Bulgaria is already a member of the Banking Union, and the BGN is part of the European Monetary Mechanism. This is a historic act that will have great significance for the future of Bulgaria. Thus, the Governor of the BNB Dimitar Radev announced at an extraordinary briefing in the Council of Ministers the news about the admission of the country to the waiting room of the Eurozone and at the same time to the EU Banking Union. The ECB has set a base rate for the conversion of BGN 1.95583 per EUR, which is the current fixed exchange rate in the conditions of a currency board. Bulgaria was accepted alongside Croatia.The exchange rate for the Croatian kuna (HRK) is 7.53450. Both currencies will be able to fluctuate in the range of plus or minus 15% of this rate. If the two countries succeed in doing so for at least two years, they will formally join the eurozone. The accession process itself takes a year, which means that Bulgaria will actually adopt the EUR in 2023.

In May, the calendar adjusted index of industrial production registered a decline of 16.1% on an annual basis. According to preliminary data, in the same month the indicator decreased by 0.1% compared to April, according to the National Statistical Institute (NSI). On a monthly basis, the mining industry reported a decline of 5.8%, while the production of electricity, heat and gas decreased by 3.7%. Production in the manufacturing industry increased - by 1.1%. More significant growth in the manufacturing industry was observed in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers - 52.2%; clothing production - by 18.9%; manufacture of textiles and textile articles, except apparel - by 18.7%; furniture production - by 14.1%. A significant decrease was registered in the manufacture of tobacco products - 18.6%; repair and installation of machinery and equipment - by 16.1%; production of medicinal substances and products - by 6.4%.

Bulgarian Stock Exchange JSC again has a company worth over BGN 1 billion, according to the data in the bulletin of the stock exchange operator for the second quarter. This is Tchaikapharma - High Quality Medicines JSC. At the end of June, the stock exchange players estimated the pharmaceutical company at BGN 1,027,500,000. In the first days of July the price of these shares remains at these high levels. There are enough reasons for such growth. First of all, the sector in which the company operates is among those which cannot feel the influence of the coronavirus. Pharmaceuticals are doing well in times of crisis. The wave of stockpiling of drugs in March and early April has affected the company's sales revenue growth. Due to the increased production, the operating costs have also increased, the expenses for external services, for materials and for remunerations are higher, the report of the managers reads. This is the reason for the lower profit at the end of the first quarter compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the company has reduced its liabilities, especially to customers and suppliers. Tchaikapharma - High Quality Medicines JSC decided to distribute a dividend in shares (capital increase with own funds) for last year. It amounts to a total of BGN 2,300,000, and the capital will increase to BGN 84,500,000.

Bulgaria's parliament adopted legal amendments paving the way for the establishment of a state-owned company to manage the warehousing and replenishment of the country's reserves of oil products. The company will engage in the establishment and operation of tax warehouses, as well as storage and trade with crude oil and petroleum products. The state-owned oil company cannot be privatised and cannot undergo insolvency proceedings. Within three months of its establishment, the company will seek a license to operate tax warehouses. In May, the finance ministry proposed to establish a state-owned company that would manage the warehousing and replenishment of the country's reserves of oil products and would run a network of filling stations across the country. The new company that will perform all the functions of the government's State Reserve and Wartime Stocks agency will help optimise the management of the mandatory oil and oil product reserves of the state and will ensure they are sustainably maintained in line with the EU requirements. The planned network of filling stations will be built within a year in order to boost competition on the local market. The finance ministry's proposal was unveiled less than two weeks after Bulat Subaev, director general of Lukoil Bulgaria, the operator of the Burgas-Sofia oil product pipeline, said that the company may suspend operations due to legislative changes requiring it to split its single tax warehouse into separate regional units.

BDZ Freight Services SPLTD will sell non-operating assets owned by the company to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). The government, which is the principal of the state-owned railway company, has allowed this move. The decision provides for a total of fifteen properties to be sold through direct negotiation and at a price not lower than their market value, determined by an independent appraiser. Upon the transfer of the properties to the National Railway Infrastructure Company, two of them were declared public state property. With their sale, BDZ Freight Services SPLTD will be able to partially repay the accumulated financial liabilities to NRIC under the "debt-to-property" scheme. The total amount of the railway carrier's liabilities at the end of last year amounted to BGN 76.59 million. Among the larger short-term liabilities of the company is that to the National Railway Infrastructure Company - BGN 10.76 million. However, the railway carrier also has long-term liabilities under concluded agreements for deferred payment to the National Railway Infrastructure Company - for BGN 44.14 million.

