The growing profits of the banks in Bulgaria this year is mainly due to the large growth in income from interest on loans granted. Although Bulgarian banks still have some of the lowest interest rates on newly issued mortgage loans, many of them have smoothly and gradually begun to increase interest rates on existing credit contracts - both residential and consumer. This process started already in the autumn of last year, when companies and people with loans in euros were the first to feel the new trend. Then it caught up with loans where the base rate depends on the EURIBOR index, and later it covered all loan holders. Against the backdrop of the credit boom of recent years, this slight, if not insignificant, increase in interest rates brings huge profits to the banks. At the same time, banks in our country continue to hold their customers' savings without any interest - a process that has been going on for three years now. Only a few small banks have started raising interest rates on new and renewed deposits this year. However, their levels are rather symbolic and do not exceed 1% for the money per vlog for one year. Thus, for the nine months of 2023, banks in our country realized a net interest income of BGN 3.6 billion, which is BGN 1.3 billion higher than reported for the same period last year. Along with interest, banks continue to collect income from fees and commissions. For the nine months of the year, they reported BGN 1.110 billion in net income from fees and commissions. This is about BGN 100 million more than last year. The good financial indicators of the banking system are also due to lower costs incurred for impairment of possible bad loans. As of September 30, these reserves were BGN 264 million compared to BGN 352 million a year earlier.

From BGN 504 to BGN 526, the so-called "poverty line" by decision of the Government. As the poverty line increases, social benefits under the Social Assistance Act, financial support under the Disability Act, financial means for prevention, reintegration and raising a child with relatives and relatives and with foster families will also increase. This decision will also expand the scope of people who receive a social pension for old age. About 800 thousand people from vulnerable groups will receive more money in the next year 2024 than before. A total of BGN 75.6 million will be allocated additionally for the new social assistance benefits, BGN 27.6 will be given to people with disabilities, and funds under the Child Protection Act will be increased by BGN 1 million.

Dobri Mitrev was re -elected chairman of the Board of Directors (Board) of the Bulgarian Business Chamber (BIA), at the XVI General Assembly of the Chamber. The BIA Board of Directors were elected: Andrey Mitkov Delchev - Executive Director of the Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association, Managing Partner at the Law Firm "Yurolex"; Anton Kirilov Petrov - Member of the Board of Directors of Steel Industry JSC, Steel Engineering JSC, Sidma Bulgaria EAD, Aiforos Bulgaria EAD and Port Svishtov West JSC, Botyo Stanimirov - Vice -President of The Bulgarian Chamber of Chemical Industry; Prof. Dr. Eng. Valentin Genov Kolev - Chairman of the Bulgarian Branch Chamber of Energy (BBC), Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technical University - Sofia; Veselin Bozhidarov Danev-a major partner at Melia Hotel International in Bulgaria; Prof. Dr. Vasil Zhivkov Zhivkov-Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Woodworking and Furniture Industry, Member of the Board of Directors and a representative of Bulgaria in the European Confederation of Furniture Industry (EFIC); Veselin Julianov Baldzhiev - Member of the Board of Directors of Darik Holding JSC, Executive Director of Bulgarcontrol JSC, manager of Aqua Field OOD and Feskom OOD; Violina Emilova Nakova - Member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Economics - Varna, Manager of VN Consult Bulgaria LTD.; Violina Marinova Spasova - Member of the Supervisory Board of DSK Bank; Vladislav Alexandrov Lazarov-Deputy Chairman of the National Council of Labor and Production Cooperatives; Prof. Dr. Georgi Dimitrov Todorov - Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Technology and Head of the Center for Supreme Achievement at TU -Sofia; Dobri Dimitrov Mitrev - Chairman of the Board of BIA of 2021, re -elected 1.11.2023. (NSBS); Ivaylo Galabov Borisov - Chairman of the Board of the Union of Poultry Breeders in Bulgaria; Ivan Velkov Velkov - Chairman of the Board of Bulgarian Facility Management Association (BGFMA) and Chairman of the Board of Fiabtsi Bulgaria (International Federation of Real Estate Specialists); Ivana Georgieva Radomirova - Executive Director and Member of the Board of the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria; Yonko Vladimirov Chuklev-Deputy Chairman and founder of the Association "Professional Association of Robotics, Automation and Innovation" (Parai); Maria Mincheva Mincheva-Deputy Chairman of BIA and a member of the European Economic and Social Committee; Nikola Georgiev Rangelov - Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Association of the Metallurgical Industry (Bami), Manager of "Pestostane" Ltd. and Reflex Trade Ltd., Executive Director of "Pestrostage and Isolations - Installation"; Nikolay Tonchev Tonchev - owner of "Agromashinimpex - Shumen" JSC, Executive Director of "Shumen Industrial Park" JSC, "Niki - BT" JSC, "Missyirian - Bulgaria" JSC, "Nord Tabak" EAD; Petar Ivanov Stefanov - Chairman of the Central Cooperative Union; Polina Krasteva Karastoyanova - Executive Director of National Tourism Board; Spiros Nomikos - Executive Director of Solvay Sodi JSC - Devnya, and General Manager of the Solvay Group for Bulgaria; Stanislav Yanchev Popdonchev-Deputy Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of BIA; Tanya Yordanova Boncheva - Executive Director of the Industrial Economic Association - Yambol, Manager of Business Style Correct Ltd.; Yavor Mishev Zhekov - Manager of Abanos Ltd. and a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Burgas; Yaroslav Donchev Donchev - Vice President Commercial Activity and Exprected Services of Ideal Standard International, Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ideal Standard - Vidima JSC. The new composition of the BIA Control Board were elected: Ilia Makariev Levkov - Chairman of the Board of the National Branch Organization Industrial Cluster Electric vehicles (IKEM); Michael Hristov Deliyski - Chairman of the Board of the Association for Environmental Engineering, Manager of Energofect Consult LTD.; Nikolay Ivanov Radev (Chairman of the BSC of BIA) - Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Economics - Dobrich, managing partner at Foligrt Ltdhttp://beis.bia-bg.com/index.php?lang=en&p=shortp&prt=endaily&selcomp=13128., owner and manager of Smart Impress LTD.

The Council of Ministers approved BGN 730 thousand for the Municipality of Gabrovo to compensate for households left cold by Hristo Kovachki, which "Gabrovo Toplofikatsi", which went bankrupt a few months ago. The approved funds have been calculated on the basis of "the average real consumption of each client of Gabrovo Toplofikatsiya" for the last 3 years. For the last heating season 2022/23, the district heating has produced 37.8% less heat than the previous heating season and by 41.7% compared to the heating season 2020/21. The state will benefit from all - with low incomes and very high incomes. The funds will be used to support the household clients of the city's district heating company who will not have heat supply during the upcoming 2023 - 2024 season. It is officially owned by the Cypriot offshore company Darklet Limited. However, the company is considered to be related to businessman Hristo Kovachki, who, through his company Top Group Ltd, privatized it nearly 20 years ago. Offshore companies were used.

A new investment in the amount of BGN 110 million was announced by the "Rubin" glass factory in Pleven. The project, which foresees the creation of 150 new jobs, is for the construction of a new 300-ton bath furnace. The enterprise is currently implementing the two investment projects that have received a class "A" investor certificate under the Investment Promotion Act (IPA), under which 550 jobs have already been created. On the project for the new investment, a request was also submitted by the investor for certification under ZNI. The total value of the company's investments after the implementation of the new project will reach about BGN 250 million. The project for the construction of the bath furnace foresees a number of innovations in management, which will be carried out with real data from a smart control center, reducing harmful emissions. Back in February of this year, the company "Glas Contribution", which is behind the glass factory "Rubin" in Pleven, announced that it would invest over 100 million BGN in the enterprise. The project for the construction of a 300-ton furnace was carried out by the German companies Nikolaus Sorg GmbH&Co.KGc, Sorg Feuerungsbau und Service GmbH and Excelsius Global Services GmbH. The "Rubin" glass factory in Pleven has over 50 years of experience in the production of glass packaging such as bottles and jars repurposed for bottling wine, beer, highly alcoholic beverages, juices, soft drinks, mineral water, olive oil, food juices and others.

Bulmarket continues its consistent program to resume the activities of the former locomotive and wagon plant in Ruse and build a modern industrial park. The subsidiary of the company, which owns the plant, has already been re -registered with Industrial Park of LPE Ltd. The conceptual design is approved by the investor and it is envisaged that all existing production halls are preserved. The introduction of high-tech production is planned, as well as serious research activities in partnership with two universities in the field of innovation in rail. Administrations have been taken to register for the Industrial Park of LIZ under the new Industrial Parks Act, as well as project papers have been submitted to the Municipality of Ruse. The management of the Industrial Park of LPE has been entrusted to Eng. Spasimir Dimitrov, until recently director of the Public Order and Security Directorate in the Municipality of Ruse. rusemedia

The public was finally ordered to pay BGN 10,000 each to the presidential adviser Plamen Uzynov and the businessman Plamen Bobokov for damages caused by the failure of the state prosecution in the case That's about the "dumb thing" all the two times. The compensation is due together with the legal interest from February 24, 2021. This is the result of the decision of the Supreme Court of Cassation, which on October 26 rejected the appeal of the applicant for the cassation review of the case following the decision of the Administrative Court in Co fia, which not only confirmed the compensation awarded to the two by the Sofia City Court, but also y magnifies. Boĸov and Uzynov are public figures whose reputation was damaged by the inaction of the police. The first judges also recognize the guilty plea of Boboĸov and Uzynov on the charge of the "stupid conversation" between the two. Uzunov and Bobokov were tried for inaction on the charges brought against them and for the decision to review their cases in a timely manner. On December 23, 2021, the Sofia Civil Court decided that the applicant must pay each of the two BGN 3,000 compensation plus attorneys' fees, state fees, etc. In November 2022, the two condemned the state accusation for the second time, and the court awarded compensation in the amount of BGN 10,000 to each of them. On February 6 of this year, it became known that the prosecutor's office was terminating the investigation against the two. The investigation against Uzunov and Bobokov was opened on June 18, 2020. They were charged with criminal conspiracy for the period from November 2019 to the end of January 2020, as well as with crimes committed by Uzunov. The criminal proceedings became the reason for the action of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the already closed specialized prosecutor's office and witness protection bureau of the chief prosecutor, who entered the presidency. The action caused mass protests against the then government of Boyko Borisov, as well as against the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev.

