Bulgaria’s preparations to join the euro zone are on track and the Balkan country may adopt the euro as early as January 2022, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said. That is some months earlier than indicated by the EU commissioner in charge of the common currency. Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in 2007, would have to wait at least until mid-2022 to join the euro. But Goranov said he remained hopeful that Bulgaria will be allowed to enter the bloc’s banking union and the ERM-2 mechanism, the two-year obligatory precursor to the euro currency, this summer. Bulgaria’s lev currency is already pegged to the euro. “I am a moderate optimist that in July, if all goes well with the asset quality review and the stress tests ... we will have a reason to apply for ERM entry and will expect a positive result,” Goranov told a public debate on the euro adoption.

Nearly a third of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced in Bulgaria in 2017 comes from the service sector in Sofia. On the other hand, Sofia is back in growth compared to the previous year and the leading position is occupied by the Vratsa region with 19.7%, thus replacing last year's leader Stara Zagora. The increase comes mainly from the industry and is probably due to the Kozloduy NPP, where in 2017 the higher sales prices led to BGN 100 million more revenues than the previous year. At the same time, the plant also reports higher maintenance costs. The Northwest Region as a whole is ahead of the areas with the highest nominal GDP growth in 2017 - 9.5%. This is largely due to Vratsa, but there is a significant increase in Vidin (11%) and Montana (9%) as well. High growth is also visible in the area around the capital and Pernik as well as Smolyan, while Lovech is the only area in 2017 that reports a decline in GDP (by 0.3%), according to data of the National Statistical Institute for GDP by region.

Bulgaria's Amadeus ACG has acquired 100% of local company Sunny Tour from private investor Georgi Gergov, a Sunny Tour unit said in a bourse filing. The price of the transaction was not disclosed in the bourse filing by resort operator Sunny Day. Sunny Tour owns a 95.387% stake in Sunny Day. Amadeus ACG is owned by three private individuals - Angel Paliyski and Sasho Shilegov, who hold 42% each, and Georgi Karadimov with a 16% stake, commercial registry data shows. Sunny Day operates two hotels - The Palace Hotel and Marina Hotel - on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.

Bulgarian poultry producer Gradus said that its has received BGN 27.2 million in dividends from its units in 2018, in line with its forecast. The company ended 2018 with a non-consolidated net profit of BGN 26.7 million, