Bulgaria's industrial producer price index (PPI) fell by 5.3% year-on-year in May, after decreasing by 4.3% in the previous month, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said on Tuesday. The fall in the PPI in May was driven by a 7.0% drop in prices in the manufacturing sector, NSI said in a statement. On a monthly comparison basis, producer prices fell by 1.0% in May. The industrial PPI on the domestic market decreased by 1.6% on the year and fell 0.6% on a monthly comparison basis. The industrial PPI on the non-domestic market decreased by 10.7% year-on-year and was 1.7% lower month-on-month.

The State Social Insurance Budget Act (SSSI) for 2020 approved pension expenditures of over BGN 10.5 billion. For the planned modernization and for the increases of the pensions and the supplements to them, a total of BGN 439.5 million of additional funds are provided compared to the Social Security Budget Act for last year. More than 2 million and 90 thousand pensioners will receive an increase in the amount of pensions / supplements received by them, starting from July 1, 2020. The modernization of pensions granted with a starting date until December 31, 2019 will be carried out by 6.7 per one hundred on the so-called "Swiss rule". The Social Security Budget Act for 2020 sets a new minimum amount of BGN 250 of the basic pension for length of service and age. Therefore, from 1 July there will be an increase in other pensions for employment, equated to the minimum amount for the respective type of pension. The maximum amount of pensions or the sum of pensions, without supplements to them, remains at the level of BGN 1,200.

The German automotive giant Kostal is moving part of its production from Slovakia and Slovenia to Bulgaria. This was confirmed by Lyubomir Stanislavov, executive director and member of the Board of Directors of Automotive Cluster Bulgaria. Kostal's production moved to Pazardzhik, where the company has a plant for modules for automotive systems. It will relocate part of its production from the two countries, which is currently being subcontracted. Stanislavov explained that 70-80% of the companies in our country work on the principle of indirect relocation of production. The workers will probably reach 5,000. Currently, the plant employs about 2,000 people. According to the mayor of the city, the car corporation is currently building a dormitory and a service complex in the village of Dobrovnitsa near Pazardzhik. Workers from abroad will be accommodated there, as Pazardzhik cannot meet the company's labor needs.

Czech Republic-based online grocery retailer Rohlik.cz has expanded to Bulgaria by acquiring a stake in local peer eBag for EUR 1 million. The acquisition of a stake in the Bulgarian food e-store is part of the European expansion of the Czech company. According to Cupr, Rohlik.cz intends to gradually increase its interest in the Bulgarian company and become its sole owner in the coming years. Rohlik.cz is operated by Prague-headquartered Velka Pecka, in which Cupr owns a majority stake. Rohlik.cz, which has more than 450,000 customers, increased its turnover by 60% year-on-year to over 4 billion crowns in 2019. The eBag online store is operated by Sofia-based company Convenience, which has a registered capital of BGN 75,560.

Another bank starts granting interest-free loans up to BGN 4,500. Raiffeisenbank is another bank that joins the guarantee program for interest-free lending to the Bulgarian Development Bank. The financial institution will start accepting applications within days. As of June 29, the approved interest-free loans under the program for assistance to individuals total nearly BGN 44 million. The commercial banks, partners in the program, have received 18,181 loan applications, of which a total of 10,565 have been confirmed and being processed - 1,636. The average value of the loans is a little over BGN 4,150. Two thirds of the claims are of persons on an employment contract, and the rest are of self-insured persons. Allianz Bank, DSK Bank, Investbank, UBB, First Investment Bank, Postbank, D Commercial Bank, Central Cooperative Bank and UniCredit Bulbank work under the program. International Asset Bank and Municipal Bank were the first to use their financial resources under the program by providing loans.

Bulgarian edible oil producer Oliva has signed a EUR 90 million syndicated loan agreement with a group of international commercial banks, including the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB). BNP Paribas Suisse acted as lead arranger, while the BSTDB provided financing of EUR 35 million. Oliva said it will use the funds to meet its increased working capital needs in view of the launch of operations of its new sunflower and rapeseed crushing and extraction plant in the Varna region. Bulgaria is the world’s fourth largest exporter of sunflower oil.

Bulgarian battery maker Monbat said that its consolidated profit before taxes from ongoing operations dropped by 41.3% to BGN 5.2 million in the first five months of the year. The company's reported results exclude its discontinued LED lighting operations. Monbat’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by an annual 16.9% to BGN 13.8 million in the January-May period of 2020. The company’s consolidated net sales revenue fell 15.8% to BGN 111.1 million in the first five months of the year. The company's year-on-year result development is negatively affected by the fact that in 2019 it booked EBITDA of BGN 1.3 million in March from the state subsidy for recycling of scrap batteries received by its Serbian unit, while the subsidy for this year is expected to be paid in June. In May alone, Monbat's consolidated profit before taxes from ongoing operations more than doubled to BGN 1.5 million, despite the fact that its sales decreased 31.5% to BGN 18 million.

The closure of France's oldest nuclear plant was mourned by electricity workers and celebrated by anti-nuclear campaigners on Monday. The second of two 900-megawatt reactors at Fessenheim was being powered down and taken offline overnight. The first reactor was shut down in February. The closure of the plant on the border with Germany is part of a policy shift to reduce France's dependence on nuclear power. Germany has long called for the plant to be shut down. Workers at electricity giant EDF, which operates Fessenheim and France's 18 other nuclear plants, described the closure as a tough blow. However, it has been celebrated as a victory by anti-nuclear campaigners. Andre Hatz, president of the "Stop Fessenheim" Association said he was happy the 50-year-long battle to get the plant closed had come to an end but he was concerned about what was being left behind. Fessenheim's closure still leaves France with 56 pressurised water reactors at 18 plants.

The boycott against Facebook for lack of control of hate speech and misinformation continues, and other tech giants and large American companies are already involved. They are Microsoft, Ford and Pepsi. Bill Gates' company stopped advertising on Facebook and Zuckerberg's other popular social network, Instagram, in May before the boycott began. So far, more than 250 companies have joined it. Ford said it was suspending ads for 30 days to "reconsider our presence on these platforms." Fox Business reports that Pepsi did not boycott in a statement, but withdrew its ads. The campaign against Zuckerberg, which claims that he and the company do not take responsibility and do not take enough measures for the problems of the largest social network, are united in the campaign #StopHateForProfit (stop the hatred for profit). The campaign was organized by several NGOs in the United States working for minority and black people's rights, but also with the support of Washington Free Press media activists.

China’s parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony’s way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. Details of the law - which comes in response to last year’s often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city and aims to tackle subversion, terrorism, separatism and collusion with foreign forces - were yet to be released. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam nevertheless welcomed the law’s passage and said it would come into effect later on Tuesday, giving the city’s 7.5 million people little time to digest what is expected to be highly complex legislation. Amid fears the law will crush the global financial hub’s freedoms, and reports that the heaviest penalty under it would be life imprisonment, pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong’s Demosisto group said it would dissolve. “It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before,” Wong said.