Bulgaria's industrial producer price index (PPI) rose 3.4% year-on-year in November, after increasing by 4.4% in October, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said. On a monthly comparison basis, producer prices edged down 0.3% in November, after adding 1.3% in the previous month, the NSI said in a monthly report on producer prices in industry. The PPI on the domestic market climbed 3.5% on the year and increased by 0.1% month-on-month in November. The PPI on the international market added 3.4% on the year and was 0.9% lower than the value recorded the month before.

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) approved a 3.51 per cent hike of the price of natural gas for the first quarter of 2019. The raise will not reflect on heating and hot water prices. The increase was requested by Bulgargaz and applies to the price at which the public supplier sells natural gas to end-suppliers and clients connected to the gas distribution network. The price of natural gas in the first quarter of the new year will be 44.80 BGN/MWh (excise duty and VAT excluded). This does not include the price for access and transmission through the gas distribution network, and clients should pay them to end-suppliers. The regulator specifies that the actual increase for household and business clients using natural gas will be under 2 per cent because the prices of access, transmission, distribution and supply have not been changed. The prices of electric power for household and non-household users on the regulated market also remain unchanged, EWRC specified. The regulator is expected to approve new prices of water. An increase of up to 10 per cent is expected in most of the country.

The Bulgarian Stock Exchange received approval from the FSC for the creation of a new SME Growth Market called BEAM (Bulgarian Enterprise Accelerator Market). Thus, small and medium-sized companies will now be able to raise capital under less constrained terms as to the scope and periodicity of their disclosure, and on the basis of the publication of a simplified prospectus. It will also be possible to raise up to EUR 1 million without a prospectus.

Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition has allowed Czechia-based Portanero Invest and Luxembourg-registered KGAL ESPF 4 Holding to acquire Samsung C&T Corporation's seven photovoltaic (PV) power stations in Bulgaria. The combined market share of the seven plants and the financial groups to which Portanero Invest and KGAL belong does not exceed 5% both in terms of installed PV capacity and output. Portanero Invest has set up a subsidiary, which has signed agreements to acquire the seven solar parks. KGAL ESPF 4 Holding has an agreement with Portanero Invest to acquire a 60% stake in the recently-established company. Micronix Group, the end owner of Portanero Invest, controls two solar parks and one biogas plant near the city of Vidin, in northwestern Bulgaria. The two solar parks have an installed capacity of 2.36 MW and 2.88 MW, respectively, while the biogas plant has an installed capacity of 1.5 MW. They account for 0.53% of the installed PV capacity in Bulgaria. Samsung's seven solar parks - Agriplam, Veselino Energy, Ecoenergy Solar, Ecosolar, Manageproject, Solar Park and Fishtrade, have a combined installed capacity of 42.99 MW. The seven solar parks currently owned by Samsung C&T Corporation had a combined turnover of BGN 25.1 million last year, while Micronix Group's plants generated BGN 4.8 million.

Bulgaria's CCB Real Estate Fund REIT said that local insurer Armeec has acquired 6,130 shares in the company at a weighted average price per share of BGN 32.4. Armeec acquired the shares on December 19 outside the regulated market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, CCB Real Estate Fund said in a statement. The number of shares is equal to a 0.57% stake in CCB Real Estate Fund REIT, according to bourse data.

The municipal council of Vratsa approved almost unanimously the sale of 83 decares of land to the German company MD Elektronik. The company already has an A-class certificate from the Bulgarian Investment Agency. It will invest BGN 22 million in the new plant. Almost 300 jobs are expected to be created in the first stage and later the expansion of the team is expected to reach 1 000 people. The company manufactures data cables in cars as well as sensors and multimedia modules. MD Elektronik's customers are over 40 car manufacturers worldwide. The company's cables can be found in more than 200 models currently on the market. The company has factories on three continents and its largest plant is in the Czech Republic. The other two are in China and Mexico, and the one in Bulgaria will be the fourth in size. Their headquarters is located in Germany. Altogether about 5,000 people work for the company.

Bulgarian transport company PIMK has signed a deal to acquire 50 new Iveco trucks running on compressed natural gas (CNG), the Netherlands-registered CNH Industrial, which manufactures vehicles under the Iveco brand, said. "PIMK’s sustainable investment includes a full package of services for optimizing the Total Cost of Ownership, which the company sees as a key advantage of IVECO’s range of natural gas commercial vehicles," CNH Industrial said in a statement. The value of the deal was not disclosed. The investment is also in line with PIMK’s intention to further develop as a green company. PIMK provides transportation services for international logistics companies. The company employs 86 shipping agents operating in the following directions: Intra-European transport, Turkey, Greece, Germany and Austria, France and Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria. Plovdiv-based PIMK has a fleet of over 1,400 heavy commercial vehicles.

The European Parliament in Brussels is marking the 20th anniversary of the euro with a light show outside on its esplanade. Nineteen EU countries now use the euro, but they still frequently argue over how it should work. The currency was introduced as a way to end the decades-long battles over exchange rates between European nations and to facilitate smooth trade. Back then, Wim Duisenberg, who was the European Central Bank President, said, "The euro has clearly demonstrated it can achieve its main objectives. These include ensuring price stability, enhancing market transparency across national borders, and facilitating commerce, which is communication, both inside and outside Europe." While the euro was established on paper on the first of January 1999, hard money wasn't printed for another three years. Twenty years later, there are two main complaints about the euro. Firstly, countries are unable to kick-start their export sectors by devaluing their currency in times of economic downturn. Secondly, interest rates are fixed by the European Central Bank and not national capitals, meaning governments can't adjust them when they're trying to encourage businesses to expand.

The U.S. economy slowed in the third quarter a bit more than previously estimated, but the pace was likely strong enough to keep growth on track to hit the Trump administration’s 3 percent target this year, even as momentum appears to have moderated further early in the fourth quarter. Gross domestic product increased at a 3.4 percent annualized rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its third reading of third-quarter GDP growth. That was slightly down from the 3.5 percent pace estimated in October and well above the economy’s growth potential, which economists estimate to be about 2 percent. The revisions to the third-quarter GDP reading reflected markdowns to consumer spending and exports. Inventory accumulation was, however, much bigger than previously estimated. There were downward revisions to business spending on equipment and nonresidential structures, as well as residential investment. The economy grew at a 4.2 percent pace in the April-June quarter. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday for the fourth time this year, but forecast fewer rate hikes next year and signaled its tightening cycle is nearing an end in the face of financial market volatility and slowing global growth.

Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested that mainland China and Taiwan enter into “in-depth democratic consultations” and work toward unification, in the clearest sign yet that he wants to settle the 70-year dispute during his tenure. “China must and will be united, which is an inevitable requirement for the historical rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era,” Xi told a gathering in Beijing to mark the 40th anniversary of a landmark Beijing overture to Taipei after the U.S. and China established relations. The two sides have been ruled separately since Chiang Kai-shek moved his Nationalist government across the Taiwan Strait during the Chinese civil war. Xi’s speech was peppered with references to familiar domestic themes and promises to leave the self-governing island’s political system intact. He urged Taiwan to “share the glory of national rejuvenation,” a reference to his nationalist "Chinese Dream” slogan. “The difference in systems is not an obstacle to reunification or an excuse for separation,” Xi said.