Only for the period July - December 2023, the Bulgarian National Assembly adopted 51 laws for amendment and addition, which actually amend and supplement 43 laws. This is clear from the data presented by the "Legal Barometer" magazine.. Within the six-month period, 79% of the relevant laws were changed more than once – 34 out of 43 laws. This is the highest rate of change for the past 12 years, the analysis shows. Leaders in terms of number of amendments is the Law on Excise Taxes and Tax Warehouses - with seven amendments and additions, said the head of the "Legal Barometer" team Prof. Daniel Valchev. The Insurance Code, the Law on Judicial Power, the Law on Health, the Law on Health Insurance, the Law on Public Procurement, the Tax-Insurance Procedure Code and the Law on Corporate Income Taxation have been amended five times. Another five laws were amended and supplemented four times within the six-month period.

In 2023, a record 1 914 contracts for IT hardware, software and services were concluded in Bulgaria under the Law on Public Procurement (PPA), with a total value of BGN 533.1 million [0.3% of GDP], according to the 24th consecutive annual CBN research Pannoff, Stoytcheff & Co. In the Top 10 ranking of contracting authorities for 2023 by amounts spent, the leader is new and five new participants enter - two ministries, the Central Election Commission, the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Belarus and a private company. Three new companies enter the Top 10 ranking of performers for 2023 by earnings, the first place now has a new name, and the leader earns nearly BGN 50 million. State and municipal authorities remain the largest IT public procurement contractors in Bulgaria for 2023, followed by business, education and healthcare. The expenses of the state and municipal departments involved directly or indirectly with e-governance are a total of 3.306 billion BGN [$1.996B] made in 8,827 contracts for a total of 24 years.

CETIN Bulgaria, the sister company of Yettel Bulgaria, specialized in the construction of telecommunications infrastructure, launched a project for a 5G corridor between Sofia and Serbia at a total cost of BGN 13 million, 5G Balkans will help improve optical connectivity along the transport corridor between the two neighboring countries. The aim of the project is to help improve mobility and connectivity in the region, as well as to meet the mandatory requirements on which autonomous cars are based. Besides CETIN Bulgaria, its partners are CETIN in Serbia and Technical University - Sofia, and Yettel Bulgaria and Yettel in Serbia are associated partners. The idea of the so-called 5G corridors is to help pave the way to connected and automated mobility (CAM) or self-driving cars in short. Safety services are also part of these CAM technologies, whether it is road, rail, inland water or multimodal transport. Within the framework of the CETIN project, Bulgaria will upgrade the existing section of its optical route in Sofia and build about 100 km of new high-speed fixed connectivity from Sofia to Kalotina. CETIN in Serbia will operate on the Kalotina - Dimitrovgrad section in Serbia, connecting established base stations to its existing high-speed optical network. The role of the Technical University of Sofia is to carry out independent measurements and analyzes along the constructed and upgraded Sofia - Kalotina route, including the parameters and potential disturbances in the frequencies intended for future applications related to road safety. The 5G corridor with Serbia is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. CETIN's 5G Balkans is part of the second wave of EU funding projects for 5G corridor infrastructures. Within the first wave of projects for 5G corridors, the project of A1 Bulgaria was selected for the construction of infrastructure along the cross-border section between Greece and Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian chain "Fantastico" has started construction of a new shopping complex in the capital's "Orlandovtsi" district, which is scheduled to be operational at the end of this year. The investment in it is over BGN 23 million and will create 100 new jobs. The object is located on the corner between "Kamenodelska" and "Malashevska" streets. The construction is on own property with an area of 14,142 sq.m. The company has bought two properties to realize the project. One, undeveloped property was part of the "Rodopa" meat processing plant, and the other property was not part of the meat processing plant. In December 2023, Fantastico Group bought a plot of almost 2.3 acres on Kamenodelska from Bultravel Leasing Co., which is associated with Lyudmil Stoykov. The material interest indicated here is only BGN 300 thousand. 11.7 decares on "Malashevska" Street were transferred from the related "Europa VN" to "Fantastico Group" in December 2022, and another 2.4 decares from "Pixi-BG Leasing" at price of BGN 2.7 million. In the big deal for almost 12 acres, the seller in June 2022 is again Bulttravel Leasing Co., and the stated price is BGN 8 million. In short, the investment in the land alone is about BGN 11 million. The shopping center will be located on 4,707 square meters of built-up area, of which 1,292 square meters will be leased - to fast fashion stores, a pharmacy, a courier service station, a cash register for paying household bills, an insurance broker. The general contractor of the site is "AT Engineering 2000". In the coming days, the renovation of the emblematic first store of the chain, which is located at 72 Oborishte St. in the capital, will be completed. At the end of May this year, the expanded logistics base in the town of Elin Pelin, which is located next to the already existing company warehouses, will be operational. The investment in the facility, which covers an area of over 36,000 square meters, is BGN 36 million. With its opening, the company will create about 70 new jobs. The newly built part of the "Fantastico" logistics hub will have 27 hydraulic ramps, and the daily quantities of goods processed will increase by between 150 and 200 tons per day. The logistics base will also have a photovoltaic installation with a capacity of 980 kWp. By the end of the year, the construction of the "Fantastico" supermarket in the capital's "Levski G" district on "Vladimir Vazov" Blvd., near the newly built metro station, should be completed. The commercial site will have a built-up area of 5,088 square meters, and the investment in it is nearly BGN 19 million. In addition to a supermarket, there will also be tenants there - an insurance broker, a pet store, a pharmacy, a cash register for household bills, and a courier service station. The main contractor of the project is "Barrage Group". "Fantastico Group" is a Bulgarian family company that owns 45 supermarkets on the territory of Sofia, Bankya, Elin Pelin, Pernik, Kyustendil and Botevgrad. The "Fantastico" group (which includes "Europa VN", "Euro Hart", "Vinterco BG", "Van Holding", ET "Valeri Nikolov", "UNICEF", "Dar GN") has revenues of BGN 827 million for 2022 .

