International tourism revenues in Bulgaria over the January-November 2019 period amount to EUR 3.6 billion, the Bulgarian National Bank has announced. Even though it was a difficult year there is a minimal growth of 0.02 percent compared to the same period of the previous record-breaking year - 2018, the Ministry of Tourism comments. In November 2019 alone, revenues from foreign tourists exceed EUR 153 million, a 6.7 percent increase compared to the same month of 2018. November also saw an increase in tourist visits from abroad by 7.5 percent. 8,832,405 tourist visits from abroad have been registered in Bulgaria over January-November, 2019.

The BSP for Bulgaria parliamentary group tabled in Parliament a motion of no confidence in the Government over what they perceive as failure of the environment and water policy. The motion was signed by 78 Socialist MPs. "We submitted 40 pages of reasons for the vote of no confidence in Borissov's Cabinet," the Socialists' leader, Kornelia Ninova, told journalists, adding that the facts are the strongest reasons. According to her, half a million Bulgarians are currently experiencing water supply disruptions and there is a serious risk for this number to increase. "We are breathing some of the most polluted air in Europe, while Bulgaria has been turned into a dump for waste not only from Europe, but from the third world as well," Ninova said. Over a short period of time, in around one month, Borissov's Government has received three European penalties, Ninova noted, adding that the EU Court has already ruled against Bulgaria over air pollution, the European Commission is starting to address the problems with medicines, while the third blow (against the Government) is the return of the money for the Struma Highway.

Bulgarian aluminium products manufacturer Alcomet intends to build a new building and install computer numerical control (CNC) machinery, which will allow the company to expand its product portfolio. Before the new building is ready, the machinery will be installed at the company's existing central storage building. The company also intends to invest in replacing outdated equipment at the waste water treatment plant of its extruded products installation. Last year, the company launched a new aluminium profiles production facility and said it is aiming to enter the automotive parts industry. The new Hybrex press, produced by Germany's SMS Group, will allow Alcomet to boost its extruded products output in the medium term to 35,000 tonnes per year. Alcomet produces household, technical and container foils, finstock, sheets and strips, as well as standard and customized profiles. The company exports over 90% of its output.

The new idea for Water Supply Holding is only a few days old and is already growing. Along with the water supply and sewerage companies, there will be a separate unit under the cap of the holding, a company that will buy electricity from the exchange for them, Deputy Minister of Regional Development Nikolay Nankov said. "There will be an electricity trader within the structure of the Bulgarian Water Supply Holding, which will allow the companies to reduce their electricity costs by about 30%. Currently, they are buying electricity in the free market and this has led to a jump in their costs to 70% - despite the investments made and the reduced amounts of electricity consumed. The creation of the holding structure will solve this problem, and with some of the spare money the wages in the sector will be able to be increased, Deputy Minister explained. He added that water and sewerage companies should focus on increasing the bill collection from consumers, as currently water companies, in which the state is a shareholder, have a total of BGN 117 million in receivables from their customers, with BGN 81 million being unpaid household bills.

The development of Industrial and Logistics Park - Burgas JSC is entering a new stage this year. Procedures are underway to set up a new Industrial Zone "South", which will be located near the Burgas - Sredets - Sozopol road junction, the company said. The activity of Industrial and Logistics Park - Burgas JSC is directed to the construction and management of industrial zones of modern type on the territory of Burgas Municipality. The company has two separate territories within the city of Burgas - Industrial Zone "North" and Industrial Zone "South". The new South industrial area will cover an area of 600 decares. It will be divided into plots of 20 to 160 decares in size, with the possibility of grouping them according to the needs of the new investors. The complete project for the construction of service streets and technical infrastructure has already been completed. Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the third phase of the expansion of Industrial and Logistics Park - Burgas JSC. It provides for the establishment of an industrial zone on an area of 150 decares near the main road between Bourgas and Vetren.

