The Bulgarian company Extrapak, established in 1995, plans to open two new factories near Veliko Tarnovo. One of the planned two new plants will be located on the land of the village of Ledenik and 30 new jobs will be created there. The second factory will operate in the city of Pavlikeni on the territory of a former state cannery. The employed workers there will be about 70. According to the plans of the company's management, both productions will be operational from this summer. "Extrapak" put its first modern plant into operation in the spring of 2001. In 2022, the company announced the start of construction of a factory for the production of ecological paper packaging in Veliko Tarnovo. The previous investment for it was in the amount of BGN 12 million. "Extrapak" from Veliko Tarnovo exports 70% of its production outside Bulgaria, mainly to the EU countries, as well as to Switzerland, Norway and Great Britain.

The Ecoterra company, part of the Italian holding Rigoni di Asiago, wants to expand the production of apple concentrate. For this purpose, it plans to increase its apple orchards in the Montana region. The investment will be made in two villages - Gaganitsa, Berkovitsa municipality, and Gavril Genovo, Georgi Damyanovo municipality. The company has entered an investment intention in RISV - Montana, in which it states that, in addition to the apple plantations, a drip irrigation system will be implemented, as well as photovoltaic facilities. The purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment is also planned. The plantings will be of apple varieties intended for the canning industry, for processing into juice and concentrate, which will be used as a natural sweetener. The area of the plantations is a little over 214 decares in the land of the village of Gaganitsa. They will be planted manually in rows, and the soil treatment in them will be carried out mechanized. Most of the fields are owned by the company, and the rest are leased or rented. The Italian holding Rigoni di Asiago is present on the market in Bulgaria with two companies - Ecoterra and Biofruta. The latter owns a base in Pazardzhik and sells products on the European market. "Ecoterra" has agricultural areas near Berkovitsa and Pazardzhik, where it grows various fruits - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. Some of the products are used to make jam, while others are sold fresh or frozen.

The liquidator of "Eurobet" Ltd is auctioning the property rights of the trademarks owned by the gambling company. In 2020, it went bankrupt after the then State Gambling Commission demanded from it unpaid fees in the amount of BGN 75 million. This happened against the background of a series of special operations and several charges brought against the businessman Vasil Bozhkov. The company organized various games of chance as well as private lotteries, which were banned after changes in legislation. Now 97 brands are offered for sale, and their total starting auction price is BGN 1,029,700. Among them are: Eurobet (BGN 16,900), Eurochance (BGN 20,900), Games of Chance (BGN 10,400), Bingo Millions (BGN 10,400), Lottery Bulgaria (BGN 10,400). There are also different variations related to coupons and formats, with some brands expiring soon, while others are up to 2030.

A powerful Plovdiv company in the field of metallurgy years ago is going down in history. The liquidator is selling real estate of "Master-Steel Profiles" JSC, located in Plovdiv and Burgas. The final measure was taken because of debts in the amount of BGN 12,360,457.07 to the NRA. In Plovdiv, one floor of the base, located in the Eastern Industrial Zone, at 12 Woodrow Wilson Street, is for sale. The starting price of the detached part is BGN 2,248,000. The properties in Burgas include a production building and three other massive one-story buildings in the Southern Industrial Zone. The starting price for them is BGN 3,376,000. The company is the successor of "Master - Dimitar Bichev" ET, founded in 1989. The initial activity of the company is related to the design and production of instrumental equipment and industrial products. According to the market situation, expansion of the activity with trade in non-ferrous metals and production of electro-welded pipes is undertaken. In addition to the plant in Plovdiv, the company opened its bases in Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo, as well as in the ports of Lom, Ruse, Varna and Burgas. Through its related company "Master Stroy Group" Ltd, it realizes an investment project by building a modern base in Stamboliyski as well. A line for cleaning, priming and painting of steel profiles and sheets was delivered there. In the good times for the company, more than 400 people work in it, and apart from Bulgaria, it develops a market niche abroad. In 2021, a private bailiff announced an auction for an abandoned and half-destroyed production base in Sopot, owned by Plovdiv businessman Dimitar Bichev. The sale included several properties that are part of the assets of his company "Butranzit 7" Ltd. They were part of a yard at the main production site of VMZ-Sopot, and occupied an area of over 8 acres. Years ago, metal products were produced there, and for a long time the base looks like a ruin. The auction for it was triggered by "Eurobank Bulgaria" (the former Post Bank) because of unpaid loans for several million BGN, taken against mortgages on the individual buildings in the property. Already in 2018, several banks tried to take at least part of the money from another company indebted to Bichev - "Master SOP" Ltd. At the moment, the company has seized shares in favor of Post Bank, and its liabilities to the National Revenue Agency with interest are already 556,818.92. At that time, his property in Stamboliyski for over BGN 2 million - the massive three-story production building with modern architecture and a warehouse for metals - was also subject to sale through the PSI. Two years ago, an attempt was made to sell a part of the former "Vitamina" cannery in Stamboliyski, where Bichev also has a stake through his company "Master SOP" Ltd. In an attempt to save the family business, Dimitar Bichev's daughter - Diana, founded with three other partners "Audax Corp" Ltd, where she is the majority owner. The company, which has been transformed over the years, has an identical activity - trade in metals, and is also located at 12 Woodrow Wilson Street in Plovdiv.

