For the second month in a row, Bulgaria registered deflation on a monthly basis, according to the official data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI). In May, the drop in retail prices was 0.2 percent, after they decreased by 0.3 percent in April, according to NSI. In May 2024, compared to the previous month, the biggest decrease in prices was in the groups "Messages" (-1.5 percent), "Entertainment and culture" (-1 percent), "Transport" (-0.9 percent percent) and "Food products and non-alcoholic beverages" (-0.5 percent). The largest increase was registered in the groups "Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products" (+1 percent), "Restaurants and hotels" (+0.6 percent), "Clothing and shoes" (+0.6 percent) and "Miscellaneous goods and services" (+0.6 percent). On an annual basis, inflation remained unchanged in May, decreasing by 0.1 percentage point to 2.3 percent, after 2.4 percent in April. Year-to-date inflation (May 2024 vs. December 2023) is 0.4 percent, and average annual inflation for June 2023 - May 2024 vs. June 2022 - May 2023 is 5.1 percent . In May, the harmonized index of consumer prices, which is the basis for comparison of the indicator within the EU, remained unchanged on a monthly basis, after a decrease of 0.1 percent in April. On an annual basis, an increase of 0.2 percentage points is reported compared to the level of the indicator from April, when 2.5 percent were reported. Harmonized inflation rose for the first time since July last year. Year-to-date inflation on a harmonized basis (May 2024 vs. December 2023) is 0.6 percent, and average annual inflation for the period June 2023 - May 2024 vs. June 2022 - May 2023 is 5. 1 percent.

The total liabilities of the state and municipal hospitals in Bulgaria have grown in the first quarter of 2024 and already exceed BGN 800 million. After the gradual decline of debts after the end of 2022, the medical institutions for hospital care have accumulated an additional debt of about BGN 100 million in the last 6 months alone. These are obligations to suppliers for activities, goods and services that hospitals buy on the market, but fail to pay on time. The debts of the state hospitals reach BGN 623 million, and of the municipal ones - BGN 205 million. The largest liabilities of the state hospitals were accumulated by the UMBAL "Alexandrovska" (65 million BGN), UMBALSM "N. I. Pirogov" (BGN 64 million) and UMBAL "St. Georgi" (BGN 56 million). These are also the largest in terms of number of beds and staff for hospital care in our country. Among the municipal hospitals, those with the largest liabilities are the Plovdiv Medical Center (nearly BGN 27 million), the Burgas Medical Center (nearly BGN 15 million) and the "St. Mina" (BGN 11 million) - again one of the largest municipal medical facilities. In terms of arrears, the championship is held by the Hristo Botev Medical Center in Vratsa (BGN 8.2 million) - the same medical facility that the state tried to save at the beginning of April by increasing the company's capital. State hospitals with a significant level of arrears include "Alexandrovska" MBAL, "Lozenets" MBAL and NKB - each with over BGN 7 million in arrears. Of the municipal hospitals, those with the highest level of arrears are Pomorie Hospital, Haskovo Hospital and Tutrakan Hospital.

The Swiss-German provider of access solutions dormakaba has opened a new center in Bulgaria - dormakaba business services, which brings together services and expertise to improve the quality, efficiency and flexibility in the business processes of finance and human resources. The center is located in Capital Fort in Sofia, and together with it, dormakaba has also created a global engineering hub in the same building, which provides product development, software engineering and testing services. dormakaba intends to significantly increase the capacity of the planned new factory in Novi Han in the coming years. With the opening of its new business division and the planned expansion of the production base to 22,000 sq. m in Novi Han, dormakaba significantly expands its activities in Bulgaria. The local team will grow from the current 260 employees and the company is looking for suitable candidates. The new business services center and engineering hub will reduce complexity, standardizing processes based on benchmarks and best practices. The new organization implements proven tools and processes as standard, and leverages automation and scale effects that deliver distinct advantages. The teams are part of dormakaba's global functions in finance, human resources and talent acquisition, as well as product development.

