The European Commission has allocated EUR 14 billion to nine EU countries in the second tranche of financial support to Member States under SURE. As part of the operations, Croatia received EUR 510 million, Cyprus - EUR 250 million, Greece - EUR 2 billion, Italy - EUR 6.5 billion, Latvia - EUR 120 million, Lithuania - EUR 300 million, Malta - EUR 120 million, Slovenia - EUR 200 million and Spain - an additional EUR 4 billion. The payment is made after the second issue of social bonds under the EU SURE instrument, marked by very strong interest from investors. This support in the form of soft loans will help these countries to cope with the sudden increase in public spending aimed at maintaining employment. To date, the Commission has proposed to provide EUR 90.3 billion in financial support to 18 Member States. Subsequent payments will be made in the months following the relevant bond issues.

Foreign direct investment of EUR 729.5 million entered Bulgaria in the first nine months of the year, according to BNB statistics. Their volume is EUR 327 million or 30% less than the same period last year. According to the data of the central bank, at the end of September EUR 1.225 billion of foreign capital in the form of loans were attracted to the Bulgarian economy. This significant amount is mainly due to the final sale in the summer of BTC (Vivacom), which was bought by the Serbian-owned media group United Group and the majority shareholder, the London-based fund BC Partners. The deal with BTC is also the reason for the reported outflow of share capital from the country - for the first 9 months of the year this is EUR 935.7 million. For the same period, BNB data show that foreign investors have reinvested EUR 439.7 million of their profit, which is nearly EUR 100 million less than a year ago. 

Nestle Bulgaria has invested a total of BGN 23 million this year to improve and modernize its factory in Sofia. The company's plans were announced in the summer and despite the pandemic they have not changed. The company presented its new robotic production line, which will allow manufacture in the factory to be faster and more efficient. The investment in it amounts to BGN 12.5 million. The innovation helps a lot for the efficient production of 2.5 million KitKat bars per day. The line was unveiled at an online event due to restrictions on Covid-19. Nearly BGN 10 million this year have been invested in technologies for the development of new products, BGN 600,000 for the improvement of automation systems, a little over BGN 1 million - in improving the quality and increasing the safety of employees. Nestlé explained that the robotization of the process replaces the work of people, but nevertheless there are no layoffs, and employees are redirected to other operations in the factory. 

Bulgarian diversified group Bulgartabac Holding is planning to sell its majority stakes in former cigarette factories Haskovo-Tabac and Shumen-Tabac to another one of its units - Blagoevgrad BT. Bulgartabac Holding is also planning to sell a storage base in Asenovgrad to Blagoevgrad BT. Bulgartabac Holding is seeking approval from its shareholders for the deals, with the meeting scheduled for November 26. The former tobacco group owns 93.25% interest in Haskovo-Tabac, which is currently in liquidation, and 85.6% interest in Shumen-Tabac. Shumen-Tabac and Haskovo-Tabac halted their cigarette production operations in 2004 and 2005, respectively. In 2017, Bulgartabac Holding sold its biggest cigarette brands for more than EUR 100 million to British American Tobacco (BAT) and has since diversified its investments.

Shell Bulgaria wants to buy 4 gas stations of Litex Commerce, which it uses for rent, it is clear from a statement published on the website of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC). According to the notification, the transaction should not be considered as a concentration and is therefore not expected to have an impact on the relevant market in the country and, if accepted as a concentration, is expected to have an impact on the automotive retail market, specified in the message. Shell Bulgaria and Litex Commerce signed a cooperation agreement in 1998, with Shell leasing 30 Litex gas stations for a period of 25 years. At that time, Litex Commerce was the owner of the largest private chain of gas stations in Bulgaria. In 2015, Litex Commerce acquired 7 of the long-term leased gas stations. Shell Bulgaria abandoned them because they were unprofitable. Shell Bulgaria is a subsidiary of the Dutch Royal Dutch/Shell. According to information on the company's website, it has been present on the Bulgarian market since 1991. The trader operates more than 100 gas stations in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria's competition regulator said that MET Renewables Holding, part of Switzerland-headquartered energy company MET Group, is seeking approval to acquire wind power company c Bulgaria. Enel Green Power Bulgaria operates 14 wind turbines with a total capacity of 42 MW though 14 fully-owned subsidiaries. Interested parties have until November 24 to submit their statements regarding the transaction. The two wind parks operated by Enel Green Power Bulgaria, of 21 MW each, are located in Shabla and Kamen Bryag, on the Black Sea coast. The transaction is part of MET’s growth strategy to develop a significant renewable portfolio in the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Enel Green Power Bulgaria is 100%-owned by Italy's Enel Green Power, which in turn is part of Italy's Enel Group.

