the country and are a clear sign of confidence in the future of the Bulgarian economy. Long-term tangible assets in the industry increased by 10 percent compared to the previous year. In 2025, hops produced in the country were 74 tons - an increase of 32 percent compared to the previous year. The beer market in Bulgaria remains active, with beer sales in the country amounting to 4.9 million hectoliters in 2025. Although the volume decreased by 5 percent compared to 2024, the frequency of consumption of the sparkling beverage remained at the levels of previous years. Three quarters of Bulgarians consume beer at least once a month, and over half - every week. For 42 percent of consumers, beer is the most suitable drink after mineral water. Over 220 beer assortments and brands are produced in Bulgaria. In 2025, the beer producers who are members of the Union of Brewers added 14 new products to their product lists. The membership of the Union of Brewers is also expanding with two new members - "Ruschuk Craft Brewery" and "Platform Services". Plastic packaging continues to decrease, with their share reaching 43 percent in 2025, which is 15 percent less than in 2020. Cans are gaining increasing popularity and their market share is already expanding to 31 percent. Glass bottles maintain a stable presence with 21 percent, which confirms the balance between tradition and innovation. Draft beer in kegs is 5 percent - an indication that the HoReCa segment (sales through catering establishments) has not yet reached the volumes of pre-crisis 2019. On the map of the European industry, Bulgaria continues to be in 13th place in beer consumption. As in other EU countries, in our country the most dynamically developing segment in the brewers' portfolio is again non-alcoholic beer. With a growth of 53 percent and reaching 122,780 hectoliters in 2025, it is establishing itself as a key driver of innovation.

The Planex-GES association also lost the case against the state-owned company Montazhi for the unbuilt government complex in Sofia at the second instance. The dispute concerns about about 17 million leva, which the private company refuses to reimburse the state-owned company. The claimed amount is the amount of profit that the private company loses from the non-implementation of the state investment project. The contract between Planex-GES and Montazhi for the construction of the government complex for nearly 190 million leva excluding VAT was signed at the end of 2019. The project was assigned for implementation without a public procurement procedure and without financial justification, under the "in-house" scheme. Montazhi paid nearly 80 million leva including VAT in advance in two installments in 2020 to the contractor, but subsequently the contract was terminated and the investment was not implemented. In 2023, the then Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov took measures to restore the financial damages to the State Consolidation Company (SCC), under whose umbrella "Montazhi" is located. It came to the signing of an agreement. According to it, "Planex-GES" is entitled to remuneration of 2,229,624 leva excluding VAT (2,675,548.80 leva including VAT). In addition, the private consortium is recognized for expenses related to the implementation of the contract, for 2,442,017.62 leva excluding VAT. Thus, from the advance paid by the state company of about 80 million leva for "Planex-GES", nearly 5 million leva remain. In January 2024, the private consortium returned to the state 45 million leva including VAT from the advance money received. A few months later, another 3.2 million leva including VAT were paid. After that, however, the private company's payments to the state stopped because Planex-GES believed it was entitled to another 17 million leva - this is the amount of profit that the association would have received if it had completed the government complex. The state-owned company Montazhi won the case in two court instances. Planex-GES's claim was rejected, and the private association will have to pay interest and fees in the case in addition. The decisions are of the Sofia City Court and the Sofia City Court of Appeal. The decision of the appeal instance is subject to appeal to the Supreme Court of Cassation. The company under the Law on Obligations and Contracts "Planex-GES" includes the Varna company "Planex" of the entrepreneur Hristo Dimitrov, who is also the chairman of the Municipal Council in Varna. The other company in the association is "Greentech Engineering Solutions".

