Unemployment in Bulgaria in November remains at a low level - 5.14%, the Employment Agency announced. The decrease is 0.02 percentage points compared to the same month in 2024. The registered unemployed at the end of the month are 145,818 people. In November, 13,086 unemployed people started work. An additional 1,000 employed, students and pensioners received assistance to change or develop their professional realization. Thus, the total number of people who switched to employment during the month reaches 14,086 people. In November, 6,146 vacancies were declared by businesses on the primary labor market. The largest share of them are in the manufacturing industry – 23.3%, followed by public administration – 15.6%, trade and repair of automobiles – 12.6%, education – 12.1%, hotels and restaurants – 4.9% and human health and social work – 4.1%. Among the most sought-after professions during the month are caretakers, salespeople, machine and equipment operators, workers in the mining and processing industries, construction and transport, personal services personnel, teachers, business and administrative employees, drivers of motor vehicles and mobile equipment, waste collection workers, employed in the production of food, clothing and wood products, metallurgists, machine builders and craftsmen, cleaners and assistants, and others.

160 million euros from the European JEREMIE initiative will be reinvested in the modernization and development of Bulgarian business. The funds will be provided to enterprises through various financial instruments, the structuring of which is planned to begin as early as 2026. The resource represents funds recovered from already implemented financial engineering operations under the OP "Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy". As before, the JEREMIE financing will be managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF). For this purpose, the Council of Ministers approved amendments and supplements to the Framework and Financing Agreements between the Government of Bulgaria and the EIF, with their validity set to be extended until 2035. It is expected that after the signing of the agreements and their ratification by the National Assembly, an assessment of market conditions and structuring of the specific financial instruments that will be offered to Bulgarian companies will begin.

From mid-December 2026, for a period of 12 years, the private "Ivkoni Express" will take over 25% of the country's rail transport. The remaining approximately 75% will be carried out, as before, by the state-owned "BDZ-Passenger Transport". In fulfillment of Bulgaria's commitments under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, the state had to allow private companies into passenger rail transport. Thus, according to the three main railway centers - Sofia, Plovdiv and Gorna Oryahovitsa - the country was conditionally divided into three parts - Western, Southern and Northern regions. In fulfillment of this plan, in the summer, the ministry announced a procedure for awarding the three, and apart from the state-owned "BDZ-Passenger Transport", only one of the private companies with a license to perform passenger rail transport participated. "Ivkoni Express", part of the "Union Ivkoni" transport group, has submitted a bid for the Northern and Southern regions, while the state-owned one for all three. When the bids were opened in November, it became clear that "BDZ-Passenger Transport" offered a price for a subsidy per train kilometer for all three regions in the amount of 8.99 euros. The private carrier "Ivkoni Express" in turn offered a price for a subsidy per train kilometer of 7.63 euros. Thus, the private company takes over the North and South, and the state-owned company - the West. The percentage distribution of all transportation in the country is 25% and 75%, respectively. The contracts come into force on December 13, 2026 and are for a period of 12 years. The remaining two private companies with a license have not submitted bids - the Plovdiv transport and construction group PIMK through the passenger transportation company "PIMK Rail Express", as well as the Stara Zagora "Reilimpex" of Mladen Dobrev. Meanwhile, the outgoing cabinet approved BGN 40 million in financial assistance for "BDZ - Passenger Transport", which the company must repay by September 30, 2026.

The intermodal terminal in Ruse was included for funding under the Transport Connectivity Program 2021-2027. The total cost of the project is BGN 117 million, and the grant funding from the European Regional Development Fund is over BGN 97 million. The intermodal terminal will be built on the territory of the closed Ruse East - Distribution Station. The project envisages the construction of a new railway station with seven tracks, the restoration of the railway connection with the Danube Bridge, as well as a new road access from the Northern Industrial Zone of the city. Administrative buildings, a loading and unloading yard, a customs point, warehouse areas, parking lots and landscaped areas will be built within the terminal. NRIC is expected to announce a public tender for the design and construction of the intermodal terminal in January 2026. After its completion, the operation of the site will be assigned to a private operator.

A joint research laboratory of LB Bulgaricum and the Japanese Meiji is expected to be opened in mid-2026 in Sofia, and its main goal will be to study the benefits and prove the qualities of traditional Bulgarian yogurt. Sales are increasing in markets such as Thailand and Vietnam, and the Japanese corporation is also about to introduce new products such as ayran in Asian markets.

