Bulgaria's trade deficit in October increased by 41.27% to 1.044 billion euros, compared to a deficit of 739 million euros a year ago, preliminary data from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) show. For the first ten months of this year, the trade deficit amounted to 7.083 billion euros, compared to a deficit of 3.548 billion euros for the same period last year, growing almost twice on an annual basis (99.63%). Exports of Bulgarian goods amounted to 3.981 billion euros in October and increased by 76.5 million euros (2%) in a year. In ten months, it reached 35.447 billion euros, decreasing by 1.317 billion euros (3.6%) in a year. For comparison, from January to October 2024, exports increased by 0.2% on an annual basis. Imports of goods for October are over 5.025 billion euros, up 381.8 million euros (8.2%) compared to a year earlier (4.644 billion euros). For ten months, it is 42.530 billion euros, increasing by 2.217 billion euros (5.5%) on an annual basis. For comparison, from January to October 2024, imports increased by 2.2% per year. The balance on services is up 665.5 million euros, with a positive balance of 637.9 million euros for October 2024. For the first ten months of this year, it is in positive territory with 7.093 billion euros, with a positive balance of 6.884 billion euros for the ten months of 2024.

All employees in the budget sector in Bulgaria will receive a salary increase from January by the amount of annual inflation accumulated as of December 31, i.e. by about 5%. This was decided by the National Assembly, which adopted the extension law on the collection of revenues and the implementation of expenditures in 2026 until the adoption of a regular budget. The extension law on the budget, which orders next year to spend as much as revenues enter the treasury, may be in force for no more than three months, but there is a possibility of being extended by another three months. According to NSI data, at the end of November, annual inflation was 5.2%, and it is expected to remain around this level at the end of December. This increase will affect state and municipal employees, teachers, police officers, military personnel, magistrates and everyone who receives their salaries from the state budget.

Australian giant Megaport has acquired the Indian internet exchange Extreme IX, which was founded by Bulgarians Nikolay Gorchilov, Viktor Franzes and Plamen Petkov. This is the smaller business of the three, as they are also founders of the internet provider Excitel. In Bulgaria, Gorchilov and Franzes are known as the creators of one of the first internet providers in the country, Orbitel, purchased in 2005 by Deutsche Telekom. Internet exchanges are the points through which different networks exchange traffic. In India, Extreme IX holds nearly 50% of the local market. This is one of the reasons for the sale - according to the founders, their position in the market is such that if they continue with organic growth, the business can no longer develop at a high pace. The dynamics would look different with large investments from a company of the scale of Megaport. Extreme IX's revenues for 2024 are just over 10 million leva, with the exchange owned by the Bulgarian company Extreme Labs. The team is just under 50 people, divided equally between Delhi and Sofia. After the sale at Extreme Labs, which also has other products, 10 people remain. Gorchilov, Franzes and Petkov will assist the new owner of the exchange Megaport as consultants. Before the sale, the three founders held about two-thirds of the ownership in the exchange, with the Bulgarian venture capital fund NEVEQ also having a minority stake. After the separation of the Extreme IX exchange from the company Extreme Labs, the three founders remain its sole owners. Before the deal, Extreme IX was 100% owned by Extreme Labs, which is a Bulgarian company. The three continue to have business in India. In addition to the other products of Extreme Labs, they are also majority owners of the internet provider Excitel.

The purchase of a piece of private land for the Kozloduy New Power Plant is underway - 68 acres in the land of the village of Harlets, just kilometers from the nuclear power plant. The land, which is a "meadow" type, turns out to be necessary because of the new reactors that will be located at the Kozloduy site. In a letter to the head of the Bulgarian Energy Holding Valentin Nikolov, the Kozloduy NPP is asking for 100 million euros to buy the meadow. This amounts to nearly 3 million leva per decare. For comparison, the average price of the so-called "grassland" in Bulgaria over the past five years is not even 400 leva per decare, and specifically for 2024 it is 367 leva - according to NSI data. Instead of the state conducting an expropriation procedure and compensating the property owner at normal market prices, the Kozloduy NPP, BEH and the Ministry of Energy decided to switch to a direct purchase. The goal is clear - drastically increasing the price, returning the "change" and filling the party coffers before the elections. This meadow was purchased for 3 million leva in 2013, and 12 years later it is already 70 times more expensive, say PP-DP deputies. The seller of the "golden" meadow turned out to be well-known - this is "Interprom" EOOD, owned by Kaloyan Teodosiev, a businessman with interests in the energy, construction, and mining industries. He participates in over 10 companies, including "Chirengaz", "Energogroup", "Yug Invest Stroy", "SSR Supreme Residence", etc. "Interprom" is among the subcontractors of "Balkan Stream". In 2022, the company was fined by the Energy and Water Resources Regulatory Commission for manipulation of the electricity market. V. "Banker" points to "Interprom" as one of the record holders in state procurement in the water and sanitation sector.

"Kaufland Bulgaria" (Kaufland) has opened a new hypermarket, which is located at 2 "Prof. Milko Bichev" Street in the capital, near the "Zaimov" Park. The commercial site, called "Kaufland - Teatralna", is for the first time located in a residential building - part of the Teatralna Park Residence complex, in which the investor is the "Hidrostroy" group of Veliko Zhelev through "Bitumina". Ivan Chernev - Executive Director of "Kaufland Bulgaria", announced that three new hypermarkets will be opened next year, one of which will be in the capital. Between 40 and 50 million leva will be invested in each of the sites. The latest investment - "Kaufland - Teatralna", is for the first time housed in a residential building, but is again owned by the company. It was bought by "Bitumina Management", a subsidiary of "Bitumina GmbH Bulgaria", which has recently been owned by Viktor Zhelev, son of the founder of "Hidrostroy" Veliko Zhelev. This is the 20th Kaufland store in the capital. It is located on 2,000 square meters of commercial space and has 150 parking spaces. The investment in it is over 40 million leva. With it, the company's total investments in the capital exceed 600 million leva. With the newest hypermarket, Kaufland is increasing its team in the capital by 90 employees. Thus, the number of employees in the company in Sofia will reach nearly 2,300 people, and in the whole country - 8,000.

The CSKA - Red Hearts Foundation, with Chairman Walter Papazki, is the new owner of PFC CSKA EAD, after "Fond Sport" OOD transferred 100% of the shares in the club free of charge. The CSKA - Red Hearts Foundation was established in 2025 by Walter Papazki and its goals are to provide financial, institutional and media support to PFC CSKA, work to raise the club's reputation and unite its supporters, as well as to provide support to significant former football players, athletes and figures of CSKA. The goals of the foundation also include support for clubs from various sports that bear the name CSKA. At this stage, no changes are planned in the structure and management of CSKA. Work at the club continues normally. The main priorities in the club's work remain the reconstruction of the Bulgarian Army Stadium and the club's training base in Pancharevo, as well as the construction of the material base of the Youth Sports School. Activities on them continue without interruption and according to plan.

In the prestigious Plovdiv AG Hospital "Selena" a fierce dispute has erupted between one of the founders of the clinic, Dr. Angel Stavrev, and its owner by documents, Nikolay Bogomilov. The saga began with Dr. Stavrev's complaint that 3 million leva had disappeared from his personal safe. On December 8, he was forcibly removed from his office by private guards, and was subsequently fired along with the doctors, midwives and nurses closest to him. The reason for the scandal turned out to be the suspicions of Bogomilov, who is otherwise known as a film producer and director, that solid sums of money were being collected behind his back and there was even an attempt to make his company "Ergana Films" EOOD lose ownership of the largest obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Southern Bulgaria. According to his version, the money reported as stolen is actually 1.8 million and belongs to the hospital and was transferred to its accounts, respectively. It is also unclear what turned Dr. Angel Stavrev and Nikolay Bogomilov into enemies, as they also have another, long-standing partnership that is not so public. It dates back to 2011 and shows that the relationship between the two is not limited to the management of a medical institution. On July 27, 2011, the company "Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Obstetrics and Gynecology Lyutsina" OOD was registered. The company is headquartered in Sofia, Mladost district, at 138 Tsarigradsko Shosse Blvd., and is currently in "active" status. There is no building at the address in which such activity is carried out. The scope of activity of the "Lucina" Medical Center is extremely broad - from diagnostics and treatment of diseases and maternity care, to rehabilitation, consultations for other medical institutions and activities related to organ, tissue and cell transplantation. The manager of "Lucina" OOD is Dr. Angel Stavrev - a figure with participation in a significant number of commercial companies. It is he who holds the largest share in the company - 50% of the capital. The remaining 50% are distributed between the Turkish citizen Faruk Bener - 25%, and "Ergana Films" EOOD - 25%. Faruk Bener is also a key figure in "Agleya Health Group" OOD - a company registered in 2019 with its headquarters in Plovdiv. The company operates in the field of production and trade in cosmetic products, distribution and brokerage, as well as domestic and foreign trade. In "Agleya Health Group" Bener owns 50% of the capital and is one of the managers, together with two other Turkish citizens - Barbaros Yurdaer and Selahattin Baykal. "Ergana Films" EOOD is the third partner in SBALAG "Lyutsina" with a 25% share, but its presence is not limited to this structure. The same company is the sole owner of the capital of "Plama Medical Center" EOOD - a medical institution for specialized outpatient care in Plovdiv. The current manager of the University Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Obstetrics and Gynecology "Selena" is Dr. Katya Telbiyska, who has been part of the team for several years. In parallel, she is the manager of "Plama Medical Center" EOOD and of the tissue bank "Selena Cells" EOOD, which is solely owned by "Plama", and therefore also by "Ergana Films".

