Bulgaria's Parliament adopted conclusively amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act, transposing Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. The Association of European Journalists-Bulgaria (AEJ-Bulgaria) voiced concern that the revisions restrict the right to freedom of expression and called on President Rumen Radev to veto the law. The amendments expand the tasks and the powers of the Commission for Personal Data Protection as the single supervisory authority responsible for the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals in connection with the processing and movement of personal data within the EU. The law regulates the powers of the Inspectorate with the Supreme Judicial Council to supervise personal data processing in particular cases. Under the revisions, processing of personal data for journalistic purposes and the purposes of academic, artistic or literary expression is lawful when it is carried out for the exercise of the right to freedom of expression while respecting the protection of privacy.

At the end of 2018, the deposits of the non-government sector in the Bulgarian banking system amounted to BGN 77.659 billion (71.9% of the projected GDP), with annual growth of 7.3% after growth of 7.9% in November, data from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) show. Deposits of non-financial ентерприсес amounted to BGN 23.184 billion in December (21.5% of GDP), increasing on an annual basis by 5.2%, following an increase of 6.7% in the previous month. At the same time, the deposits of the financial enterprises increased by 16.9% on an annual basis after a growth of 17.1% in November and reached BGN 2.945 billion (2.7% of GDP) at the end of 2018. In December, household deposits and NPISHs (Non-profit institutions serving households) amounted to BGN 51.530 billion (47.7% of GDP), increasing on an annual basis by 7.7% after growth of 8.0% in November 2018. Non-government sector loans totaled BGN 57.354 billion (53.1% of GDP) at the end of December compared to BGN 57.617 billion in November (53.4% of GDP), increasing by 8, 4% (versus December 2017).

Metalworking machines manufacturer Spinner Bulgaria is investing BGN 10 million in the construction of a new production facility and purchase of equipment, the economy ministry said. Construction is projected to be completed in March, while production activities are expected to start in April, the economy ministry said in a statement. Spinner Bulgaria will employ 100 people at its new facility, which will be located in Trakia Economic Zone, near Plovdiv. Its output will be sold on the local market and exported to Germany, Turkey, the Middle East, South and North America. Turkey's Avci CNC Makine Pazarlama and Germany's Spinner Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik hold stakes of 50% each in Spinner Bulgaria.

The coordination committee of the EU's Connecting Europe Facility has decided to grant over EUR 27 million to Bulgaria's gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz to support a project for rehabilitation, modernization and expansion of the country gas transit network. The contract will be signed following a decision by the European Commission. The project envisages the implementation of construction works, procurement of materials and equipment for the replacement (rehabilitation) of two sections of the Northern semi-ring of the existing gas transmission network with a total length of about 81 km. The sections are part of the European Commission's list of projects of common interest. The project is also part of Bulgaria's concept for building a regional gas hub - Balkan. The gas hub project envisages the construction of an EU-funded regional gas distribution centre in Varna region, near the Black Sea coast, that would dispatch deliveries of natural gas to the rest of Europe. Gas can be fed into the hub from Russia, from Bulgaria's potential gas deposits in the Black Sea or, via interconnectors with Greece and Turkey, from the Caspian region or the Eastern Mediterranean, or from the Greek and Turkish LNG terminals. The gas hub could also be supplied via an interconnector with Romania, which is estimated to have significant deposits in the Black Sea shelf.

One of the largest vinegar producers in the country - Veda, the Pleven-based company, will invest over BGN 1.1 million in new technology related to quality and energy efficiency in the production of organic apple vinegar. Half of the amount is funded under sub-measure 4.1 ‘Investments in agricultural holdings’ of the Rural Development Program and the rest is funded by the company. The project must be completed by the end of 2020. Its implementation will lead to higher productivity and better product quality. In September last year, the company, whose production site is situated in Dolni Dubnik, launched a new apple processing plant. It is set on 216 square meters of covered area. The approximate value of the investment is BGN 500 thousand, the main part being from own funds and the rest - from credit. Three years ago, Veda invested BGN 1.5 million to modernize and expand its production base and was certified for bio-production. The company exports part of its production abroad - in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Cyprus, the Baltic States, Poland, Sweden, Russia, Romania, Macedonia, Pakistan, China.