Last summer, the Sofia Municipality (SM) and the Sofia Municipal Council (SMC) voted on changes to the contracts with the three so-called recovery organizations - "Ecopack", "Ecobulpack" and "Bulekopak", which receive funds from product fees and are obliged to maintain collection in colored containers in different municipalities. The new requirements included placing nearly three times more colored containers in the city, as well as more frequent collection on a schedule agreed with the municipality. However, the three companies appealed the SMC's decision and last week it became clear that they had won the case at last instance - the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) confirmed the decision of the Administrative Court - Sofia-city. There were several changes that the municipality tried to introduce. First, the system had to be unified throughout the city and all of Sofia had to collect its packaging in three colored bins, not two. "Ekobulpak", which entered into a public conflict with the municipality last month and holds the largest share of the districts in the capital, is the only one of the three with a two-color system. Second, the models of the containers had to be changed. "Ecopack", which serves the districts "Sredets", "Triaditsa", "Oborishte", "Mladost", "Krasno Selo", "Studentski", has already started replacing them with ones with larger openings and a larger volume after negotiations with the municipality. The number of colored containers also had to be increased three times. Currently, there are 3,000 colored and 90,000 gray bins in Sofia. According to the municipality's data for 2024, the amount of packaging waste collected separately with the colored containers from households is 16,227 tons, and the amount of mixed household waste collected with the gray containers is 372,150 tons, or 1 in 23. In addition, it was agreed that the three organizations will implement a previously agreed monthly route schedule with a frequency of service, which does not allow overflowing of the containers, and to present to the Municipality a budget for conducting information and educational campaigns. The income of the four recovery organizations in Bulgaria (three of them operate in the capital) comes mainly not from the amounts of packaging collected and handed over for recycling, but from the so-called product fees that manufacturers and importers pay for each package of their product. This also gives rise to a contradiction: companies do not have much incentive to expand their activities and improve the service, because they do not work on a market principle. The municipality has the right to collect waste separately on its own, but it is not registered as a recovery organization and will not receive money from the product fees.

The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has initiated open proceedings against the Ministry of Interior (MI) and "Kozloduy NPP" EAD on complaints from companies. The CPC has initiated open proceedings against the Ministry of Interior/Property Management and Social Activities Directorate on a complaint by "Excelor Holding Group" AD against a decision to purchase specialized equipment with 2 separate positions. The CPC has initiated open proceedings against "Kozloduy NPP" EAD on a complaint by "Energy - Orgres" EOOD against a decision to supply nickel gaskets for covers of steam generators type PGV-1000. The complaints have been filed under the Public Procurement Act (PPA).

For the first time in years, Christoforos Amanatidis-Taki officially and personally acquires a stake in a company - "Mig Stroy 5", having a plot of land and a building permit in the capital's "Lyulin" district, with construction having already begun in 2024. The seller is the large construction company from the town of Breznik "Nivel Stroy", which has about 400 employees and declares over 200 million leva in turnover for 2024. The plot is on "Javaharlal Nehru" Blvd., in close proximity to the Mini Mall and Silver Center shopping centers, "Fantastico" store and Mega Extreme Bowling. The "Lyulin" metro station is nearby. Previously, the plot was used as a car dealership. The project is for a building with 9430 sq m of built-up area on a plot of about 2 decares, and the building will occupy about half of it. The planned height is 24.4 m to its ridge and 21 m to the cornice elevation. The permit was issued on February 7, 2024, entered into force on March 8, and the construction site was opened on August 28, 2024. The builder is the Plovdiv company "MAI-Group". The buyer wishes to complete and put the building into operation, with the buyer assuming all obligations to "Nivel Stroy". The manager Vangelia Vaseva is not being replaced. She has also had other participations in companies associated with Taki in the past, such as being a 50% owner of the company "Konstrol" until 2020. In addition, "Mig Stroy 5" itself has historically had ties to individuals close to Amanatidis - when the company was founded in 2007, his sister Afrodita Borimiirova was a partner with a 50% share and co-manager. She left the company a year later, but after several transformations in 2015 with a 50% share, and since 2019 with 100%, it is "Novita Holding Group". The company was registered in the distant 2002 by the late financier Emil Harsev under the name "Novita Hotels". Today, the sole owner of the capital is "Elite Leasing Holding" of Amanatidis' long-time partner from the time of the VIS-2 group, Dimitar Tsekov. But in 2006 - 2008, before his problems with the law, Amanatidis was personally the owner. After the transformations in 2024, Tsekov's company is the majority owner of other publicly associated assets with Taki, such as the companies that own the TIR parking lots in Kapitan Andreevo, Lesovo and Ruse. There are two more companies in which Taki has direct ownership. These are "Eurofinance Factor" and "Intertour". In many others, however, it is believed that his control is hidden behind his wife Boryana Shekhtova, Martin Manolov, Dimitar Tsekov, or other front persons.

