Bulgaria's debt for 2023 amounts to BGN 42,389 million or 22.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), according to final data from the National Statistical Institute. For 2022, the country's debt was in the amount of 37,850 million BGN or 22.6 percent of GDP, according to a report in the NSI. In 2023, the "State Government" institutional sector reported a budget deficit of -3,709 million BGN, or -2 percent of GDP. The deficit in the "Central Government" subsector is in the amount of BGN -3,607 million, or -1.9 percent of GDP. The "Local Government" sub-sector realized a deficit of BGN -215 million, and the "Social Insurance Funds" sub-sector realized a surplus of BGN 112 million. In 2022, the "State Government" sector recorded a budget deficit of -4,859 million BGN, or -2.9 percent of GDP. The deficit in the "Central Administration" subsector was in the amount of BGN -4,678 million, or -2.8 percent of GDP. The "Local Government" sub-sector realized a surplus of BGN 442 million, and the "Social Insurance Funds" sub-sector had a deficit of -623 million BGN.

Colliers published its data on the real estate market in Sofia in the third quarter of 2024, according to which the investment volume amounted to 193.8 million euros, and the return in the various segments of the market remained unchanged compared to the previous quarter - 7.75% for offices and commercial areas. 7.5% for industrial and 4% for residential properties. The total square footage of the existing offices in Sofia is 2,426,200 sq.m., with another 300,600 sq.m. under construction. The vacant areas are 14.2% for class A and 15.1% for class B, with the average rental levels amounting to 15 and 10 euros/sq.m per month, respectively. Flexible workspaces include 86,900 sq.m., with an additional 8,500 sq.m. under construction. The prices remain the same as in the previous period - for a shared desk - 150 euros per month, for a fixed one - 180, and for an office - 220 euros per month. The existing industrial and logistics areas in Sofia are 1,406,000 sq.m. and another 224,200 sq.m. are under construction. Vacancies for this type of property are only 3.7%. Rent levels are unchanged - 5.5 euros/sq.m./month for class A properties and 4 euros/sq.m./month - class B. Rental prices remain stable in the commercial space segment as well. They amount to 43 euros/sq.m./month in shopping centers, 11 euros/sq.m./month in retail parks and 56 euros/sq.m./month in the main shopping street in Sofia. No new shopping centers are planned, and 127,000 sq.m. for the parks. are under construction. Colliers' data show that the share of vacant spaces in shopping malls and on Vitosha Blvd reaches 3.2%, and in retail parks it is already below 1%. In the housing market, average sales prices for a two-bedroom apartment with VAT and parking vary between €190,000 and €240,000, and for detached houses in excess of €500,000. Rent rates including VAT are between €1,200 – €1,400 per month for a two-bedroom apartment and over €2,300 per month for a house. Supply totals 16,720 housing units, with another 6,500 under construction.

A new deal brings together the businesses of several companies in the construction sector. The Commission for the Protection of Competition has allowed a concentration through the acquisition of direct sole control by "Road Construction - Veliko Tarnovo" EAD over "Infrastroezhi" Ltd. From normal activity, these companies have a total turnover of BGN 209 million, including: the "Road Constructions-Veliko Tarnovo" group - BGN 203 million and "Infrastroezhi" Ltd. - BGN 6 million. The main activities for "Infrastroezhi" Ltd. - Sevlievo include construction, repair and maintenance of roads, road facilities, urban communications and the infrastructure around them, as well as production of asphalt mixtures. The sole owner of the capital of "Road Construction-Veliko Tarnovo" is "Road Engineering - T" EAD - Targovishte. It is directly controlled by "IG Holding" Ltd - Targovishte, whose sole owner is Gr. Ivanov, who exercises ultimate indirect control over "Road Constructions-Veliko Tarnovo". The capital of "Infrastroezhi" Ltd. is distributed between partners Iv. Momchilova and G. Momchilova. The company is under the sole control of the majority partner Iv. Momchilova. The companies from the economic group to which "Road Constructions-Veliko Tarnovo" belongs are active in our country in the field of transport construction (construction, repair and maintenance of roads, facilities, urban communications and others); production of aggregates, asphalt mixtures and bitumen emulsion.

