The Council of Ministers approved a decision on the implementation of provisions of the so-called extension law on the budget, related to the indexation of the remuneration of employees in budgetary organizations. Based on the information provided by the National Statistical Institute (NSI), it is determined that for the purposes of implementing the provision of the extension law, the accumulated annual inflation as of December 31, 2025 is 5 percent. The salaries of workers and employees in budgetary organizations will be indexed by 5%, starting from January 1, 2026. When implementing the cited provision, the amounts of the basic monthly salaries reached as of December 31, 2025 in budgetary organizations cannot be reduced or increased within the framework of the position held, i.e. no regulatory acts and other mechanisms for increasing salaries are applied, except for the increase explicitly provided for in the extension law, namely an increase in the salaries of those employed on a minimum wage and a one-time indexation in the amount of the accumulated annual inflation as of December 31, 2025 in the amount of 5 percent for all others in the budgetary sphere.

Eight hospitals have realized over 100 million leva in revenue from the National Health Fund for 2025, or a total of over 756 million leva, according to data on the amounts paid by the health fund as of December 31, 2025. Three of the hospitals are state-owned, and the other five are private, owned by the three major hospital chains in our country. The state-owned hospitals with over 100 million leva in revenue from the National Health Fund are the Plovdiv University Hospital "St. George" (192.9 million leva), the Pirogov Emergency Hospital (158 million leva) and the Varna University Hospital "St. Marina" (131.2 million leva). The five private hospitals with over 100 million leva in revenue from the NHIF last year are Sofiamed in Sofia (161.2 million leva) and Tokuda (121.4 million leva), Plovdiv's Pulmed (126.5 million leva) and two hospitals from the Heart and Brain chain - in Pleven and Burgas - with revenues of 115.4 million leva and 101.1 million leva, respectively. Sofiamed and Pulmed are part of the Bulpharma hospital chain, owned by Pazardzhik businessman Mihail Tikov, Tokuda is part of the Acibadem City Clinic group, and the Heart and Brain hospitals are owned by the Targovska Liga conglomerate of businessman Tihomir Kamenov. In total, the hospitals from the three chains have revenues from the NHIF of nearly 850 million leva. The number of medical institutions with over 100 million leva in revenue from the NHIF has increased from 6 to 8 in a year, with the two new additions being the "Heart and Brain" hospitals in Pleven and Burgas. The top 10 hospitals with the highest turnover from the Health Fund also include the Sofia Military Medical Academy (97.4 million leva) and "St. Ivan Rilski" (85.8 million leva). The hospitals with the highest turnover are concentrated in 5 districts of the country: Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna and Pleven, which consume nearly 70% of the NHIF budget for hospital care. Hospitals in these five districts received over 3 billion leva from the NHIF budget for hospital care last year, which totals 4.4 billion leva. Sofia and Plovdiv alone generate 50% of the NHIF's hospital care expenses, or 2.1 billion leva.

The aviation group "Bulgarian Airways Group", part of the public company "Chimimport", has decided to integrate 100% into its structure the provider of airline catering services "Silver Wings Bulgaria" OOD. For this purpose, an application has been submitted to the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC), which will approve the deal. If the regulator does not find any problems, there will be a consolidation, which will guarantee and optimize catering services for the national air carrier "Bulgaria Air", turning the provider into a completely internal company for the holding. Currently, "Silver Wings Bulgaria" is a joint venture between "Bulgarian Airways Group" with a 42.5% share, Airline Catering &Retail Invest Europe Africa Limited with 28.75% and Alfa Flight Group Ltd. with 28.75%. The catering operator currently provides services to Bulgaria Air, but also to a number of major international airlines, such as British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Wizz Air, Qatar Airways, as well as the state-owned "Aviotryad 28". The catering company prepares over 2.4 million portions annually (about 5,600 daily) in a modern 2,500 sq m facility near the airport. It also operates catering establishments on the territory of Lufthansa Technik Sofia and DHL Express.

A new foreign investor has opened its doors in Burgas. It is an Anglo-Turkish consortium "Smith Anderson & Apa" Ltd., engaged in the production of paper bags. The company was registered in Bulgaria in May last year. The investment is worth nearly 20 million leva, and currently 60 people are working in the new factory. The investor's desire is for the staff to number at least 160 people by the summer. The production is intended entirely for export, said the company's executive director Turan Guven.

The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has initiated open proceedings against the capital company "Metropolitan" EAD upon a complaint by a company. The complaint was filed by "Aso Sofia" OOD against the decision for an armed physical building on a site of "Metropolitan" EAD, located on the territory of the "Obelya" depot and warehouse of the "Investitora" - 11 "Obelsko Shose" Str. The complaint is under the Public Procurement Act.