At an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of UniCredit Bulbank AD, held on November 13, a decision was adopted to distribute dividends from retained earnings for previous years (up to and including 2023). The gross amount is BGN 1.29 per share, with payment to begin on December 18.

Eleven Capital AD has received a dividend of 550,519.83 leva (281,476.32 euros) from Businessmap OOD. The company is paying a dividend to Eleven Capital for the fifth consecutive year. Businessmap OOD (operating under the name Kanbanize) is one of the companies in the investment portfolio of the public company that has good potential for international expansion. The Kanbanize trademark is registered in the European Union (EU) and the USA. It operates in the field of high technology - SaaS (software as a service), the business is B2B oriented. The company develops and offers project management software. The tool uses the popular "kanban" approach, which is a visual process management system that emphasizes "just-in-time delivery", and is used by corporate clients for the needs of their IT and other projects.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is launching a reform of European banking supervision with the aim of reducing the administrative burden and focusing more on key risks without compromising the stability of the banking system. The reform is presented in the report Streamlining supervision, safeguarding resilience, published on 11 December 2025. It complements the report of the High-Level Task Force on Simplification, which proposes 17 recommendations for changes to the EU regulatory and supervisory framework. The main focus is on increasing efficiency, clearer communication with banks and better targeting the most material risks. Central to the reform is the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP), which is the annual "health check" of each bank. Over the past two years, the process has been simplified through more targeted assessments and better coordination between supervisory teams. One of the key changes concerns the so-called "fit and proper" assessments - checks on whether members of management bodies are suitable for their positions. These assessments account for around 50 percent of all ECB supervisory decisions. The average processing time has been reduced from 109 days in 2023 to 97 days in 2024, and cases of renewal of mandates, which account for around 10 percent of all assessments, will be further accelerated, the publication explains. In the area of ​​stress tests (supervisory simulations of severe economic scenarios), the ECB and the European Banking Authority are working to reduce and standardize the data used. During the 2025 stress test, over 2,200 data quality checks were carried out, with around 40 percent of them being purely technical reconciliations with regular reporting. The reform also includes the introduction of an accelerated procedure (fast-track) for approving low-risk share buybacks, in which banks buy back their own shares. The new approach will apply from January 2026. Changes are also foreseen in the approval of internal risk models, used by around 70 of the 113 banks directly supervised by the ECB. Around 100 decisions on material changes to these models are taken each year, and the new approach aims for faster and more risk-oriented approvals.

Payments company PayPal said it has filed applications with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to create PayPal Bank. It is the latest fintech company to take advantage of the Trump administration’s more liberal approach to overseeing the financial industry. Turning PayPal into a bank would help it increase lending to small businesses. “Access to capital remains a significant hurdle for small businesses looking to grow and expand,” said CEO Alex Kris. “Creating PayPal Bank will strengthen our business and improve our efficiency, allowing us to better support small business growth and economic opportunity in the United States.” Other candidates for banking licenses include Brazilian digital lender Nubank and crypto exchange Coinbase, while regulators have already given conditional approval to Ripple and Fidelity Digital Assets. In October 2025, the creation of a new bank, Erebor, backed by prominent tech billionaires, was also approved. PayPal said that if the license is approved, the new bank would be led by Mara McNeil, a former executive of Toyota's finance division. The company already has a banking license in Luxembourg and sees expanding into the United States as a logical next step.

China increased its oil imports in November by 9% month-on-month to 12.43 million barrels per day, the highest level in 27 months, Reuters analyst Clyde Russell wrote. Domestic production rose slightly to 4.31 million barrels per day, which means that China had a total of about 16.74 million barrels of oil per day in November, according to the expert's calculations. Refineries processed about 14.86 million barrels of oil per day, which is an increase of almost 4% compared to last November. This means that Beijing has directed three times more raw material to oil storage facilities compared to October (1.88 million barrels per day compared to 690 thousand barrels). The expert notes that probably not all the quantities of "excess" oil according to official data are actually stored. According to Russell's estimates, there is also consumption of secret production that is not included in the official statistics. But even so, the amount of oil that China is stockpiling is increasing. One reason for this is falling prices, and the trend is likely to continue - in recent days, oil prices have continued to fall amid intense peace talks in Ukraine. This morning, the European Brent variety fell below $60 per barrel, and the price of American light crude oil (WTI) reached almost $56 per barrel.