Between January 19 and March 23, the Ministry of Finance sold government securities (GS) from three bond issues denominated in euros in six auctions. They attracted debt for EUR 900 million, according to data from the Bulgarian National Bank. The total amount of orders submitted in the auctions is EUR 1,623,260,000. The Ministry of Finance began its issuance program this year by putting into circulation a new issue of two-year government securities (GS), denominated in euros, with a maturity of January 21, 2028 and an annual interest coupon of 2.25 percent. At the first auction of the year – on January 19, bonds debt financing debt were successfully placed part of two-year treasury bonds from issue No. BG 20 300 26 111/21.01.2026 for 150 million euros in aggregate nominal value, including non-competitive orders in the amount of 31,212,000 euros. The achieved weighted average annual yield is 2.33 percent. The total amount of orders placed has reached 336,712,000 euros, including non-competitive orders with an aggregate nominal value of 31,212,000 euros. This corresponds to a coverage ratio of 2.24. Then, on February 23 and March 23, the Ministry of Finance reopened issue No. BG 20 300 26 111 twice. Its volume in circulation was increased by EUR 300 million, reaching EUR 450 million in nominal value with EUR 862,720,000 of declared interest. On January 26 and March 9, the BNB held auctions for the sale of part of the second issue No. BG 20 301 26 119/28.01.2026 (five-year interest-bearing treasury bonds*) with maturity on January 28, 2031, denominated in EUR. They attracted debt of EUR 300 million, and the declared interest was in the total amount of EUR 499,910,000. On February 9, the Bulgarian National Bank held an auction for the sale of part of the third issue No. BG 20 400 26 218/11.02.2026 (ten-year interest-bearing treasury bonds) maturing on February 11, 2036, denominated in euros and with an annual interest coupon of 3.50 percent. According to the decision taken by the Ministry of Finance, orders in the amount of EUR 150,000,000 in nominal value were approved, including non-competitive orders in the amount of EUR 34,380,000 at a weighted average annual yield of 3.84 percent. The total interest declared in this auction was EUR 260,630,000. The total volume of government securities offered by the Ministry of Finance will be increased by selling additional quantities of each of the three bond issues. In thirteen auctions between January 20 and November 19 last year, the Ministry of Finance sold government securities from two issues of bonds in leva. In these auctions, debt for a total of BGN 3.3 billion was attracted. In these auctions, banks acquired the largest share of the offered bonds. Among the participants were also guarantee funds, insurance companies, pension funds and other investors.

House prices in Bulgaria increased by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter (third quarter of 2025), the National Statistical Institute (NSI) announced. The largest increase was registered in the city of Burgas (4.4 percent), followed by the cities of Varna (1.7 percent) and Plovdiv (1.4 percent). The largest decrease was registered in the city of Ruse (1.7 percent) and the city of Stara Zagora (1.7 percent). In the fourth quarter of 2025, house prices in the country increased by 12.6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. A report by the NSI indicates that 2025 began with an annual growth in house prices of 15.1 percent. In the second quarter, the trend continued with minimal growth of 15.5 percent, and in the third quarter, a slight downward deviation in growth to 15.4 percent was reported.

A Chinese company with production in the Trakia Economic Zone near Plovdiv intends to expand its production. It is the joint venture Phoenix Bicycle Europe, which produces electric bicycles in the Maritsa subzone of the FEZ. The company is the result of a partnership between the Bulgarian company PD1 Invest EOOD and the established Chinese manufacturer Shanghai Phoenix Bicycle Co. Ltd. It was registered in August 2025, and production began at the beginning of this year. Phoenix Bicycle Europe has the ambition to become a key production and export center for electric bicycles in Europe. The company has an annual capacity of 100,000 e-bikes in the mid- and high-end range, with the main markets being Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. Shanghai Phoenix Bicycle Co. Ltd., founded in 1897, is among the leading bicycle manufacturers in the world. The company, in which the Chinese state also participates, owns 55% of the joint venture in Bulgaria. In 2024 alone, it achieved a production volume of around 12 million bicycles.

The global leader in the electric vehicle market BYD has announced the official launch of its business in Bulgaria. Our country is the 36th in Europe that BYD is entering. The company's first dealership is already open - on Christopher Columbus Blvd. before the airport in the Eurohold building. It is owned by the Avto Union automotive group, which is part of the holding. The next dealership will also be in Sofia and will be owned by Daru Car, also part of Avto Union. Three more locations are to be opened in Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. Among the seven models that will be offered on the Bulgarian market, there are both electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrids of various classes.

Hotel "Rachev Residence" in Arbanassi is being managed by the Tarnovo businesswoman and deputy chairwoman of the Municipal Council Kalina Shirokova. The property was put up for auction for 5.6 million euros by a private bailiff in July last year, but then it did not go to sale. At the end of 2025, its price dropped to over 4 million euros. The complex has a new name - "A & N Residence Bolyarka". The company "A & N RESIDENCE BOLYARKA" with manager Kalina Shirokova has been entered in the Commercial Register. The deal was implemented by acquiring receivables secured by a mortgage. In this way, the new investor takes on the role of a creditor and acquires the rights of the previous bank against the old owner. The hotel complex has an area of ​​6 decares and has an excellent base for overnight stays and recreation. Within its boundaries there are swimming pools, a restaurant, a lobby bar, a winery, conference rooms, etc. Kalina Shirokova is the owner of the largest poultry farm in the Veliko Tarnovo region, and in parallel, she is a municipal councilor in the Municipal Council and its deputy chairman.