Sofia Hotel Balkan will ask its shareholders to approve a EUR 5 million loan agreement to refinance the company's existing liabilities and operating needs, according to an invitation to a general meeting of shareholders convened on November 26th. Shareholders will vote on whether to authorize CEO Ioannis Daskalantonakis to negotiate and conclude a loan agreement with Eurobank Cyprus. It will amount to EUR 5 million at an annual interest rate of the current quarterly Euribor plus a margin of up to 3.25%, maturing on the last payment on 31 December 2029. To secure the loan, shareholders will be required to approve the establishment of a second order a special pledge on the commercial enterprise of the company, as well as the establishment of a mortgage on several real estates. The agenda also includes the approval of a pledge on 100% of the company shares in the Belgrade Metropol Palace, a limited liability company of which Sofia Hotel Balkan is the sole owner of the capital.

Switzerland wants to push ahead with the expansion of renewable energy, with a particular focus on new PV systems. Over the coming year, the Federal Council will provide CHF 470 million to support development. This means that the waiting list for feed-in tariff (FIT) contracts for PV systems will be completely eliminated for the first time since 2008. This year, 22,400 new renewables systems have secured public support. This means that more than 85,000 subsidized systems are currently in operation in Switzerland, covering around 9% of total electricity consumption. All system operators who submitted their complete applications to Pronovo AG by March 31, 2020, will be granted solar rebates by the end of the year. Around 20,000 systems should be funded this year – a total of CHF 30 million. In the coming year, the funding volume is then to be more than doubled to CHF 270 million, announced the Federal Council. All operators who submit their complete application by the end of September 2021 would, presumably, receive the one-off payment. The Federal Council estimates the total output of these systems at around 330 MW.

In October 2020, US retail sales were weaker than expected and are likely to continue to grow more slowly in the future amid a sharp increase in new cases of Covid-19 and declining household incomes, as for weeks millions of unemployed Americans have lost government financial support, provided due to the coronavirus crisis. According to the Department of Commerce, retail sales rose 0.3% in October to USD 553.3 billion from September, when they rose 1.6% (a downward revision from a previous estimate of a 1.9% jump), while expectations in the financial markets were for stronger growth of 0.5%. Compared to a year earlier, retail sales increased by 5.7% in October. Excluding cars, retail sales rose 0.2% in October on expectations of a 0.6% increase, while excluding cars and petrol sales they also increased 0.2% on expectations of a 0.6% increase.

China Construction Bank, China's largest bank, had to offer blockchain-based bonds. But according to the latest information, the issue was postponed until a second order "at the request of the bank", according to information on the Fusang exchange. And in addition to being the largest bank in China, China Construction Bank is also the second largest bank in the world in terms of assets held. According to Statista, at the end of last year they amounted to CNY 25.4 trillion, which is equivalent to USD 3.8 trillion. The debt issue was originally scheduled to begin on Friday, and the financial institution's goal was to issue USD 3 billion in bonds with an initial tranche of USD 58 million. They were expected to be issued on the Etherium blockchain through an offshore branch of the bank based on the small island of Labuan in Malaysia, which is also a tax haven. The Fusang Exchange also falls under the island's regulations. The news comes shortly after Ant Group was halted by the world's largest initial public offering, which sought to raise more than USD 50 billion.