The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has refused to pay and has requested hospitals to reimburse it for amounts illegally received from them totaling 24,965,000 leva for last year, announced the manager of the Health Fund, Stanimir Mihaylov. A part of the amounts has been refused for payment, and about 14 million leva has been requested back from the hospitals. The amount has been requested based on inspections carried out in medical institutions, and it is expected to increase after their completion. The amount requested by the NHIF is insignificant against the background of the overspending of 500 million leva for hospital care in 2024. Last year, after the Constitutional Court canceled the limits of the hospitals, they began to report sudden activity and as a result "absorbed" half a billion leva above their planned budget of 3.5 billion leva, i.e. over 4 billion leva. This year, a new 2.3 million leva are planned. hospitalizations, as many as were reported in 2024. Last year, hospitalizations were 200,000 more than planned. The checks are based on an analysis by the National Health Insurance Fund, which found that as hospitals increase, they tend to hospitalize more patients who could also be treated in outpatient care.

The development of new RES in Bulgaria is decreasing slightly compared to a year earlier. For 2024 alone, 481 with a total capacity of 938 MW were put into operation, according to a report by the Electricity System Operator (ESO). For comparison, in 2023, over 1,200 megawatts of photovoltaics were added. And according to data from the Agency for Sustainable Energy Development (AUER), the installed photovoltaics in Bulgaria are already over 3,600 megawatts. As of December 18, 125 sites with a total capacity of 1,115.35 MW have been connected under the temporary access scheme. The construction of more new solar power plants will continue in 2025. At the end of last year, applications for connection to the distribution network of new RES were 330 with a capacity of 707.3 MW and 52 applications for connection to the electricity transmission network with a total capacity of 3353.42 MW. The total installed capacity of all 382 applications received by mid-December 2024 is 4060.72 MW. However, a significantly smaller part of them have been approved, and for some the procedure is probably still ongoing. And the expectations are that 600 - 700 megawatts will actually be launched. However, interest in new projects is significantly lower compared to 2023, when the applications received for the construction of new RES were over 2000 with a total capacity of 7188 MW. In the summer, KEWR first introduced a guarantee of BGN 50,000 per 1 MW, and later a similar deposit was approved for investors in energy storage systems. The lack of capacity also remains a problem, which to some extent also blocks investments in new projects. Requests for coordination of the conditions for connection of facilities with a capacity of up to 200 KW, for which the order is only for notification to ESO, notifications have been received for 732 new RES with a total capacity of 53.88 MW installed, the data also show. This speaks of activity on the part of smaller producers of electricity from RES despite the complications in some of the procedures and the risks associated with the payments themselves. The projects are evenly distributed across the entire country, with active investor interest highlighted in the region of Southern and Northwestern Bulgaria - Vidin, Montana, Lom, Haskovo and the Yambol village of Tenevo. It was there that the first sod of the hybrid RES complex "Tenevo" was laid in 2023, which is located on the terrain of the old Tenevo airport. The project is by the Danish company Eurowind Energy and the Vienna-based Renalfa IPP through the company EURA IPP. The park, which is under construction, has a planned capacity of 237.58 MW and is expected to be among the largest on the market. The next phase envisages the installation of wind turbines and batteries for electricity storage. The total revenues of the companies in the top 10 are almost 1.17 billion leva and are growing by 19.5% on an annual basis. Their profit is 127 million leva and is increasing by almost 60% per year, and all are expected to be in the plus.

The vegan organic chocolate company Benjamissimo has invested nearly 1 million leva in rebranding and optimizing production processes. 50% of the funding was obtained through a European program, with the help of which a total of three new machines were purchased, but the company invested the rest independently. Despite the changes, the company continues to build on the foundations laid 10 years ago – to create vegan organic chocolate that is beneficial for health and does not harm the environment. The main reasons are due to unsustainable and cheap production and climate change. Farms that are engaged in mass cocoa production do not maintain their plantations, rely on cheap labor and monocultures that are optimized to yield the most production with minimal losses and effort. Therefore, when this year diseases killed a large part of the plantations in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, which together provide about 60% of global production, a huge hole opened in the market. According to the International Cocoa Organization, the global shortage for the 2023-2024 season amounts to nearly 440 thousand metric tons. This deficit is significantly affecting the market, with this year there being an unprecedented spike in cocoa prices in human history. Climate change is also affecting production. The El Niño phenomenon, for example, which used to occur every 11 years, is now occurring more frequently. This means abnormal droughts followed by floods. Both are a problem for cocoa. Due to such temperature anomalies, the harvest in the region of Peru has dropped by between 60 and 70% this year. The deficit means a higher price. Benjamissimo does not have this problem because it works only with organically certified farms that are committed to sustainable production and offer rare premium varieties rather than mass cocoa. In October last year, the company signed contracts to purchase a huge amount of cocoa, which will reach the company by the end of the first quarter of 2025. This allows him to simultaneously not drastically increase the price of his chocolates and remain competitive in the market during this difficult year for the chocolate industry.

In 2024, over 1.35 million blink P2P transfers (instant person-to-person money transfers) were made through the National Card and Payment Scheme (NCPS), part of BORICA JSC. Registered users of NCPS reached over 900,000 people as of November 2024, with their number expected to exceed 1.3 million within 2025. On December 3, 2024, the instant payment service in euros was launched, with 50,000 instant transfers in euros made in less than a month. At this stage, it is offered by Myfin EAD, First Investment Bank JSC and Central Cooperative Bank JSC. In 2025, the blink service will be expanded with new options, including payments for hourly parking in blue and green zones, donation causes, public transport subscriptions, payments in private parking lots. Blink P2P allows instant transfers to a mobile number without the need to enter an IBAN number. The service is available 24/7, including holidays, and allows free transfers up to 100 leva.

Lands of the former ammunition disposal base “Straldzha - Marash” now have a different purpose with the amendment to the General Development Plan adopted by the Municipal Council in Straldzha. Three plots with a total area of ​​226 decares for storage and production needs are now acquiring the status for specialized high-tech production and green energy production. The former ammunition disposal base is still a living wound in the memories of the people of the nearby village of Lozenets (not far from the “Petolachkata” road junction) and other settlements in the municipality, due to the serious incident of June 5, 2012. An explosion occurred, in which three workers died, eight were injured. Damage to private and public buildings and plantations was estimated at 60 million leva. The change avoids the risk to nearby roads, settlements, localities, drinking water facilities, as well as to the “Lozenets” gas transmission station. For one of the plots with an area of ​​118 decares (the other two are state-owned), the owner "Rivers Invest" EAD will build a photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of up to 5 kW.

The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has initiated open proceedings against the Ministry of Health (MOH) on a complaint by the company "Solomed" Ltd under the Public Procurement Act (PPA) in its part on the deadlines for submitting offers for participation in procedures. It is against the decision of the MH for the supply, installation, commissioning, training and warranty service of medical equipment. The CPC has initiated open proceedings against the Employment Agency on a complaint by "Disinfection Station - BG" OOD, filed under the PPA. It is against the decision for services for periodic disinfection, disinfestation and deratization of the building stock of the Employment Agency, with deratization activities being carried out only in the central administration. Open proceedings have been initiated against the Municipality of Suvorovo upon a complaint by "Amuraa - konserv - 68" Ltd against the decision to supply through purchase of food products for the needs of the Children's Dairy Kitchen and Home Social Patronage in the town of Suvorovo and for the implementation of the activities, according to a procedure for direct provision of grant-in-aid for "Hot Lunch" under the "Food and Basic Material Assistance" Program 2021-2027, financed by the European Social Fund Plus. The complaint was filed under the Public Procurement Act. The CPC initiated open proceedings against the Vocational High School of Agricultural Technologies "Tsanko Tserkovski" in Pavlikeni upon a complaint by "Zlatex" Ltd against the decision to supply agricultural machinery for the construction of a Center for Excellence in the school.

The new bonds of Allianz Bank Bulgaria JSC will be traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) from January 9, 2025 (Thursday). The issue is in the amount of 500 ordinary, registered, dematerialized, interest-bearing, freely transferable, non-convertible and unsecured, structured to meet the requirements for instruments of eligible liabilities, bonds with a nominal value of EUR 100 thousand each. The total value of the issue is EUR 50 million. The issue is the fifth in a row issued by the issuer. The issue date is December 19, 2024, and the maturity is December 19, 2028. The final trading date is December 8, 2028. The annual interest rate is 6%. Interest payments will be made once a year on December 19 in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028. The Issuer has the right to prepay 100% of the principal, together with accrued interest, by exercising a call option on the interest payment date of the 36th month, i.e. in 2027, upon the occurrence of a tax event according to the terms of the issue or upon disqualification of the bonds as eligible liabilities. The bond loan is intended to be repaid in a single installment on the maturity date.

A total of 120 million euros are the revenues of the companies in the portfolio of MFG Invest JSC for 2024, with the data excluding Eleven Capital and Eleven Fund III. The company has made investments in 23 companies in eight countries to date. The total valuation of the portfolio reached 25 million euros. In 2024, MFG Invest invested 985 thousand dollars. New investments during the year were in Native Teams, TETMET and Paysera. MFG Invest carried out an initial public offering in early December 2022, raising just over 4 million leva from investors. The shares began trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) on January 6, 2023, i.e. the company has been public for exactly two years. In the last year, the company's shares have fallen by over 14%, and its market capitalization has reached just under BGN 27 million. The latest price of the company's shares is BGN 2.5, down 26% from the IPO price (BGN 3.38).

The inflation rate in the euro area accelerated to 2.4 percent on an annual basis in December 2024 (compared to the same month in 2023) from 2.2 percent in November. This is shown by the preliminary assessment of the European statistics agency Eurostat. The data report the highest inflation in the euro area since July 2024, as it again begins to move away from the ECB's target range of 2 percent. Compared to the previous month, inflation in December increased by 0.4 percent, after recording a decrease of 0.3 percent in November. The largest contribution to the increase in inflation at the end of 2024 was made by energy prices, as they increased by only 0.1 percent, but after a decrease of 2 percent in November. There is also a slight acceleration of inflation in the services sector - to 4 percent from 3.9 percent a month earlier. At the same time, however, inflation in food, alcohol and tobacco prices stabilized for the second consecutive month at 2.7%, while price growth in non-energy industrial goods slowed in December to 0.5% from 0.6% a month earlier. Core inflation (excluding food and energy prices) increased in December by 0.5% compared to November, but on an annual basis stabilized for the fourth consecutive month at 2.7% - the weakest growth since February 2022. Eurostat's initial estimates indicate that the highest annual inflation, taking into account the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), among the countries of the monetary union in November is expected in Croatia (4.5 percent) and Belgium (4.4 percent), followed by Estonia (both 4.1 percent). The lowest annual inflation among the eurozone countries is forecast for Ireland (1 percent), followed by Italy (1.4 percent) and Luxembourg (both 1.6 percent). In the leading economies in the region - in Italy, inflation slowed in December to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent a month earlier, and in France it accelerated very slightly to 1.8 percent from 1.7 percent. However, in Germany, it rose more strongly than expected to 2.8 percent from 2.4 percent in November, and in Spain - to 2.4 percent from 1.8 percent in the previous month.

Donald Trump's victory in the US election has been met with concern in most Latin American countries. And for good reason: the impact of his return to the White House in 2025 will be felt across the region. His main concerns - illegal immigration, trade imbalances and drugs - have put Latin America in the crosshairs. The first challenge will be the US president-elect's plans to deal with migrants. A large part of the millions of people he says he wants to deport are Latin Americans: of the estimated 11 million people living illegally in the US, over 4 million are Mexican, 2 million are from Central America, over 800,000 from South America and 400,000 from the Caribbean. Latin American countries will have a hard time taking them back, and their economies will be hit hard by the loss of remittances sent home by migrants, which account for 20-25% of the GDP of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Latin Americans also make up the majority of the 2.1 million migrants apprehended by southern border patrols in 2023. To reduce that number, Trump is likely to roll back some of his policies, such as pressuring other countries to take in asylum seekers, tightening controls on migrants to deter them or - in the case of Mexico - making them wait on their side of the border, which could lead to chaos. Mexico - already the US's largest trading partner - will be the country hardest hit by Trump in other ways as well. The newly elected US president has threatened to impose tariffs on his first day in office, in part to reduce his country’s trade imbalance with Mexico, which in 2023 was $159 billion. Trump is also unhappy with Mexico’s auto plants and Chinese investment. Mexico says it will retaliate with its own tariffs, which could lead to a costly trade war. All of this could destroy the United States, Mexico, and Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA), which Trump himself negotiated during his first term. Reasonable voices may prevail: North America’s economies are deeply integrated, and any disruption would affect everyone. Trump may view the USMCA revision planned for 2026 as a chance to strike new deals. His return could also end the strategy of outsourcing businesses to nearby countries that many countries in the region rely on to boost their sluggish economies. Mexico had hoped to be the main beneficiary of U.S. companies’ efforts to disengage from China, a policy Trump promoted during his first term and one that was bolstered by disrupted supply chains after the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But Trump wants companies to return to the United States, not relocate nearby. That would have repercussions not only for Mexico but also for Chile, Costa Rica and other countries. Mexico could also take a serious hit from Trump’s efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl, a drug produced by Mexican gangs and exported north that has killed an estimated 75,000 Americans in 2023. The U.S. president-elect is likely to take a more invasive and unilateral approach to security threats emanating from Mexico than previous administrations. Trump will look less favorably on leftist Latin American autocrats in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. During his first term, Trump increased pressure on Venezuela and reversed Barack Obama’s policy of normalizing relations with Cuba. What is less certain is what will happen to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He is not an ally of Trump, but he could benefit if Trump’s “America First” strategy allows him to pursue his ambitious goal of trying to lead the Global South. One thing is clear: if Latin America was tested by Trump in his first term, things will be even more difficult in 2025.

China aims to complete the construction of its core national data infrastructure by 2029, according to guidelines issued by the National Development and Reform Commission. This is part of the country's broader drive to build a unified national data market and develop a digital economy. The development of a national data infrastructure capable of supporting data collection, aggregation, transmission, processing, distribution, utilization and security comes amid the rapid development of digital technology and infrastructure worldwide. The development of China's data infrastructure is still in its early stages, according to the guidelines. The country plans to complete the design of a top-level national infrastructure between 2024 and 2026, and in 2027 and 2028, it will be built to a sufficient extent to support large-scale data circulation and interconnection, while fully integrating data networks and computing power facilities. The 5G network will be upgraded to 5G-A level and 6G-related research, development and innovation will be promoted. The 5G-A network surpasses the current 5G network in terms of speed, latency, connection scale and power consumption. It has a peak speed of 10 gigabits per second for data downloads and 1 gigabit per second for uploads, millisecond-level latency and low-cost connectivity for the Internet of Things. Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already started to offer 5G-A network services in some areas.