The Romanian company Eltra Logis, which is among the leading players in the niche industry for logistics, transport and warehousing, is expanding its activities on the Bulgarian market on a large scale. The company is opening a new operational office in Sofia, with an initial investment of 500,000 euros. The aim is to strengthen the regional presence of the brand, which already has a functioning office in Spain. Eltra Logis already has extensive experience in managing logistics flows from Bulgaria and Greece for its current clients. Management expects the new office in the capital to generate around 8% of the company's total turnover by the end of 2026. Through its new operational center, the company will primarily serve routes to and from Greece, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Albania and Turkey. Expanded transport connections to Georgia and Azerbaijan are also planned, which will be integrated with the logistics flows to Western Europe. Eltra Logis will offer the following specialized services: International road transport with a focus on refrigerated transport; Operations in line with GDP standards (Good Distribution Practices); Cross-docking warehousing and customs services; Development of groupage transport and local operational coordination for higher frequency of trips. In the long term, Eltra Logis plans to further expand its international network. It is planned to open new offices in Moldova, and at a later stage in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, depending on market opportunities and the pace of development in the region. The history of the logistics company began in 2006 with a single warehouse in Albota, Romania, which served as an initial strategic point. Today, the company operates a modern fleet, an extensive network of subcontractors and has several warehouses in Romania and Spain with a total capacity of 10,000 sq. m.

The insurance company Unica was hacked with malware in early 2025 and paid around €6 million in ransom to decrypt its systems. "Unica Life" AD and "Insurance Company "Unica" AD have notified the regulatory authorities - the insurance regulator in the person of the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), the Personal Data Protection Commission (CPDP) and the cyber unit of the General Insurance Agency, but not their clients, from whom sensitive health and financial data was leaked. The shutdown has a relatively small effect on "Unica"'s business in Bulgaria, as for the first quarter of 2024, insurance premiums in the "General Insurance" segment were BGN 21.5 million, and a year later - BGN 20.9 million. Claims paid in 2024 were BGN 8.2 million, and in 2025 - BGN 6.8 million. In the same period, there was also a more noticeable decline in the number of compensations paid in the "Life Insurance" segment - BGN 9 million in 2024 compared to 13.1 million BGN a year later.

Romstal Bulgaria officially opened MBT Academy Midea in Sofia – a new modern training center in the field of HVAC technologies. The academy was implemented in partnership with Midea Building Technologies (MBT) and aims to build a new generation of well-prepared specialists through practical training and access to state-of-the-art technologies. This is the second installer training academy in Bulgaria established by Romstal. In May 2025, the company opened the first one in Plovdiv, which has been contributing to the development of specialists in the sector in the region for almost a year.

At its meeting of 2.04.2026, the FSC decided: 1. Approves a prospectus for an initial public offering of a share issue to be issued by Smart Organic AD, Sofia. The issue is in the amount of up to 710,250 ordinary, registered, dematerialized shares with voting rights, with a nominal value of EUR 0.51 and an issue value of EUR 15.00 each, with ISIN code BG1100005153. Enters the specified issue of shares, subject to an initial public offering, in the process of being issued in the register of public companies and other issuers of securities. 2. Approves Simeon Petkov as manager of tied agent Edge Capital OOD. 3. Recognizes the qualifications acquired by Martin Bogoychev for exercising activities as an investment consultant and as a broker of financial instruments. 4. Enters "PALAUZOV" EOOD in the register of insurance brokers.

The Bulgarian organic food producer Smart Organic will make a new capital increase, with which it plans to raise over 10 million euros through the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. The Financial Supervision Commission has approved the prospectus for the company's fundraising. The investment intermediary Karol will be the manager of the issue. Smart Organic plans to raise 10.65 million euros by issuing 710,250 new shares at a price of 15 euros. The increase will occur with rights, with one right being issued for each share, and 16 rights (or 15.99999859, to be precise) will be needed to register one book of the increase. For the procedure to be successful, at least 135 thousand shares will have to be registered. Which means that the company will seek at least 2 million euros from investors. This will be the company's third capital increase in the last two years. In May 2024, the food manufacturer moved from the SME segment beam to the regulated market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, increasing its capital in the process and raising EUR 10 million. At the end of last year, the company sold 23 thousand shares at a nominal price of 1 leva to its employees, which also slightly increased its capital. In 2021, Smart Organic raised EUR 3 million through beam. If the planned capital increase is as successful as possible, the total capital that the company has raised through the stock exchange will exceed EUR 23 million. The majority owner of the company is Yani Dragov, who directly holds 58% of the shares and 26% indirectly through the company Organic Ventures. Over the past five years, Yani Dragov's company has acquired four companies. In June 2022, it bought the bio-packaging manufacturer Biopak, and then in July of the same year acquired 70% of the smoothie manufacturer Santulita. In 2023, Smart Organic bought the assets of the German Naughty Nuts. At that time, the company also began building a new production facility in Bozhurishte, where it invested over 8 million euros. The new plant opened in the fall of 2024, and in 2025 it also made a deal for the British waffle manufacturer LoveRaw.