Bulgaria's Elana Agricultural Land Fund REIT will seek to raise BGN 472,500 in a capital increase. Elana Agricultural Land Fund REIT will offer 50,000 shares for subscription at a price of BGN 9.45 apiece. The capital increase will be considered successful if at least 40,000 shares are subscribed for and paid for. The company currently has a registered capital of BGN 650,000. Also this week, Elana Agricultural Land Fund REIT said that it has signed a preliminary deal to sell a property in Sofia to Elana Holding for BGN 200,000. The deal is expected to be finalised in the first quarter of the year.

First Investment Bank (FIB) will close 2019 with about BGN 130 million in profit, which is a drop of more than 20% compared to BGN 164 million reported in 2018. This became clear from preliminary data announced by the credit institution, which is not a common practice for it. The results for both 2018 and 2019 are strongly influenced by one-off effects. Last year, the ECB noted a EUR 263 million capital shortfall in Fibank, which it should have addressed, and for that purpose it sold a package of bad loans with a nominal value of BGN 538 million. The announcement does not make clear what effect this operation has had on the bank's performance, but it may have contributed to the profit, as it was only BGN 64.7 million by the first nine months. Despite the sold portfolio, the bank’s assets rise for the first time above BGN 10 billion, which is an 8.9% growth on an annual basis. As of September 2019, its balance sheet total was BGN 9.6 billion, which means it recorded an increase of BGN 400 million in the last quarter alone.

The European Union won’t explicitly ban Huawei Technologies Co. or other 5G equipment vendors when the bloc unveils guidelines for member states to mitigate security risks. The EU will unveil a set of recommended measures that are “naturally strict and vigilant” at the end of January, European Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton said at a news conference in Paris on Monday. No companies will be explicitly excluded in the EU’s recommendations, he said. U.S. officials have criss-crossed Europe over the past year, urging the EU and its members to exclude the Chinese company from their networks. Washington argues Huawei poses a national security risk while Huawei and Chinese officials deny the accusations. The bloc has sought to coordinate the member states’ approach on 5G, in an effort to avoid potential U.S. or Chinese retaliation targeting any individual European country. Last month, EU countries agreed to use only trustworthy parties for infrastructure that’s critical to national security, and pledged to consider the laws of a supplier’s home country before buying their products. The EU is limited in what it can tell its member states to do, however. Any decisions to ban companies for national security reasons rest with member states, and many operators in various European countries have already struck deals with Huawei on 5G.

The third Senate impeachment trial of a US president in history convened on Thursday with the reading of the impeachment articles against President Donald Trump and the swearing in of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the senators who will decide whether Trump should be removed from office. The Senate conducted its ceremonial functions of the impeachment trial on Thursday before the actual arguments will get underway next Tuesday. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and the lead impeachment manager, read the articles aloud in the chamber while senators looked on from their desks. Roberts was sworn in shortly several hours later. After Roberts swore in the senators, each present member of the chamber came forward and signed the oath book on the floor of the Senate. The outcome of the trial is all but determined, as the two-thirds vote required to remove the President would need 20 Republican senators to break ranks. But that doesn't mean the trial itself won't have twists and turns — and potentially some surprises — as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell navigates the demands of his Senate conference, pressures from Democrats and the whims of Trump and his Twitter account.

China, one of the world's biggest users of plastic, has unveiled a major plan to reduce single-use plastics across the country. Non-degradable bags will be banned in major cities by the end of 2020 and in all cities and towns by 2022. The restaurant industry will also be banned from using single-use straws by the end of 2020. China has for years been struggling to deal with the rubbish its 1.4 billion citizens generate. The country's largest rubbish dump - the size of around 100 football fields - is already full, 25 years ahead of schedule. In 2017 alone, China collected 215 million tonnes of urban household waste. But national figures for recycling are not available. China produced 60 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2010, followed by the US at 38 million tonnes, according to online publication Our World in Data based at the University of Oxford. The research was published in 2018 and said the "relative global picture is similar in projections up to 2025". The National Development and Reform Commission on Sunday issued the new policy, which will be implemented over the next five years.