Natural gas to increase in price by 54 percent and in August to be sold for nearly BGN 287 without taxes and levies - this is what "Bulgargaz" requested from the energy regulator. The gas company's application is from the end of last week, but it was uploaded late on the website of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, which was left without a chairman after the decision of the Constitutional Court. In this situation, it is not clear how and when the regulator will check the application of "Bulgargaz" and approve the new gas price for the next month.

Housing loans in our country continue to become cheaper, with a new low in their price being recorded in June. In June, mortgage loans were granted at an average annual interest rate of 2.49%, according to data from the Bulgarian National Bank. This represents a decrease of 0.05 percentage points compared to the previous month of June, when the average interest rate was 2.54%. Thus, for the first time, average interest rates on home loans fell below the psychological limit of 2.5%. At the same time, however, the annual percentage rate (APR) recorded a slight increase of 0.01 percentage points to an average of 2.79% in the month of June. APR includes all interest payments on the loan, as well as all fees, commissions and other costs for the client's account, the performance of which is a condition for granting the loan. The data reflects the average terms on all new home loans made in June. In other words, the statistics do not yet reflect the rate hike by the European Central Bank that happened earlier this month.

The Commission for the Protection of Personal Data (CPDP) has drawn up an act for one million BGN to "Bulgarian Posts". According to the commission, the company "failed to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures" before and during the cyber attack of April 16 of this year. and so has allowed malware to encrypt sensitive databases. The investigation established that the then management neglected both the provision of adequate cyber security for the company, which operates with the personal data of millions of Bulgarians, and acted irresponsibly on the very day of the attack.

A commercial complex "Retail Park Smolyan" is being built in the town of Smolyan, with the investor "Sun Park" EOOD. According to investor Hristo Bliznakov, "this large-scale project is worth about BGN 11 million." The object has a built-up area of 6697.42 sq.m. Seven stores will open in it, which will house "established Bulgarian and international retail chains with well-known brands that are setting foot in the city for the first time". Over 150 jobs will also be created. (Otzvuk)

A1, part of A1 Group, is a leading provider of digital services and telecommunications solutions in Bulgaria. The company provides mobile and fixed services, high-speed Internet, interactive, digital and satellite television, four own sports channels under the MAX Sport brand, payment services, ICT, cloud and IoT business solutions to more than 4.8 million customers. In 2021, A1 Bulgaria reports revenues of 574.1 million euros, and the comparable EBITDA is 218.3 million euros. A1 Group is a leading telecommunications provider in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 26 million customers. A1 Group operates in seven countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Serbia, and the Group's revenues for 2021 amount to 4.75 billion euros. A1 Group's portfolio includes voice telephony, high-speed Internet and multimedia services, as well as solutions in the field of high technology, data transmission and online payments. The group has a stable shareholder in the person of América Móvil – one of the largest telecommunications providers in the world.(bgonair)

A Japanese leader in the automotive industry is investing in a development center and will create 100 new jobs in our country, the Ministry of Innovation and Growth announced. An investment in a development center is planned by one of the largest automotive companies in Japan, NIDEC, a leader in the production of electric motors. The company will initially invest 3.5 million dollars in a new development center in Sofia, expecting to hire 100 engineers by the end of the year. This became clear after working meetings held at the Ministry of Innovation and Growth by Minister Daniel Laurer with Philippe Marche, director of industrialization e-Drive, representative of the Japanese concern, at which the first phase of the investment project was presented. (Agency Fokus)

Despite the difficulties caused by the covid crisis, the increased prices of energy carriers and inflation, "Lomsko pivo" is expanding its assortment and will launch new beers on the market for true connoisseurs, said the chairman of the board of directors of the factory, Dimitar Chukarski. At the moment, the company has obligations to the staff about 180 thousand BGN. 2 million are the debts to suppliers, there are unpaid amounts to the National Revenue Agency and to banks. 10 years ago, the monthly costs for maintaining and developing production in the Lom factory were 300 thousand BGN, and the price of beer 2 BGN. Currently the price per bottle of beer is almost the same, but costs have doubled. As a result of the negative trends, the production for the last year has dropped to about 6 million liters. The goal is to increase the workload by more than 10 million liters," the chairman of the board of directors also said . To deal with the situation, the factory management is considering a loan. (Konkurent)

The outlook for the German economy continues to deteriorate - on Tuesday the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published new forecasts, according to which the country's economy will record the weakest growth in 2022 among the G-7 members. Moreover, growth is expected to contract further in 2023. Although the forecasts are significantly more gloomy than those of the European Commission (EC) two weeks ago, they are still more optimistic than those of Credit Suisse AG and Deutsche Bank AG, who say the recession -- starting sometime around now -- will continue at least through next spring. In addition, fears of an imminent recession are also growing among consumers. Economic expectations fell by 6.5 basis points on a monthly basis in July, falling to minus 18.2 points, the lowest level since April 2020.

The global space economy grew last year at the fastest annual rate since 2014, hitting a record of $469 billion, according to a report by the Space Foundation. Total output by the world’s governments and corporations in the realm of rockets, satellites and more expanded by 9% year-over-year. Financial activity in the space economy, such as M&A and private investment, has seen a slowdown in 2022, but government and commercial spending remain strong. Commercial space’s growth to $362 billion last year – with space-based products and services such as broadband and GPS generating continued revenue as staples of the modern global economy. Government spending continues to grow, and there are over 90 countries operating in space now. The United States remains the biggest spender, with its $60 billion total space budget nearly quadruple of the next largest, China. Additionally, India and multiple European countries each increased space spending by 30% or more in 2021, although those countries’ budgets remain under $2 billion a year. Fot the first six months of 2022 has seen 75 rocket launches worldwide, matching the record pace set in 1967 by the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the race to the moon. The report noted that about 90% of the more than 1,000 spacecraft launched this year have been backed by commercial firms — most notably the hundreds of Starlink internet satellites launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Online trading technology giant Alibaba Group said it plans to change the status of its Hong Kong-listed shares to make them more accessible to investors in China. The Chinese corporation is undertaking a procedure that will make the Hong Kong stock market the main exchange for trading its shares. The procedure is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Then two stock exchanges in Hong Kong and New York will become the main trading platforms for Alibaba's securities. The corporation's decision on the status of its Hong Kong shares also came amid a warning issued by US regulators to Chinese companies. They threatened to delist their shares on the US stock market if they did not comply with generally accepted auditing standards. The warning caused a sell-off in the shares of Chinese companies on the stock exchanges in the United States.