The Financial Supervision Commission has imposed a ban on DallBogg Life and Health Insurance Company AD to conclude new insurance or reinsurance contracts for all or individual classes of insurance, extend the term of concluded contracts and expand the coverage under them. The aim is to protect the interests of the insured and guarantee the solvency of the company. The bans are subject to immediate execution and will be effective until the violations are eliminated. The decision does not affect the insurance contracts concluded so far. Bulgaria (FSC) - bans on cross-border activity from July 1, 2025 and October 1, 2025, due to impaired market behavior and insufficient technical reserves; Poland (KNF) - ban on offering mandatory civil liability insurance from April 17, 2025 for an indefinite period, due to impaired market behavior; Romania (ASF) - ban on concluding new insurance contracts from October 1, 2025 for an indefinite period due to distorted market behavior.

Despite the low levels, Bulgaria leads in income growth. Between 2021 and 2025, net wages in our country will increase by nearly 70%. There is also strong growth in Poland, Romania, as well as in Croatia, Lithuania and Hungary. In contrast, in countries such as Norway, Sweden and Italy the increase is significantly weaker. In addition to wages, a significant part of labor costs in Europe come from social contributions. In some countries, they reach one third of the salary. The highest additional costs for employers are in France, Sweden and Slovakia. In other countries such as Romania, Lithuania and Malta, these costs are minimal. Differences in labor costs remain significant. In Luxembourg, employers pay about 57 euros per hour per employee, while in Bulgaria the cost is about 12 euros. The data show that despite rapid growth, the difference between Eastern and Western Europe remains large.

Tasmin Lockwood and Anna Diederichs of visual capitalist countries present statistics on the countries with the most data centers: The US has the most data centers in the world, with 4,088, more than eight times the number of the next country. AI penetration is higher in developed countries, so it makes sense that data center locations are skewed, the authors write. Germany, which has the largest population in the European Union, has the second-highest density of data centers, with 507. The UK is close behind with 506. Many data centers are clustered around the traditional FLAP-D corridor of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin, which are close to metropolitan centers and financial markets in need of fast cloud and, increasingly, AI connections. France has 346, although China sits between it and the UK with 369 data centers. Canada, India and Australia - large countries with enough land for development - are next in line with 270 or more data centers built. Of the 51 countries considered, Bulgaria ranks 30th with 31 data centers. Ahead of it are Ukraine (37), Portugal (45), Belgium (48). Neighboring Romania is 25th (63 data centers), and Turkey is 23rd (76), while Greece is behind Bulgaria - 31st (26 data centers). At the bottom of this classification is Belarus with two data centers, along with Monaco and Azerbaijan, both of which have three.

Turkey’s annual inflation rate fell to 30.87 percent in March, its lowest level in four years, and a steady disinflationary trend continues. The official inflation rate has almost halved compared to March 2024, when it was 68.5 percent. However, price increases during the month and the war in Iran, which is putting pressure on energy costs, could pose risks to future inflation levels. The overall consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.94 percentage points month-on-month in March, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT). In March 2025, the month-on-month increase in this index was 2.46 percent, while in March 2024 it was 3.16 percent. On a month-on-month basis, transportation costs increased by 4.52 percent, the steepest increase among the main categories. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose by 4.36 percent month-on-month, while recreation and culture rose by 3.8 percent. Clothing and footwear were the only major categories to register a monthly decline of 2.1 percent. Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 1.8 percent month-on-month. House prices increased by 1.91 percent month-on-month. Core inflation, measured as the consumer price index excluding unprocessed food, energy, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and gold (Group B), rose by 30.11 percent year-on-year and by 1.45 percent month-on-month.