For nearly 15 years, the Sofia company UON has been collecting and processing used fats from hotels, restaurants and chains, and its turnover already exceeds BGN 30 million. Now the company's ambition is to collect from households in Bulgaria, as well as to expand in neighboring Greece and Romania. where to buy fats from the horeka sector. A new partner will help her in the new venture - the Austrian leader in the production of biodiesel Münzer Bioindustrie, which has been among her main clients for over a decade, recently acquired a minority stake in the Bulgarian business. The initial investment of the Austrian company was EUR 1.5 million, against which 25.1% of the shares were transferred. The rest are held by the founder of UON Ivaylo Stefanov. In the following years, the total amount invested may reach 5 million euros, depending on the profit achieved. Part of the funds will also be directed to the construction of a new, larger refinery near Sofia, in which a total of over 30 million euros will be invested. The team is about 45 people, but with several beams they manage to cover populated areas throughout the country. In the refineries, the collected used cooking oil is processed in several stages - first it is mechanically filtered to remove any food waste, then it undergoes a second filtration through a decanter. This is followed by heating, during which the water and any other impurities that are heavier than the oil are precipitated. Thus purified oil is now suitable as a semi-finished product for the production of biodiesel. The main customers to whom UON sells the processed oil are the Austrian leader in the production of biodiesel Münzer Bioindustrie and the Ruse local giant in the sector Astra Bioplant. In addition to Bulgaria, UON also collects used fats in Greece. The activity there is in partnership with a local company based in Thessaloniki. The Austrian partner Münzer Bioindustrie is a leader in the production of biodiesel in Austria, and in addition to its home market, it has facilities in various parts of the world - Germany, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, etc., and the company's revenues exceed 400 million euros. Their Austrian biodiesel plant is actually built on OMV land and production is directly linked to the infrastructure of the oil chain, in which the Austrian state is also a shareholder. In Bulgaria, there is only one known competitor with the same activity - "Uko Bulgaria". The Gabrovo company is a family-owned company, owned by a Dutchman and a Bulgarian woman, and for 2022 it has revenues of almost BGN 14 million. From 2015 to 2022, the use of biodiesel from used cooking fats in the EU has more than doubled, while their collection by industry and households in the EU itself rose by only 20%.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is making a capital investment of EUR 15 million in Eldrive Holding GmbH, a leading regional operator of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania. By 2028, Eldrive will install and operate 7,400 new EV charging stations in addition to the 900 it already operates, doubling the EV infrastructure currently available in these countries. The EBRD will invest together with Renalfa Solarpro Group, owner of Eldrive, in the first phase of development. At the same time, the European Investment Bank (EIB) provides Eldrive with debt financing in the amount of 40 million euros. This investment supports the European Union's commitment to decarbonisation. By 2022, the transport sector is responsible for 22% of global CO2 emissions. In this regard, EU countries are accelerating the introduction of clean electric mobility. The goal of the EU Green Deal is to build one million public charging stations for electric cars within the Union by 2025, and three million by 2030. Currently, markets in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe lag behind Western European countries in terms of the availability of a net number of EV charging stations. Eldrive is a leading regional operator of public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania. Renalfa Solarpro Group is an Austria-based clean energy and electric mobility investment group with a focus on renewable energy generating assets. The group currently has solar and wind projects – completed and in various stages of construction and development – ​​with a total capacity of 3 GW in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The group is a current client of the EBRD. The EBRD, a leader in climate finance in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, has aligned all its activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement and committed by 2025 to at least half of its investments green - a goal it has fulfilled for the past three years.

The chief architect of the Metropolitan Municipality has issued a design visa related to investment design and replacement of land use on the territory of Business Park - Sofia. It is planned to build a 16-storey building with a height of 68 meters with mixed use. An underground parking lot will also be built on three levels. The investor in the project is "Business Park Sofia" Ltd, which is also the owner of the land. In the received application, the companies "BPS 14" Ltd and "Cetin Bulgaria" EAD are listed as investors in the project. "BPS 14" Ltd is a Sofia company founded in 2007 with the main activity of construction and reconstruction, purchase and management of real estate The managers are Francesco Nino Piovanetti from the USA and the sole owner of the capital is an offshore company registered in Malta. The other company involved in the project is the company "Cetin Bulgaria". which operates the network infrastructure of mobile operator Yettel.

In the resort complex "Belchin Bani" near the village of Belchin in Samokovo, the construction of a new campsite called "Camping Polaris - Belchin Bani" has started. The project aims to build a resort building, bungalows, a campsite for caravans, tents and sanitary facilities on an area of ​​18,400 square meters, announced Sonya Varbeva from "Energy Delta", a company from the "Synergon Holding" group. The project implementation period is two years. This will also enable the creation of around 30 new jobs. The campsite will consist of several functional areas - one one-story building with several pools, a spa area, a games room with a children's center, a multimedia room, a dining room. The service buildings of the campsite are intended for the use of visitors for campers and caravans. Three buildings are planned - a sanitary and household area, areas for several types of camping units, namely bungalows, as well as two-story buildings. Three outdoor barbecue areas are planned. In the western part of the property are located some of the technical facilities necessary to service the needs of the complex

The Board of Directors of "Sirma Group Holding" JSC has decided to start a procedure for the merger of six subsidiary companies into the holding company. The companies "Sirma CI" EAD, "Sirma Insurtech" EAD, "Sirma Solutions" EAD, "Sirma Business Consulting" EAD, "Scient" EAD, "HRM Solutions" EAD are merged into "Sirma Group Hold". The business is planned to be organized by verticals - financial services, transport and logistics, hospitality, industry, insurance, healthcare, retail. In this regard, in the previous months "Sirma Group Holding" bought the minority shares of "Sirma Insurtech" and "Sirma Business Consulting". This costs the company, respectively, BGN 396 thousand and over BGN 2.5 million, or nearly BGN 3 million.

Bulgaria is the country in the EU with the largest share of debt from the "Central Government" sector (state debt excluding that of municipalities and some funds), denominated in foreign currency, of the total amount of liabilities, reports Eurostat. 75% of the government's liabilities are denominated in foreign currency, and only 25% - in national currency. Romania ranks after Bulgaria in terms of this indicator, where the government debt denominated in foreign currency is 51 percent. Hungary is in third place with 30 percent. All three countries are not members of the Eurozone. At the opposite pole – countries that are not members of the Eurozone, but whose government debt is mainly denominated in national currency, are Denmark, the Czech Republic and Sweden, where more than 90 percent of these liabilities are in the respective national currencies. In the case of the eurozone countries, almost all government debt (99.5 percent) is denominated in euros. Interest rates on liabilities or the so-called cost of debt in 2023 are highest in Hungary (6.8 percent), followed by Poland and Romania (both 4.5 percent). The lowest interest rates are paid in Luxembourg - 1.2 percent, followed by the Netherlands and Germany (both at 1.4 percent). The average interest rate on government debt in Bulgaria is 2.4 percent, which ranks the country eighth in highest cost of debt.

Argentina will still have to pay $1.5 billion to four hedge funds, the Financial Times reported. The UK High Court dismissed the Latin American country's appeal against the 2023 ruling. The amount represents compensation for losses from the purchase of securities tied to the country's GDP. This is yet another blow to the already severely challenged government of President Javier Millay. The bonds were issued in the period 2005-2010 as part of Argentina's efforts to restructure its debt after the severe economic crisis of the turn of the century. However, in 2013 the country made changes to the way it calculates GDP, according to which it does not need to pay interest on euro-denominated securities. According to the reasoning of the London Court, however, Argentina did not calculate the growth indicators correctly. For this reason, it owes Palladian Partners, HBK Master Fund, Hirsh Group and Virtual Emerald International Limited - holders of about 48% of the bonds in question, the corresponding compensation. Earlier this year, as a condition of the appeal, Argentina deposited 310 million euros to be held in an escrow account pending the court's ruling. However, it is unlikely that the country will be able to pay the full amount of the court decision - worth 1.33 billion euros plus interest - in the short term. Argentina's economy minister expressed disappointment at the decision, saying it would have significant implications for financial stability. He noted that the country has already taken steps to restructure its debt and restore the economy, but this decision will further complicate the situation. This represents another international blow after a New York court ruled last year that Argentina must pay $16 billion to two former shareholders of state energy company YPF.

The chances of achieving carbon neutrality in the near future – ie. by 2050 – are essentially zero, writes the British newspaper Telegraph. One major point of consensus surrounding global oil demand growth is the expectation that it will remain robust, driven by a combination of factors including economic recovery, increased travel and rising industrial activity in countries outside the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The only major body that does not expect sustained, massive growth is the International Energy Agency (IEA), which revised its estimates this week, predicting that crude oil demand will rise by just 1 million barrels a day next year and to peak "toward the end of this decade" at 106 million bpd, up from 102 million bpd now. The IEA expects this growth to be led by non-OECD countries, particularly China and India. The IEA and other organizations have highlighted the importance of these regions in driving global oil demand. According to the IEA, which is funded by 31 industrialized nations through contributions, demand growth from India, China and elsewhere will gradually be offset by the expected deployment of electric vehicles and other green technologies. Unlike the IEA, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) raised its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 to 1.1 million barrels per day from its previous estimate of 900,000 barrels per day. This revision is based on travel and tourism expectations in the second half of the year. The EIA forecasts even stronger demand growth for 2025 of 1.5 million bpd – an estimate that again conflicts with that of the IEA, which expects growth of just 1 million bpd for the year as countries non-OECD will account for most of the growth. Goldman Sachs offers an even more optimistic view of the market, expecting global oil demand to grow by 1.25 million barrels per day in 2024. The bank cited steady growth in jet fuel, petrochemicals and LPG production and oil, as well as demand for gasoline and diesel as key drivers of this growth. Goldman analysts expect strong demand for transportation fuels to push oil prices to $86 in the second half of the year. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) held firm to the most optimistic outlook for demand growth, again refusing to change its original forecast of 2.25 million bpd growth in 2024. OPEC also expects a strong growth in global oil demand in 2025, with a projected increase of 1.85 million barrels per day. The organization noted that OECD demand is expected to rise by 0.1 million barrels per day, while demand in non-OECD countries will increase by 1.7 million barrels. The cartel also reaffirmed its previous forecasts of strong global economic growth of 2.8% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025. While growth forecasts among these different entities vary widely, there is an overarching consensus even within the IEA of strong global crude oil demand growth for 2024/25, based largely on rising demand from developing countries in the Global South, along with fairly robust overall economic growth. All four forecasts are also largely unanimous on the outlook for stable, rising crude oil prices in the second half of 2024. Continued strong demand for crude oil is accompanied by similarly strong growth in demand for natural gas, coal and even biomass in the energy sector. Given that all of these forms of carbon-intensive fuels saw record or near-record demand in 2023, they are all likely to set new records in 2024 and possibly 2025. In other words, humanity is using more carbon-intensive fuels than ever before and is set to use more and more of them going forward. The vaunted "energy transition" just isn't happening, the Telegraph concludes. Zero carbon emissions by 2050 seems a doomed cause.