The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Bulgaria increased by 17% in November on an annual basis to EUR 122 million. The total flow of investments from January to November amounted to EUR 843.9 million. However, the volume of FDI decreased by 31.1% (EUR 381.1 million) on an annual basis, according to preliminary data from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). In the first eleven months of last year, foreign investment amounted to EUR 1.225 billion. The share capital (transferred / withdrawn cash and in-kind contributions of non-residents to / from the capital and reserves of Bulgarian companies, as well as receipts / payments on real estate transactions in the country) is negative and amounts to EUR 1.008 billion for January - November 2020. It is lower by EUR 574.7 million than in the same period of 2019, which came to minus EUR 433.6 million. BNB estimates that the net inflow of foreign investment in real estate is negative at EUR 0.2 million, compared to a positive net inflow of EUR 4.9 million in January-November 2019.

Bulgaria's trade balance in November was down by EUR 312.8 million, compared to a deficit of EUR 114 million a year ago, according to preliminary data from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) on the balance of payments. For the period from January to November it is in negative territory with EUR 1.474 billion, and for the same period in 2019 the deficit amounted to EUR 2.306 billion. The decline is 36%. Investor.bg's observations show that the trade deficit has been shrinking since the beginning of last year, but the pace is slowing. The central bank reports that in November alone the current account balance was negative and amounted to EUR 278.3 million, compared to a positive balance of EUR 95.1 million a year ago. For eleven months, it is in surplus with EUR 373.4 million, and for the period from January to November 2019 it was positive by EUR 2.187 billion. Statistics show that the current and capital account is negative and amounts to EUR 190.8 million compared to a surplus of EUR 174.1 million for November 2019. For January - November 2020 it is positive and amounts to EUR 1.254 billion , and for the same period in 2019 the surplus was EUR 2.987 billion.

Bulgaria's government said that it will extend by ten years its concession agreement with Lucky Invest for the lead-zinc ore deposit Govedarnika. The extension was requested by the company in view of the significant resources remaining at the deposit, the government said in a statement following its weekly meeting. The concession agreement for the Govedarnika deposit, located in the Plovdiv region, was signed in 2000. Lucky Invest is a unit of local mining company KCM 2000.

The raised capital through the Bulgarian Stock Exchange in 2020 amounts to over BGN 320 million, which is the highest value in the last 12 years, BSE reported. The BSE recorded a successful year and distinguished those who contributed to the development of the capital market in the country in 2020. An increase of 39 percent to 61,173 marked the number of transactions on a regulated market in 2020 compared to the previous year. The turnover of the BSE in 2020 amounts to BGN 397.5 million, which is 19 percent more than in the previous year.

Nearly 10 years after Boyko Borisov's first government signed a memorandum to build a gas connection with Serbia with then-Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and promised to make the first sod in a year (2013) at the latest, Bulgaria is looking for a builder for the interconnector. The announcement of the construction tender is an important step towards the start of the project, which has been delayed for almost a decade. The news comes after Serbian Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said that by the beginning of 2023, Serbia will be connected through a gas interconnector with Bulgaria, a tender for a supervisory body has already been announced, and a tender for a Nis-Tsaribrod (Dimitrovgrad) gas connection builder is expected next week, so a contractor will be selected within 2-3 months, and the construction works will start by the summer. In the summer of 2020, Bulgartransgaz announced the first two public contracts related to the implementation of the Bulgaria-Serbia inter-gas connection.

Decotex JSC sold its subsidiary Decotex USA Inc. for the amount of USD 450 thousand, the company announced through BSE - Sofia. The textile manufacturer, as the sole owner of the subsidiary, decided to sell it at a meeting of the Board of Directors on October 12 last year. To date, the procedure has been completed and 100% of the owned shares have been sold, without naming the buyer. After the sale, the subsidiary Decotex USA Inc. was terminated as of January 1, 2021. In its activity report at the end of the third quarter, the Sliven-based company reported a decline in the group's revenues from the sale of its own products and goods due to the epidemiological situation. The reduction is offset by the income from the sale of electricity. At the end of September, Decotex reported a net profit of BGN 224 thousand and an increase in operating revenues to BGN 2.6 million compared to just over BGN 2 million at the end of the third quarter of 2019.