The Municipal Council (MC) in Pernik will decide whether the Municipality of Pernik will acquire new shares worth 505,456 euros in accordance with the procedures and requirements of the Commercial Law from the capital of the Pernik Multi-profile Hospital for Active Treatment (MBAL) "Rahila Angelova". perniknews

tbi bank introduces new members to its Supervisory Board - Csongor Nemeth, former CEO of Addiko Bank AG, with previous leadership experience at Intesa Sanpaolo Group and GE Money, and Markus Krause, former CRO and CFO at Addiko Bank, with banking experience at UniCredit Group, Citibank, etc. They replace Gauthier Van Weddingen and Kieran Donnelly on the Supervisory Board of tbi bank. The changes have been approved by the European Central Bank (ECB) and entered into the Commercial Register. Together with Ariel Hasson, Csongor Nemeth and Markus Krause form a team combining extensive experience with global expertise. The appointments to the Supervisory Board follow the acquisition of tbi bank by Advent International (USA) - one of the largest global private equity investors, managing assets worth $100 billion.

The cosmetics manufacturer "Bulgarian Rose" AD is offering a gross dividend of 0.02105 euros from the profit for 2025. This is stated in the invitation to convene a regular annual general meeting of the company's shareholders, which will be held on June 4, 2026 in Karlovo. The total amount that "Bulgarian Rose" will pay to shareholders amounts to 112.65 thousand euros. It is formed from the company's net profit for 2025 in the amount of 22,329.26 euros and 90,322.96 euros from the general reserves. The dividend is expected to start being paid from July 27 this year. The term for its payment is 6 months. Shareholders will receive the dividend through investment intermediaries and "International Asset Bank" AD.

The Bulgarian fintech company ITF Group has successfully issued a fourth bond issue for 3 million euros. The company, specializing in non-bank consumer and business lending, operates on the market in our country with the online loans SmileCredit, as well as with the first Bulgarian peer-to-peer lending platform Klear, which it acquired last year. The issue is the fourth in order of issuance and the third unsecured for the company, which, after the necessary registrations and approvals, will also be accepted for trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), where the company's other securities are also traded. The offering manager was ELANA Trading. The securities carry 11 percent annual interest, payable every six months, a maturity of 24 months and a one-time amortization of the principal at maturity. In 2025, the company distributed financing for nearly 75 million leva, and its portfolio grew to over 48 million leva. Over the past three years, its revenues have increased more than 2-fold to 35.5 million leva, and net profit has grown almost three-fold to 6.1 million leva at the end of 2025, the company reports. So far, the company has successfully issued three bond issues - in 2019, 2024 and 2025, with amounts of 5 million leva, 3.9 million euros and 8 million euros. All three issues are traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. With the current issue, the total resources attracted by the company on the Bulgarian capital market exceed 18 million euros.

The European Union's trade surplus in goods was €128 billion in 2025, down €8 billion from the previous year's surplus of €136 billion, the European statistics agency Eurostat said. The EU recorded surpluses in its trade in goods with the rest of the world in each of the years from 2015 to 2025, except for 2022, when the negative trade balance was due to a significant deficit in energy trade. In all other years during the period, trade surpluses in machinery, vehicles, chemicals and related products offset deficits in energy trade. Trade in chemicals and related products has seen the biggest increase in the last decade, with the surplus seen in 2015 doubling in 2025, from €128.3 billion to €256.7 billion. The surplus in food and drinks has also increased, but more moderately, from €32 billion in 2015 to €39.7 billion last year. Contrary to this trend, trade in manufactured goods, excluding machinery and vehicles, which had a surplus of €11.3 billion in 2015, recorded a deficit of €37.6 billion last year. Over the same period, the EU's trade deficit in the energy sector increased from €226.4 billion in 2015 to €298.9 billion in 2025. Price fluctuations have had a major impact on the indicator, which was at its lowest point in 2020 (€157.2 billion) and at its highest point in 2022 (€649.5 billion). As for the EU's main trading partners, in 2025 the United States was the main destination for European exports, with 21% going there. EU exports to the US amounted to €554.9 billion last year, corresponding to an annual growth of 3.6%. This brings European exports to the United States to their highest level since Eurostat began recording data in 2002. In comparison, in 2015, EU exports to the United States amounted to €310.8 billion and imports to €197.3 billion. After the United States, the EU's largest trading partners last year were the United Kingdom (€345.5 billion, or a share of 13.1 percent) and Switzerland (€219.5 billion, or 8.3 percent).

Global investors are on track to pull a record amount of capital out of emerging Asian stocks, excluding China, as oil prices surge due to the conflict in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported. Since the start of the war in Iran, foreign investors have sold about $52 billion in stocks in the region, putting it on track for the biggest monthly capital outflow on record since 2009. The hardest hit are markets dependent on energy imports, including Taiwan, South Korea and India. Higher oil prices are putting serious pressure on the economies of net energy importers, such as most Asian countries. The current outflow exceeds that of the pandemic in March 2020 and is more than twice as large as the capital withdrawals since the start of the war in Ukraine in June 2022. Asia accounts for about 80 percent of the demand for crude oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz, making the region particularly vulnerable to potential supply disruptions and, consequently, to inflationary pressures and a slowdown in growth. Asian stocks have underperformed their US peers this month, with US markets remaining relatively resilient, helped by the country’s status as a net energy exporter. A stronger dollar and profit-taking in chipmakers are adding to the pressure. Morgan Stanley strategists have already advised investors to sell on rising Asian stock prices, warning of the region’s vulnerability to prolonged disruptions in oil supplies. Investors also remain cautious about the possibilities of de-escalating tensions between the US and Iran, after Tehran rejected proposals for dialogue despite signals from Washington about ongoing negotiations.