The Directorate of National Construction Control (DNCC) stopped the construction of the skyscraper I Tower in the center of Sofia. "After a self-referral on the occasion of publications in the media for illegal construction, the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office (SAP) assigned to the Directorate of National Construction Control (DNCC) to check the legality of the construction of the so-called "I Tower" skyscraper in the center of Sofia ", announced by DNCC. After the inspection, the SAP received a summary report, according to which during the on-site inspection and on the documents of the construction of the two buildings, employees of the National Spatial Planning Commission found that there was a violation of the Spatial Planning Act. The skyscraper I Tower is a project of the Italian company Proger, consisting of two buildings. The lower part is planned for offices, two restaurants and a spa, while the high part will be a hotel for which there is a contract with the Marriott brand, with 260 rooms, 60 apartments and a restaurant. The three underground levels will be parking lots and technical rooms, according to the Proger website.

Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition said that state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) is seeking its approval regarding the acquisition of a stake in an unnamed company. The regulator launched a probe of the planned acquisition on Friday. Earlier this month, Bulgaria's First Investment Bank's (Fibank) said it has raised BGN 195.4 million in a capital increase, through which state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) is acquiring 18.35% interest in the company. The other major investor in the capital increase - Liechtenstein-registered Valea Foundation, is acquiring shares equal to a 7.87% stake in Fibank. This decision by the Bulgarian Development Bank caused a public outcry as the state-owned company subscribed for the shares in Fibank at a price of BGN 5 apiece, representing a 92% premium over the existing shares' closing price of BGN 2.6 on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange at the time of the auction of the subscription rights.

French lawmakers approved a plan to spur the economic recovery using government guarantees to accelerate the flow of cash to companies. The latest crisis tool will allow a company to get payment for new orders before it delivers or even issues a bill to a customer. The financing will be in the form of a state-guaranteed loan, a move that will advance cash flow by around 45 days on average, according to the government. “This is an innovative response to help businesses in the period of picking up activity,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. France, like other European countries, is rapidly reinventing financial rules in an effort to help companies struggling to restart operations after the lockdown. The success or failure of such tools will be crucial in determining how quickly economies can recover and start creating jobs again. While recent indicators have pointed to a faster than expected upturn in activity, the French government still expects the economy to take two years to return to 2019 levels of output.

California has opened its own antitrust probe into Google, intensifying the pressure on the search giant already in the middle of investigations by the Justice Department and a host of other states, according to three people with knowledge of the inquiry. The move by California's attorney general comes as Google has come under increasing scrutiny from both Congress and foreign regulators for its market conduct and acquisitions that have turned it into the world's top search engine and the most profitable online advertising company. In September, attorneys general from 48 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia announced an antitrust investigation into Google focused on the company’s dominance of the advertising technology market. Over the past 10 months, that investigation — led by Texas — has expanded into other aspects of the company’s business, including its conduct in the search market. The California antitrust probe is a separate investigation from the multi-state effort.

China’s credit growth picked up in June amid strong demand for loans via banks and informal channels, signaling that the economic recovery is continuing into the third quarter. Aggregate financing was 3.4 trillion yuan ($489 billion), the People’s Bank of China said. That compares to 3.2 trillion yuan in May and 2.6 trillion yuan in the same month last year. Shadow banking rose 85.3 billion yuan in the month, according to Bloomberg calculations using PBOC data. Financial institutions offered 1.8 trillion yuan of new loans in the month, matching estimates. Modest policy stimulus coupled with progress in battling the virus at home has led to an increasingly solid recovery in the world’s second largest economy, with output data for the second quarter due next week set to show a return to growth. At the same time, China remains vulnerable to renewed virus outbreaks, as well as the weakness of global demand for its export goods. Broad M2 money supply grew 11.1% from a year earlier. The stock of outstanding credit rose 12.8% in the month, the fastest pace since February 2018.