Bulgaria's competition authority rejected a complaint over an alleged abuse of superior bargaining position filed by local food products distributor Accord Trade against wholesale stores operator Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria. Dependence between the two parties in the proceedings that would put either of them in a weaker and unfavourable position cannot be found as they are operating in a highly competitive market in terms of the number of wholesalers and retail chains. Therefore, Accord Trade has had the opportunity to supply its products not only to Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria but to any of retail chain in the country. In its complaint, Accord Trade argued that Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria had imposed unjustified charges on the company for turnover bonuses, logistics fees and advertisement of confectionery in the period 2014-2018. The regulator's decision can be appealed before Sofia Region Administrative Court within 14 days of its publication. Metro Cash&Carry Bulgaria, a unit of Germany's Metro, operates 11 stores located in 9 of the country's major cities.

Bulgarian biometric identification security solutions developer Biodit is planning to start dividend distribution in 2023 or 2024 if its financial performance develops according to plan. Biodit intends to reinvest its profit in 2021 and 2022 in supporting the company's growth. The company also intends to invest the proceeds of a forthcoming initial public offering on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange in scaling up its marketing and sales team. Biodit is due to kick off its IPO on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange's BEAM market on January 21. Biodit will offer for subscription 1 million new ordinary shares with a nominal value and issue price of BGN 1 apiece. The IPO will be considered successful if at least 250,000 shares are subscribed and paid for.

UK inflation picked up in December. The trend is expected to continue this year amid measures to combat the pandemic, Brexit and economic recovery, which will increase costs for consumers and businesses, according to Reuters. Consumer prices rose 0.6% year-on-year after rising 0.3% in November, the National Statistics Office said. Reuters forecasts a 0.5% increase. The temporary easing of travel restrictions due to COVID-19 has helped raise prices for air and sea travel, while rising oil prices have made fuels more expensive worldwide. Clothing prices are also rising. Inflation has been below the Bank of England's (BoE) target of 2% since mid-2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought it close to zero. A study by Reuters economists published last week showed that inflation is likely to accelerate to the BoE's target of 2% by the end of this year, and some such as Capital Economics believe it will reach a peak of 2.5%. But economists see the central bank as unlikely to start raising interest rates from record lows any time soon, as the British economy is still about 10% smaller than before the pandemic.

As soon as he enters the White House, Joe Biden will sign 17 presidential decrees repealing key measures introduced by his predecessor Donald Trump, beginning with the return of the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO). Immunologist Anthony Fauci will represent his country at a meeting of the WHO Executive Board on Thursday. To limit the spread of the virus, the president will sign a decree that will make it mandatory for masks to be worn in federal agencies and by federal officials. To mitigate the effects of the pandemic on people who have lost their incomes, he will extend the moratorium on forcible removal of such people from their homes and temporarily freeze the repayment of loans by students studying at federal schools. The Democrat, who has declared the fight against global warming a priority in his administration, will send a letter to the UN so that the United States can return to the Paris Agreement within a month, said Gina McCarthy, who is in charge of the new presidential team.

US oil imports to China tripled in 2020, according to data from the Chinese customs service. Last year, the country reported record levels of raw material imports despite the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese companies have benefited from a trade deal with Washington and bought 19.8 million tons of oil from the United States. In December alone, China imported 3.6 million tons of US oil, according to statistics. Despite steady growth, the United States lags far behind China's leading trading partners in oil imports. The leader this year is Saudi Arabia, which has delivered almost 85 million tons of oil to the country. This is an increase of 1.9 percent. Russia is slightly behind with 83.5 million tons and an increase of 7.6% on an annual basis. The third largest importer of oil for the Chinese economy is Iraq - just over 60 million tons, an increase of 16 percent compared to 2019. Overall, China, the world's largest importer of oil, bought 542.4 million tonnes of crude oil from its trading partners in 2020. Compared to the previous year, imports increased by 7.3%, the data show.