Bulgaria's Sopharma Properties REIT has signed an annex to a loan deal with local DSK Bank to decrease the volume of the installments it pays monthly. Under the annex, the monthly installments for the repayment of the principal of the loan are reduced, while the deadline for repayment of the loan, as well as all other clauses of the contract, remain unchanged. The stock exchange admitted to trading in October 849,979 shares in Sopharma Properties issued for the purpose of raising funds for the early repayment of a part of a loan extended by DSK Bank. Sopharma Properties, a unit of drugmaker Sopharma, signed the EUR 22.6 million loan deal with DSK Bank in 2008. The loan was then refinanced in 2011 and 2014.

Bulgaria's Euroins Insurance Group (EIG) said it finds the Greek central bank's ban on the group's proposed acquisition of Athens-based Credit Agricole Life unjustified, and committed to expanding its activities in Greece through its local branch. On January 21, the Greek central bank's Credit and Insurance Committee said that it has banned the proposed acquisition of a 100% stake in Credit Agricole Life by EIG. The regulator expressed concerns regarding the group's financial condition and stability, as well as its lack of know-how and experience on the life insurance sector. The regulator also disapproved of EIG's heavy reliance on external borrowing. EIG initially tried to acquire Credit Agricole Life in 2016, but the purchase was blocked by the Greek central bank, which quoted solvency capital issues of EIG's Romanian unit as the reason for its decision. Credit Agricole Life is a unit of France's Credit Agricole. EIG, a unit of Eurohold Bulgaria, has operations in nine countries outside Bulgaria - Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Macedonia, Greece and Georgia. The group has over 2.5 million clients with annual revenue of over EUR 330 million.

France called for a new global system of taxation, including a tax on digital giants, as governments look to prevent companies from shopping around for tax havens. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the Group of Seven (G7), of which France holds the rotating presidency, should consider setting a joint minimum corporate tax and tackle the power of giant multinational corporations. Le Maire said he had discussed the issue with his U.S. counterpart, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The tax would be aimed at eliminating imbalances between the amount small and big companies pay. “There is a common understanding among all G7 members that we need a new taxation system,” he said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. This new global system, he said, should include a tax on digital multinationals that France is pushing to introduce within the European Union and then at the G7 level. “We will put on the table the idea of a fair taxation of Internet giants,” he said. However, EU finance ministers failed to agree a tax on digital revenues in December, despite a last-minute Franco-German plan to salvage the proposal by narrowing its focus to companies like Google and Facebook.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning over the backing of the Washington and many Latin American nations and prompting socialist Nicolas Maduro to break relations with the United States. Speaking to supporters outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, socialist leader Maduro said he would give U.S. diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave Venezuela, which is suffering from a hyperinflationary economic collapse. U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognized Guaido shortly after his announcement and praised his plan to hold elections. That was swiftly followed by similar statements from Canada and a slew of right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela’s neighbors Brazil and Colombia. The U.S. State Department said in a statement that it would not remove American diplomats because it did not recognize the Maduro regime as the government of Venezuela: “The United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata.”

Toyota Motor and Panasonic announced the establishment of a joint venture by end-2020 to develop and manufacture batteries for electric vehicles. Toyota will control 51% of the new company and Panasonic will hold the remaining stake. The new venture will make lithium ion batteries, solid state batteries and develop other new technologies to meet fierce competition in a growing industry. Panasonic's facilities in Japan and China will produce for the new company, but its U.S. factories will still manufacture for Tesla. Toyota Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi said: "We hope the new company helps us to achieve the sales goal of 5.5 million units of electrified vehicles in 2030." Panasonic Senior Managing Executive Officer Masahisa Shibata pointed to synergies between the two companies: "We can evolve our batteries more speedily by making use of Toyota's technology." Toyota and Panasonic reached an agreement to produce batteries for electric cars in December 2017. Both are deepening their cooperation as the drive to develop more effective batteries for electric vehicles heat up.