Park Lane Developments and Mitiska REIM acquired a second plot of land in Sofia - in "Nadezhda". They will build a shopping park there, in which "Fantastico" will participate with its own supermarket. The park will be in the area of ​​Bakrena Fabrika near the new overpass, which is already under construction and connects "Lyulin", "Ilinden", "Vrabnitsa" and "Nadezhda". It will have over 13,000 square meters of retail space and 210 parking spaces. There will be over 20 stores in different categories, fitness and restaurants. "Fantastico" will be the main retailer in the project and will have an area of ​​over 4,000 square meters with 130 parking spaces.

A new residential district will be built on the grounds of the Terna 1923 Knife Factory JSC in Veliko Tarnovo, whose current owner is the Sofia company S Advisor JSC The company owns the property of 18.5 decares, where the famous Veliko Tarnovo enterprise was located, as well as a plot of 9.9 decares near the steam plant. The land has been private for more than 10 years, and the company's request is to be allowed to develop a project to amend the general urban development plan in order to unify the properties into one. Residential construction is planned with a density of 70% and a height of buildings up to 15 meters, and landscaping will be 30%, including service infrastructure - parking lots, sports and recreation grounds, etc. However, all this must be done with a decision of the Municipal Council.

The new executive director and member of the board of the mixed Bulgarian-Romanian company "Danube Bridge Vidin-Calafat" is Pavel Paunov, former director of D Bank in Vidin. He replaces lawyer Vasil Benov, who was in office for nearly a year. A new member of the Board and its chairman is Vanyo Todorov, an employee of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, who replaces the economist Miroslav Lyubenov. The previous member, construction engineer Iliana Tsiporkova, retains her place in the Board of Directors. For its 11-year existence, the joint venture managing the bridge facility Danube Bridge near Vidin-Kalafat has had four executive directors - Vladimir Andreev (2013-2015), Lyubomir Nizamov (2015-2021), Lyudmil Dimitrov (2021-2023), Adv. . Vasil Benov (October 2023-October 2024). From today, the fifth director in a row - Pavel Paunov - takes office. A little over 110 people work in the company. Two representatives of Bulgaria and Romania participate in the National Assembly and it is chaired on a rotating basis by the Bulgarian or Romanian representative. The Bulgarian representatives in the National Assembly are Hristo Monev, representative of MTS and Valeri Vassilev.

The Bulgarian institutions fell into complete silence about the Bulgarian connection in the case of the closed Austrian bank Euram Bank. It ceased operations after Austria's Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FMA) accused it of breaching anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws. According to an investigation by the Austrian magazine "Profil", one of the 12 shareholders in the bank, with 9.9% of the capital, is Tsvetelina Borislavova, who in our country is the head of supervision, as well as among the actual owners of the Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (BAKB). l. Der Standard reported that the Austrian Federal Criminal Service will check all customers with guaranteed deposits at Euram Bank. The deposit guarantee scheme is expected to pay out €36 million to 750 customers, but 326 of them are suspected of money laundering. Therefore, the payment will be made after verification by the Financial Intelligence Unit, although according to European legislation, guaranteed deposits are paid out in the shortest possible time - after 7 days. Euram Bank (European American Investmentbank AG) is a small Austrian bank that, since its foundation in 1999, has offered services mainly to millionaires and family companies, including in German, Russian and Bulgarian. The bank managed assets of a total value of EUR 1.2 billion in 2021, and its own assets amounted to EUR 720.6 million. The main focus of Euram Bank's activity is real estate transactions. The FMA sanctioned itfor failings in anti-money laundering procedures by banning the bank's new operations. The second reason is that the need for huge write-downs on the bank's loan portfolio has been identified, stemming from its lending practices in recent years. The decision to liquidate the bank was made by the shareholders after they failed to fulfill the order to increase its capital by 25 million euros.

Two contracts were concluded in October this year between the "Dr. Tota Venkova" Medical Center JSC Gabrovo and the Ministry of Health for the provision of capital funds. The hospital will replace two of the elevators in the building, and the second investment is within the framework of the project to provide emergency assistance by air with the construction of a hospital heliport on the territory of MBAL "Dr. Tota Venkova" JSC Gabrovo. This investment will significantly increase the ability of medical teams to respond to patients with life-threatening conditions requiring air transport.

The consolidated sales of "Stara Planina Hold" JSC for the period January-September 2024 shrank by almost 33% on an annual basis compared to the same period in 2023. For the period January-October, the company expects sales to reach 219.84 million. BGN, or almost 32% less on an annual basis. "M+S Hidravlik" JSC, one of the companies in the portfolio of "Stara Planina Hold", realized sales for BGN 10.541 million in September, and BGN 102.412 million for the period January-September. The interim non-final gross profit of the company for September is in the amount of BGN 813 thousand and BGN 9.35 million with accumulation since the beginning of the year. Battery manufacturer "Elhim Iskra" JSC-Pazardzhik continues to report losses. The company's sales for September amounted to 2.087 million BGN, and for the nine months - 26.082 million BGN. In September, the company's loss amounted to BGN 254 ​​thousand, and for the period January-September – BGN 2.091 million. "Hydraulic elements and systems" realized 6.85 million BGN sales in September and 56.481 million BGN for January-September, which is 17.66% less on an annual basis compared to January-September 2023. For the last month the company realized gross profit in the amount of 608 thousand BGN, and for the nine months - 3.382 million BGN. The manufacturer of cosmetics "Bulgarian Rose" JSC-Karlovo reported sales of BGN 454 thousand in September and BGN 3.812 million for the nine months, and profits were BGN 44 thousand and BGN 228 thousand, respectively.

After months of constant growth, the time has come for new car registrations to slow down in Bulgaria. In September, 2,522 vehicles were bought in our country against 2,965 in the same month last year, or 14.9 percent less, according to ASEA (Association of European Automobile Manufacturers) statistics. The downward trend in sales is expected to be broken already this month, due to the ongoing salon in Sofia, where many customers are taking advantage of more favorable offers. Otherwise, since the beginning of the year, 32,393 new passenger cars have been sold in Bulgaria compared to 27,365, or there is a serious growth of 18.4 percent - the largest of all European markets. In September 2024, new car registrations in total in the EU also continued their downward trajectory (-6.1%) with negative results in three of the four main markets: France (-11.1%) and Italy (-10.7%) ), and the German market fell by 7%. On the other hand, Spain saw a good recovery (+6.3%). Pure electric cars accounted for 17.3% of the EU market in September, up from 14.8% last year, but year-to-date volumes are down 5.8%, with overall market share falling to 13.1% from 14% last year year. Plug-in hybrid registrations for September were also down a significant 22.3%.

Argentina's Federal State Revenue Administration will be replaced by a future Agency for Debt Collection and Customs Control - a change that will see 3,155 jobs cut, AFP reported. This is "an essential step towards eliminating the unnecessary bureaucracy that hinders the economic and commercial freedom of Argentinians," said the announcement in ЕX. It will allow a 15 percent cut in costs for this authority. Since coming to power, ultra-liberal President Javier Millay has made a number of drastic cuts in state bodies. He reduced the number of ministries from 18 to eight, cut the staff of other government agencies or even eliminated them. Millay's austerity policies have led to a significant slowdown in inflation, down to around 4 percent on a monthly basis, compared to an average of 17 percent in 2023, and consistent monthly budget balances unprecedented in 15 years. However, it also led to a sharp recession (forecast of -3.5 percent at the end of 2024), a drop in economic activity and the loss of thousands of jobs. According to data released at the end of September, poverty in Argentina, which has been steadily increasing for two years, reached 52.9 percent of the population in the first half of 2024, a jump of more than 11 points in six months.

China's economy slowed to 4.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, underscoring weak growth despite Beijing's efforts to stimulate the economy. In effect, China reported its lowest level of growth in 18 months and was below the government's full-year target of 5%, as well as below the 4.7% growth recorded in the quarter to June, the Financial Times reported. The factors behind the slower GDP growth are the weak consumer demand and the decline in the real estate sector. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note that the third-quarter data "broadly exceeded low expectations," driven by stronger industrial production and investment in fixed assets, which were supported by government bond issuance. Retail sales have also picked up after the government began running a trade-in program for old electrical appliances. Attempts by the finance ministry and the housing ministry to boost confidence have failed to meet expectations. The Hang Seng property index in mainland China fell 6.7 percent on Thursday after announced support for the housing sector disappointed investors. Authorities have yet to announce exact figures for the additional fiscal spending, but analysts suggest it could be announced at an upcoming meeting of the National People's Congress standing committee. Industrial production rose 5.4 percent year-on-year in September, beating the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters and the previous month's 4.5 percent, the Office for National Statistics said. Retail sales rose 3.2% year-on-year in September, beating analysts' expectations for a 2.5% increase. Investment in fixed assets rose 3.4% in the first three quarters of 2024 on a year-over-year basis, slightly above the forecasts of analysts polled by Reuters.