A retail park with a total built-up area of 4076 square meters is about to be opened in Gabrovo. It will include six retail outlets and a car park that will be semi-underground. The investor in the project is the Bulgarian company Gabrovo Retail Park Ltd. It was registered in 2022, and its managers are Vladimir Yordanov Angelov and Svetoslav Rosimirov Mateev. The complex is expected to open its doors this year. It is planned that the commercial establishments will be of different sizes and configurations - with an area of 131 to 1174 sq. m. Construction of a semi-basement level for parking is also planned.

"Toplofikatsia Sofia" missed the opportunity to save BGN 200 million in costs from its carbon emission quotas over the past six years. The municipal company concluded contracts with disadvantageous clauses with emissions traders and bought allowances at prices that were significantly higher than market prices. These are the summarized conclusions from an expert analysis of public data for 2019-2024 prepared for Greenpeace - Bulgaria. Calculations show that during the period under review, quota cost savings of BGN 20-30 million per year were possible if quota trading was adequately managed. In 2019, the contract between "Toplofikatsia Sofia" and the commercial intermediary "Grand Capital" entered into force, which provides, on the one hand, a remuneration for the intermediary in the amount of 0.50 euros for each purchased quota. On the other hand, it also foresees a fixed price for the purchase of carbon emissions quotas of 28.50 euros/ton. However, at the time of the conclusion of the contract, the estimated emission prices are significantly lower, and for 2019 they are 23 euros/ton, and for 2020 – 25 euros/ton. By paying a fee to the intermediary, the "Toplofikatsia Sofia" customer should expect to receive an optimally advantageous price at an optimally advantageous time as a service from the intermediary. By fixing a price, significantly higher than the estimated prices, the transaction benefits the intermediary at the expense of the client, practically receiving double remuneration. For 2020, nearly 34% of the quotas are worth EUR 29.70/ton, 4.24% were ordered for EUR 27.75/ton, and the remaining over 60% cost between EUR 44 and 45/ton. To the extent that the market prices of allowances do not approach these values at any point in 2020, it can be reasonably concluded that these prices are fixed and most likely embedded in the contract with Grand Capital. They were paid to the significant detriment of "Toplofikatsia Sofia", as the highest price of the annual futures for 2020 was 33 euros/ton. According to the conclusion of the Revision Commission, the pre-fixed price in the contract was significantly higher than the current price of the quotas on the dates when the intermediary carried out the exchange transactions. This is how the intermediary earns BGN 9.2 million from the transaction for the emissions of "Toplofikatsia Sofia", in addition to the commission of BGN 800,000 for each purchased quota.

The German company for the production of heat pumps, Envola, wants to invest 50 million euros in a plant in Burgas. Production is planned on the territory of Burgas Industrial Park - Phase 2. After the launch of the full capacity of the enterprise, 200 people will work there. The investor is currently preparing documents to apply to the Bulgarian Investment Agency (BAI) for a "Class A" investment certificate. Envola is funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. It develops and manufactures highly efficient and fully integrated heating, cooling, ventilation and water heating systems with heat pumps. The company finds the technical solution to bring air conditioning and air heat pumps to the next level of high efficiency. With the system, called Venticer HVAC, energy consumption can be significantly reduced – by up to 50% for cooling and up to 30% for heating, compared to the best products available. The new heat pump technology integrates the necessary ventilation system into the same heat pump process.

The fixed capital of "Bianor Holding" JSC was increased to BGN 12,290,133, divided into 12,290,133 ordinary non-voting shares with a nominal value of BGN 1 (one) each. The decision, according to which the company's capital is increased from BGN 6,875,514 to BGN 12,290,133, was adopted by the company's Board of Directors on December 14, 2023. In mid-April, the company announced that it had successfully completed the capital increase procedure , with BGN 20 million raised from investors. During the procedure, 5,414,619 new shares were subscribed out of the proposed 5,482,813, or almost 99% of the proposed new shares of "Bianor Holding". In the last year, the shares of "Bianor Holding" increased in price by 75%, and the market capitalization of the company reached over BGN 36 million.