Two EU countries are already in recession, according to Eurostat data. These are Estonia and Austria, which have already had a negative growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the previous quarter for two consecutive quarters. In the third quarter of the year, Germany also had a negative GDP growth (-0.1%), but in the previous quarter there was a positive growth of 0.1%. In total, for EU countries, GDP growth in the third quarter compared to the previous one was only 0.1%. A growth of 0.1% of the GDP for the EU countries was also reported in the third quarter of the year compared to the same period last year, according to Eurostat data. From Eurostat's available data, there are six EU countries where GDP shrank year-on-year. These are Ireland (GDP decline by 4.7% on an annual basis), Estonia (-2.5%), Sweden (-1.2%), Austria (-1.2%), Czech Republic (-0.6 %) and Germany (-0.4%).

U.S. commercial real estate lending has shrunk to historic lows, threatening a default on expiring debt and a sharp decline in new construction for warehouses, apartments and other types of real estate, the Wall Street Journal reported. Banks, insurance companies and other commercial real estate lenders have been scaling back lending since the first half of 2022 as the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates and recession fears intensified. But lenders have become even more reluctant to lend again since government bond yields began rising in early August. Most commercial real estate loans are tied to short-term, not long-term, interest rates. But rising bond yields are worrying already-fearful lenders and raising new doubts about whether some types of property are overvalued. The total volume of commercial real estate loans held by banks, the largest source of debt financing, fell in the first two weeks of October, according to a Trepp analysis of Federal Reserve data. Lending to commercial properties by banks has only contracted in two months since 2014. Most remaining two-week periods since 2014 have shown growth. Other debt providers are also pulling out. Just $28.2 billion in loans convertible into commercial mortgage-backed securities were made this year, the lowest level since 2011, Trepp data showed. In addition, the largest mortgage-backed real estate investment trust (REIT) stopped lending to new borrowers in the first half of this year. The entire commercial real estate debt market, including banks, commercial real estate mortgage-backed securities and non-bank lenders, grew by more than 1 percent in the second quarter. This is the lowest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2014, reports Matthew Anderson, managing director of Trepp. The biggest victims are office owners who refinance expiring loans at much higher interest rates. But the funding shortfall is also affecting other borrowers in the commercial property sector, such as owners of apartment buildings and warehouses, which have been favored by investors for years. The recent rise in yields on 10-year bonds has "unnerved the market," said Michael Levy, chief executive of Crow Holdings, one of the world's largest developers of rental apartments and industrial space. "The problems in the capital market are crushing everyone," he adds. Many private debt funds are unable to raise capital and much of their time is spent negotiating with existing borrowers who are having difficulty refinancing their low-interest loans. "If you're an alternative lender and you don't have new capital, you don't make a lot of new loans until you see a majority of them being paid off," said Richard Mack, CEO of Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies.

Southeast Asia's internet economy is expected to grow 11 percent annually in 2023, slowing from last year's growth of 20 percent, according to an annual industry report cited by Reuters. The report, released by Google, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and international business consultancy Bain & Company, also said the region's internet economy is expected to reach $295 billion by 2025. This is below an earlier forecast of 330 billion dollars. "Sectors of the digital economy are showing positive growth trajectories, with travel and transportation on track to exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2024," the report's authors said in a joint statement. The narrowing of the forecast is mainly due to the long-term shift in purpose and post-pandemic stabilization, and is now expected to have a stable base until 2025, commented Florian Hoppe, partner and Asia-Pacific director at Bain & Company. The region, spanning 11 countries, has a population of more than 1 billion people, which is made up of predominantly young people. Smartphones in the region are widespread and the middle class is growing, making it one of the fastest growing internet markets in the world. Vietnam's digital economy is expected to grow by 20 percent annually from 2023 to 2025 and reach about $45 billion by 2025, recording the fastest growth in Southeast Asia along with the Philippines, the report showed. "Digital payments continue to grow in Vietnam due to strong support from the government, investment from commercial banks and the high popularity of QR codes," the text added. The trend is expected to accelerate as the country's central bank promotes cashless payments in rural and remote areas. The report, which also covers Indonesia, Thailand, Vientiane, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, said private financing of sectors related to the digital economy fell to 2017 levels after reaching record levels in 2021. But cash reserves for investments are still growing, even as investors grow more cautious. "To emerge from this funding winter, digital businesses in Southeast Asia need to demonstrate that quality deals are readily available," the report said, adding that the decline was in line with global shifts towards a high cost of capital and problems in livelihoods. funding cycle. According to the report, venture capitalists had $15.7 billion available for deals at the end of 2022. “It really depends on how quickly companies can turn to profitability. The faster they do this, the faster the funding will come back," commented Fok Wai Hung, head of Southeast Asia at Temasek.