The real growth of incomes in Bulgaria will slow down in 2022. Expectations for the dynamics of labor incomes in the medium term will remain high, but estimates of their real growth have been revised in a downward direction. This is recorded in the Convergence Program of Bulgaria for the period 2022-2025, which has already been published on the website of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). In 2022, the nominal growth of compensation per employee is estimated at 8.1% and reflects the expected demand for labor, the increase in the minimum wage and insurance thresholds, as well as some side effects of high inflation in the country. The impact of inflationary processes on nominal income growth is expected to be realized with some lag and to be realized to a greater extent in 2023. The slowdown in the growth of compensation per employee in 2022 compared to the previous year will be mainly due to the lower contribution of the public sector.

Bulgarian banks' gross non-performing loans (NPLs) fell by 8% quarter-on-quarter to BGN 5.0 billion at the end of 2021, the central bank said on Thursday. There was a sharper decrease in the ratio of NPLs in the credit portfolio to 6.5% in the fourth quarter of 2021, by quarterly 78 basis points (bps), compared to a decrease of 38 bps in the previous quarter, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a quarterly report on the banking sector's performance. Loan sales and write-offs, along with the end of the private credit moratorium in December 2021, were among the factors that justified the above decrease, BNB added. Net NPLs dropped by 7.7% on a quarterly comparison basis to BGN 2.6 billion in the final three months of 2021. Total accumulated impairment on loans and advances fell by 2.7% on the quarter to BGN 3.6 billion at the end of last year. The total assets of Bulgarian banks were up 2.1% on the previous quarter at BGN 135.4 billion as at end- December 2021.

Rozara 1, part of Rozara Group, has acquired a majority stake in Vinprom Kyustendil, the company said. The new owners intend to restore the capacity of the distillery, which was among the leading producers of alcohol in the country. The winery was designed and built by leading Austrian engineers and distillation experts in 1945. It is located in the village of Granitsa, Kyustendil municipality and to date produces six types of fruit brandies - cherry, William pear, apple, plum, apricot. Currently, work is undergoing to increase the capacity of the winery, and improvements have been made in the distillery, which according to the new owners will bring good results in a short time. The team is expected to double production by the end of the year, which means increasing the team and network of suppliers. The new owners will also work to restore the long-standing traditions of fruit growing in the region. The winery retains its management team, new additions have been added, said Rozara 1.

The leading online lending company Credissimo continues to expand its presence on markets abroad. After the last market - Colombia, the company is determined to strengthen its position in the region, preparing for entering another Latin American market. The expansion of the fintech group's activities in Europe is not left in the background either. The first loans are expected to be distributed in Spain by the end of the year. In addition to Spanish-speaking markets, Credissimo is also working on entering two other Western European markets, including Germany. Priority in the strategic development of the company has always been the development and implementation of innovative and high-tech solutions to optimize processes.

A Swedish corporation, which offers solutions related to health and lifestyle, has turned its attention to Stara Zagora with the intention of starting production of products using the raw material from essential oils. The company has the most modern technologies for processing these raw materials, and the company's idea is to produce products of the highest quality to be exported to Asian and European markets, according to the press center of Stara Zagora. The investors have also examined sites in the fully built Zagore Industrial Zone. During the visit, working meetings were held with producers in the industry. https://divident.eu/

TPP Bobov Dol is preparing a new investment to achieve green production and coal removal. The company has submitted an investment intention to build a biogas plant, which will use a special method to produce it from biomass residues such as corn stalks and leftover straw. The investment intention shows that the planned total capacity of the biopower plant will be 9 megawatts, and the processing capacity - 100 tons of biomass per day. The company commented that the production of energy from biomass and biogas produced from it is completely environmentally friendly and the process itself does not emit any harmful emissions. According to the director of TPP Bobov Dol, eng. Lyubomir Spasov, the introduction of natural gas, installation of a huge solar park, the use of hydrogen, biomass and biogas will create ecological and stable production of electricity. The company's experts have been working on these projects for more than a year.

Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), which operates under the Vivacom brand name and is part of the Netherlands-based United Group, increased its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by an annual 13% to BGN 452 million in 2021, local media reported. BTC's revenue also grew, by 6% on the year to BGN 1.08 billion. The telco's clients increased to some BGN 4.8 million at the end of 2021, from BGN 4.52 million a year earlier. The average revenue per user (ARPU) climbed across the board in 2021, with the highest result for cable television users, or EUR 8.4 per user against EUR 8.3 in 2020. Capital expenditure, or investments in network and services, rose 15.6% on the year to BGN 185 million. The results do not include revenue from several local internet service providers (ISPs) and cable operators, which BTC acquired last year, namely Net1, Networks, ComNet, N3 and Telnet.

All EU countries have agreed not to pay Russia directly in rubles for their gas imports, a senior Brussels official was quoted as saying by Reuters. The deadline for the next payments is expected to be May 20, he added. "What we know is, and according to this formula, there is agreement among all member states that no one is preparing to pay" in rubles, said a representative of the European institutions at a briefing. He added that the European Commission has not reviewed how many buyers have opened accounts to pay for gas supplies to Gazprombank. “Our information is that Poland and Bulgaria have adhered to the original form of payments for gas supplies to Russia,” said the EU representative. Even the mere fact of opening a bank account in rubles in Russia's Gazprombank could be a violation of EU sanctions against Russia. So far, however, Brussels has no indication that any European gas company has done so, he said. According to him, "at first glance" the opening of a bank account in rubles by gas importers seems to be a violation of sanctions. 

President Biden is asking Congress for $33bn in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to support Ukraine - although he insisted that the US was not "attacking Russia". Mr Biden said it was "critical" for US lawmakers to approve the deal, which he said would help Ukraine defend itself. The proposal includes more than $20bn in military aid, $8.5bn in economic aid and $3bn in humanitarian aid. "It's not cheap," Mr Biden said on Thursday. "But caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen." Although the US has already announced help for Ukraine, the proposals are a significant ramping up of aid. Mr Biden's first funding request after the war began, which was approved by Congress last month, was less than $14bn. Last week, President Biden authorised a second $800m (£642m) military aid package in as many weeks, as well as $500m (£401m) in direct economic assistance. The US has moved quickly to help Ukraine since the war began in late February. President Biden said US military support to Ukraine has so far amounted to 10 anti-tank weapons for every tank that Russia has deployed to Ukraine.

China's biggest oil refiner Sinopec Group has been unloading excess liquefied natural gas to European clients, the company said Thursday, in transactions that appear to run counter to China's objections to Russian sanctions. Sinopec's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary confirmed during a first quarter earnings call that it is reselling part of its LNG stockpile on the "international market" in commenting on sales to Europe. "These are pure market transactions," said a Sinopec representative. "We are trading LNG on a global scale based on commercialization and diversification principles," the representative added, denying any political implications to the trades. The Chinese government is expanding the use of natural gas as it combats air pollution. Last year, about 40% of China's domestic natural gas consumption came from imports. LNG made up about two-thirds of natural gas imports, and roughly half of that came from Australia and the U.S. Sinopec is apparently reselling some of the imported LNG to Europe in part because domestic use of the fuel has come down from winter's peak.