The Stara Zagora company "El Kontrol", specializing in energy construction, plans to start construction of its new production base in Stara Zagora by April. The new base is expected to be operational in early 2027. The investment in construction and machinery will reach 5 million euros, and at least 50 people will be hired. The company produces electrical panels - power, distribution and supply panels, building, relay, electricity meter, automation panels, control panels and cabinets. In 2025, which is a record for the Stara Zagora company, it produced 400 electrical panels. In 2025, the company completed an "Innovations" project, thanks to which it purchased several machines - a laser cutting center, a machine for automatic wiring of the panels, as well as a press brake for bending sheet material. "El Kontrol", as a medium-sized enterprise, has an approved project under the State Budget for the purchase of a powder coating line. This machine allows for expansion of the activity. The past 2025 was a record year for "El Kontrol", both in its electrical installation activities and in production and trade activities. Among the company's large-scale projects are the construction of high-voltage substations, as well as projects related to the integration of innovative solutions for drive systems in enterprises from various industries. Currently, "El Kontrol" is working on over 10 different substations for connecting new photovoltaic parks and energy storage systems. They are located in the territories of Sliven, Yambol, Nova Zagora, Chirpan. "El Kontrol" takes care of the quality of lighting in the municipality of Stara Zagora. Recently, the company completed an energy efficiency project to replace over 4,800 lamps with a new type of LED lighting. The company also built a system for intelligent, fully automatic control of street lighting. The combination with the replacement of a large part of the lamps in the city provides much better energy efficiency, saving about 30-40% of the electricity required for the operation of outdoor lighting. In 2026, El Kontrol will resume its operations in Germany, where it has its own registered company. El Kontrol is actively working with Siemens, as well as Schneider Electric. The Stara Zagora-based company plans to develop its relations with both companies. divident.eu

This year, BILLA Bulgaria will invest over 43 million euros in Bulgaria, announced the executive director of the retail chain Albena Georgieva. Part of the planned investments will be for the opening of new stores, and they are expected to be between 10 and 13 in small and large settlements in the country. The renovation of 14 of the largest stores of the chain is imminent, most of which are located in Sofia and the country's major cities. BILLA Bulgaria continues this year its investments in: technologies for reducing the carbon footprint, more convenient shopping for customers, and employee development. "One billion customers have visited our stores over the past 25 years," Georgieva also pointed out, adding that the company has created more than 5,600 jobs since entering the market in our country in 2000 until today. The chain currently has 171 stores located in 54 cities in the country.

At its meeting on 20.1.2025, the FSC decided: 1. Approves an independent member of the board of directors of "Pension Insurance Company DallBogg: Life and Health" EAD. 2. Approves amendments to the Regulations on the organization and activities of the Voluntary Pension Fund "Pension Insurance Institute". 3. Deletes "BK INTERNATIONAL" EOOD from the register of insurance brokers.

In 2026, global liquefied natural gas (LNG) production is expected to grow significantly, mainly from the US and Qatar, with new capacity of at least 35 million tonnes, increasing global supplies by up to 10% compared to 2025. Growing supply will push prices down - the average price in Asia is expected to be between $9.50 and $9.90 per MMBtu, compared to $12.45 in 2025, and the European TTF could fall to $9.50-9.74. Lower prices will stimulate demand, led by China and India, which are expected to increase their imports by several million tonnes. Europe will also absorb significant volumes, offsetting reduced Russian supplies and providing a balance for growing supply from the Atlantic basin.

The Chinese government has unveiled a series of measures to boost domestic investment and consumption for the period 2026-2030. The plan includes a special guarantee program for private investment loans and interest rate subsidies for consumer loans. According to the Ministry of Finance, 500 billion yuan ($71.4 billion) will be allocated for this program. The special guarantee plan will be in effect for two years. It is expected to enable manufacturing companies to obtain loans to support their operations, including the purchase of equipment and raw materials, modernization, digitalization, reconstruction and expansion of production facilities, and more. Loans will be available to companies in the service sector, including those operating in the catering, hospitality, healthcare, elderly and child care, culture and entertainment, tourism, sports and trade sectors. According to the government plans, the state will bear no more than 80% of the credit risk, while banks will bear no less than 20%. According to government estimates, these measures will boost domestic consumption, increasing its share in the country's economy over the next five years. Commenting on these decisions, Wang Changlin, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, noted that "the existence of strong supply and weak demand in the current economic environment is indeed a very serious problem." The decision also includes a number of measures to improve the quality of life of consumers, which will contribute to "increasing residents' willingness to spend."