Almost three times better financial result for 2023 reports "Electricity System Operator" (ESO) compared to the previous year 2022. The net profit of the company, which deals with dispatching the network and collecting fees for transmission and access, rose to BGN 250.4 million against BGN 91 million a year earlier. This is the result of a number of factors, including increased revenues from connection (by BGN 31 million compared to 2022), increased access revenues for RES producers as a result of higher amounts of electricity produced (by 39% compared to January - December 2022). All of this is likely to continue given the significant generation of electricity from solar and wind, as well as requests for new plants despite declining grid capacity. Factor in m.y. there were also reduced costs for the purchase of energy for technological cost of transmission compared to the same period of the previous year due to a drop in exchange prices. The total amount of ESO's capital and reserves in 2023 reaches BGN 2.5 billion compared to BGN 2.3 billion for the same period last year. Despite its excellent results, the company reports a weak growth in the total amount of liabilities, which are BGN 1.32 billion compared to BGN 1.26 billion a year earlier. The amount of current liabilities decreased to BGN 241 million (BGN 363 million for 2022), while that of non-current liabilities grew slightly and was BGN 1 billion (from BGN 905 million a year earlier), it becomes clear from the report. The income of ESO for m.y. are in the amount of BGN 1.3 billion, and the result of operational activity - BGN 278 million. This is a significant improvement compared to 2022, when it was BGN 101 million. Already in 2022, ESO's profit reached BGN 91 million (compared to BGN 79.4 million in 2021), with which the sums of the company's accounts exceeded BGN 400 million.

For the second year in a row, "Telelink Business Services Group" JSC will not pay a dividend to shareholders. At the upcoming general meeting of shareholders, which will be held on June 19 in Sofia, it is expected that the individual profit of the company in the amount of over BGN 4.6 million will be classified as undistributed profit. So far, the company has paid dividends to shareholders three times - in 2020 it distributed for the same year 0.480299 BGN gross per share, in 2021 - for the same year 0.82 BGN gross per share and in 2022 for the same year 0 .81 BGN gross per share. The company is planning mergers and acquisitions, which it wants to finance as a matter of priority. In February, it announced that it was acquiring the Croatian IT company SEDAM IT for a total of 9 million euros. In March, the company paid 5.2 million euros of them. In the last year, the shares of "Telelink Business Services Group" became cheaper by over 4%, and the market capitalization reached BGN 110 million.

The company "Portovi flot 99" JSC - Sofia will distribute to its shareholders BGN 120,504 as a dividend from the net profit for the year 2023 at the upcoming regular annual general meeting on June 11. If this proposal is accepted, each holder of such papers will receive BGN 0.06 per share. The remainder of the net profit, in the amount of BGN 2,904,853.88, will remain as retained earnings. The sector in which the company operates is related to the provision of basic marine technical port services. "Portovi flot 99" JSC ended last year with a profit of BGN 3,025,358. Port Fleet 99 distributed a cash dividend from the profit for 2022. Then each shareholder received BGN 0.05 per share. A dividend of BGN 0.0285 was paid out of the positive financial result for 2021.

US President Joe Biden has announced that his administration will sharply increase tariffs on Chinese imports related to a number of sectors of the economy that are of strategic importance to the country's national security. The new measures will make the import of Chinese products, estimated at 18 billion dollars, more expensive, according to CNN. China's US imports of steel and aluminum, minerals critical to new industries and technologies, advanced computer chips, electric vehicles, battery components, solar cells, faucets and medical equipment are becoming more expensive. The increase in customs tariffs ranged from 100 percent for electric vehicles to 50 percent for solar system components to 25 percent for other products. They will be imposed within the next two years. The Biden administration will maintain a number of tariffs introduced under former US President Donald Trump and increase others, the White House said in a statement. It noted that the decision was in response to "risks to the economic security" of the United States posed by China's unfair trade practices, which are flooding global markets with cheap goods. The measure is an attempt by Joe Biden's administration to limit China's ability to develop advanced technologies that are critical to establishing a dominant position in global markets, as well as boosting the US manufacturing sector, analysts said. The decision of the rulers in Washington comes against the background of the significant trade deficit of the US with China. US exports to the Asian country reached $148 billion in 2023, but Chinese imports totaled $427 billion, according to official US statistics. This imbalance in trade between the two countries is becoming an increasingly sensitive political issue in the US, according to Reuters.

Wheat stocks in India's government warehouses on May 1 fell 10.3% year-on-year to their lowest level since 2008 after two years of poor harvests prompted the sale of record quantities to boost domestic supplies and lower local prices, reports Reuters. At the start of the month, wheat stocks in government warehouses totaled 26 million metric tons, down from 29 million metric tons in May 2023, according to the State Food Corporation of India. Wheat stocks in May were higher than in April at 7.5 million metric tonnes after new season purchases by the Food Corporation of India boosted stocks. Warmer temperatures have reduced production in 2022 and 2023. Despite tight supply, New Delhi has resisted calls to boost imports by reducing or eliminating the current 40% tax on imports or by buying directly from leading suppliers such as Russia. Instead, he tapped government reserves to sell to mass consumers such as millers and biscuit makers, trying to curb domestic prices that had been above the state-fixed minimum purchase price since the last harvest. The Food Corporation of India started selling wheat to private players in June 2023 and has so far sold just over 10 million tonnes, a record from government reserves. India grows only one wheat crop a year, with planting in October and November and harvesting from March. Buying for the new season begins in April, increasing government stocks from May. Although this year's May stocks are lower than last year, they are higher than the government's buffer and strategic reserve target, which requires wheat stocks to be maintained at or above 7.46 million tonnes for the quarter starting 1 April. India fell short of its wheat purchase target in 2022 and 2023, followed by a slow start to this year's purchases. New Delhi has banned wheat exports in 2022 despite rising export demand as the war in Ukraine has led to a global deficit.