The ratio of government debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the euro area in the last quarter of 2023 has fallen to 88.6% from 90.8% a year earlier. In the European Union as a whole, the debt-to-GDP ratio will decrease to 81.7% from 83.4% in 2022, according to published Eurostat data. At the end of the last quarter of last year, the lowest ratio of government debt to GDP among EU countries was recorded in Estonia (19.6 percent), Bulgaria (23.1 percent), Luxembourg (25.7 percent ) and Denmark (29.3 percent). The highest ratio - public debt to GDP at the end of 2023, was registered in Greece (161.9 percent), Italy (137.3 percent), France (110.6 percent), Spain (107.7 per cent) and Belgium (105.2 per cent). For Bulgaria, the public debt at the end of 2023 rose slightly to 23.1% of GDP compared to 22.6% of GDP a year earlier, but our country nevertheless remains the second in the EU with the lowest levels of debt, as is overtaken only by Estonia. At the same time, Bulgaria's public debt rose the most in the last quarter of 2023 compared to three months earlier, increasing by 2.1 percentage points compared to the third quarter. Compared to a year earlier, the Bulgarian debt increased by 0.5 percentage points at the end of 2023, with more solid debt growth recorded in six other EU member states. Compared to the third quarter, at the end of 10 EU countries report an increase in the ratio of government debt to GDP. The biggest increase in this indicator is Bulgaria (+2.1 percentage points), followed by Latvia (+1.6 percentage points), Finland (+1.5 percentage points), Estonia (+1.4 percentage points) , Sweden (+1.2 percentage points) and Poland (+1 percentage point). The biggest decrease in the ratio of public debt to GDP among EU countries during this period was registered in Portugal (-8.4 percentage points), Greece (-3.7 percentage points), Slovenia (-2.6 percentage points), Belgium (-2.4 percentage points), Slovakia (-2.3 percentage points) and Spain (-2.1 percentage points). In 2023, the overall budget deficit within the EU increased slightly to 3.5% of GDP compared to 3.4% in 2022, and in the euro area it decreased from 3.7% to 3.6%. In Bulgaria, the budget deficit shrank more sharply in the last quarter of 2023 to 1.9% of GDP compared to 2.9% of GDP a year earlier. Only three member states posted a budget surplus at the end of last year: Cyprus (3.1% of GDP), Denmark (3.1%), Ireland (1.7%) and Portugal (1.2%). Only six other EU members report smaller deficits than the Bulgarian one: the Netherlands (deficit of 0.3% of GDP), Sweden (deficit of 0.6%), Croatia (-0.7%), Lithuania (- 0.8%), Luxembourg (-1.3%), Greece (-1.6%). The largest budget deficits at the end of last year were reported in Italy (7.4% of GDP), Hungary (6.7%) and Romania (6.6%).

Japanese automaker Honda has decided to build its next electric vehicle plant in Eastern Canada. The project is valued at several billion dollars, a Canadian government source told AFP. The deal is due to be announced on Thursday, April 25, according to the same source. It was concluded with the Canadian federal government, but also with the province of Ontario, where the plant will be located. Both the Government of Canada and the province will contribute financial support to the project. Without providing details, Ontario Provincial Minister Doug Ford welcomed Honda's plans earlier this week. "We have entered into a new agreement. This is the most important agreement in Canadian history. It will be twice as important as the one with Volkswagen (Volkswagen), which is estimated at 7 billion Canadian dollars," he said in a speech in Toronto. In January, when the Honda deal was first mentioned in the Japanese media, the Nikkei daily announced that it was the largest investment by an automaker in the country, or a total investment of about C$14 billion. This Honda plant, to be built in Alliston, an hour's drive from Toronto, will be Ontario's third for electric vehicles, following Volkswagen and Stellantis in Windsor. Canada has made significant efforts to attract companies to the electric vehicle sector, encouraging them through tax incentives, clean energy and a number of steps to secure rare minerals. In its federal budget announced last week, Justin Trudeau's government introduced a new business tax credit, providing a 10 percent rebate on the cost of new home construction used in key segments of the electric vehicle supply chain. In 2021, Honda set a goal to fully electrify its car range by 2040, and the company foresees colossal investments to achieve it.

The "Path of Development" is a project that will provide fast transport links between Europe and Asia through Turkish territory, said the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, Abdulkadir Uraloglu. The memorandum was signed between Turkey, Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The so-called "Development Road" is worth 17 billion dollars. The 1,200-kilometer rail and road project aims to turn Iraq into a transit hub connecting Asia and Europe with a connection between the Iraqi port of Grand Al-Faw and Turkey. Through the project " The road of development" we will provide continuous access to every country in Europe by road and rail from the port of Grand Al-Faw (Iraq) to London.