The Board of Directors of Impulse Growth AD has decided to initiate a procedure for the repurchase of ordinary shares, in accordance with item 6 of the minutes of the Constituent Assembly of the company, held on January 21, 2021. The company will repurchase up to 210 thousand of its own shares, each with a nominal value of 1 lev, or 2.9717325% of its capital. The minimum price of the repurchase is 1 lev, and the maximum - 1.47 lev per share. The last price at which transactions with the company's shares were concluded is 1.4 lev per share. The investment intermediary that will carry out the repurchase is Karol AD. The procedure will be carried out by March 5, 2026, and may be completed earlier if the company repurchases the maximum approved number of shares before this date.

The financial obligations under the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will be postponed to 2027 instead of the beginning of 2026. The so-called EU carbon tax will be imposed on imports from third countries of several carbon-intensive raw materials - cement, aluminum, steel and iron, nitrogen fertilizers, electricity. And in addition to being a new administrative burden for importers, it will inevitably make these products more expensive, the aim being to protect European manufacturers who pay for CO2 anyway. So the news of the postponement was a breath of fresh air. From January 1, 2026, the companies affected will have real obligations - they must be registered, declare the carbon emissions of the goods they import and plan to "buy" CBAM certificates. The payment of the certificates themselves will take place in the second half of 2027, when the obligations for all imports in 2026 will also be paid. But this does not mean that the effect on final prices is postponed. On the contrary - due to the accumulation of obligations for the whole of 2026 and half of 2027 at once, many companies will probably choose to calculate the future increase in prices in their final prices now in order to avoid a strong financial blow next year. The Executive Agency for the Environment is responsible for administering the process in Bulgaria, which has published instructions for the registration of obligated companies, questions and answers. The key point here is that importers of goods within the scope of the mechanism must register as obligated entities under CBAM. Without the status of an "approved declarant" from the beginning of next year, according to the rules, they will not be able to import these raw materials from third countries. CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) is part of the EU's climate policy. The mechanism aims to level the playing field between European producers who pay for carbon emissions under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and importers from third countries where there are no CO2 quota schemes and therefore do not have similar costs. The idea, in simple terms, is for these products to be charged at the EU borders with the equivalent European price of the carbon emissions emitted during their production. For example, if 2 tonnes of CO2 are emitted for the production of 1 tonne of steel in a plant in Turkey, the import fee will be the price of 2 tonnes of CO2 under the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) - currently over €83 per tonne. The EC has also set standard values ​​for all groups of goods - companies will be able to use them if the actual costs of carbon emissions cannot be confirmed by the manufacturer. These values ​​vary and are currently subject to adjustments by Brussels. In addition to protecting the competitiveness of European production, the mechanism also aims to cut the so-called carbon leakage - when European companies decide to move their high-emission production to third countries, where they do not pay for their emissions. It is believed that the carbon duty will motivate third countries to build their own carbon tax systems in order to be able to trade with the EU, which is one of the largest importers of high-emission products, such as steel. Steel and iron are among the products covered by the CBAM. The others are aluminum, cement, hydrogen, nitrogen fertilizers, including ammonia, which is explicitly included both as a separate product and as a key raw material for fertilizers. The duty will also be imposed on electricity imports, based on the carbon intensity of the energy mix of the respective producing country. However, the mechanism will have a negative effect on import prices and for some sectors this is a significant problem. Farmers in Bulgaria have already expressed strong dissatisfaction with the significantly increased prices of fertilizers, which for them are without alternative. This problem is added to a number of others that have hit agriculture hard in recent years. Things are also critical when it comes to importing electricity, as the price will become too high - for example, if electricity is imported from Turkey or Serbia at some point, it will be much more expensive than it is now. However, the formal steps are clear. Once registered and granted the status of "approved declarant", companies will have to declare the volume of direct emissions from the production of the goods they import every year - at the CO2 prices in the European Trading Scheme (ETS) or at the standard values. For some products, indirect emissions must also be declared - for example, for electricity. With the Omnibus administrative reform package at the beginning of the year, the financial deadlines under the mechanism were postponed. For example, the purchase of certificates will not be from 1 January 2026, but from 1 February 2027. The annual declaration and payment of certificates has also been postponed - from 31 May 2026 to 30 September 2027. These changes give companies additional time to adapt to the new system, but they only postpone the obligations. At the end of September 2027, companies will actually pay for the certificates in one lump sum for the entire period from the beginning of 2026. For some companies, the cost will be in the order of tens of millions. Another factor is that the price of certificates follows the carbon emissions market, and they are only expected to grow. The result will be an increase in the price of some imported raw materials and products, especially in the construction, industry and agricultural sectors. Several other important reliefs were also introduced with the Omnibus. The first is a de minimis threshold - if the total import of CBAM goods is up to 50 tons per year, the company is exempt from obligations - both from declaring and purchasing certificates. This practically removes about 90% of small importers from the scope, without compromising the environmental effect of the measure. However, the relief does not apply to the import of electricity and hydrogen - there is no de minimis for them. The rules for calculating emissions have also been simplified, more flexible verification procedures have been introduced and a simplified administrative regime for smaller companies has been introduced. Hydrogen and electricity produced offshore (i.e. in the shallow coast where a country has exclusive rights to build fixed energy facilities) or in the exclusive economic zone of a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA) and imported directly into the EU customs territory are exempted from the scope of the regulation. But in the end, even with postponed deadlines and with simplified CBAM from 2026 it becomes a real regulatory and pricing factor that will affect import contracts, pricing policies, financial planning and competitiveness. For companies that have not prepared in time, the regulation may turn out to be quite an unpleasant surprise.

The level of Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita in the countries of the European Union (EU) for 2024 varies significantly - from 72 to 146% of the average level. Consumption is expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) and measures the material well-being of households, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) reports. It presents data from the EU Statistical Office Eurostat on the material well-being of households, based on revised purchasing power parities (PPP) and the latest up-to-date information on GDP per capita. The lowest levels of individual consumption per capita were recorded in Latvia (28%), Hungary and Bulgaria - each 27% below the EU average. Ten countries were above the average level in 2024. The highest purchasing power was in Luxembourg - 46% above the average. They were followed by the Netherlands with 20% and Germany with 19%. Even greater differences between EU countries than in individual consumption are recorded in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The indicator measures economic activity. Again, ten countries score above the EU average. Luxembourg is at the top again with 245% of the average, ahead of Ireland (221%) and the Netherlands (134%). The lowest levels of GDP per capita are recorded in Bulgaria - 66% of the EU average, Latvia - 68%, and Greece - 69% of the EU average.

Asian countries will buy less oil, coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States in 2025 despite pressure from US President Donald Trump, Reuters columnist Clyde Russell wrote in a commentary. The main reason is China, which this year began to reduce imports from the United States after the new White House administration imposed higher tariffs on Chinese goods. After negotiations and meetings, tariffs on imports from China currently average 47.5%, Reuters data also shows. According to market observers at Kpler, oil imports from Asia will decrease to 1.43 million barrels per day in 2025, which is a visible retreat from last year's 1.56 million barrels and the record 1.65 million barrels in 2023. The main importer of American oil in Asia is South Korea, which was forced to agree to buy more American goods by signing a trade agreement. But even Seoul's share increases minimally - to 470 thousand barrels per day compared to 465 thousand barrels in 2024. Japan records a double growth in imports, but its share in total Asian imports is not so large - 84.5 thousand barrels per day. In 2024, 34 thousand barrels of American oil entered the country per day. Data for China show that imports of American oil decreased by 84% to 38.3 thousand barrels per day. The decrease is also significant in terms of imports of liquefied gas in China - the decrease is 94% to 250 thousand tons. Overall, imports of liquefied gas from the United States, which has become the leading exporter, in Asia decreased to 19 million tons compared to 29.8 million tons last year. Japan is the largest importer with 4.49 million tons, but even there there is a significant decrease - in 2024 Tokyo bought 6.5 million tons of liquefied gas from the United States. Imports of American liquefied gas into India also decreased by almost half - to 2.9 million tons, Kpler data also shows. Relations between India and the United States became quite tense in the fall, after Washington imposed a 50% tariff on imports of Indian goods in an attempt to stop New Delhi from buying Russian oil. India is still the largest market for American coal in Asia - with a share of 61% of all imports, or 21.7 million tons. However, this is a very bad signal for the United States if its relations with India deteriorate in 2026.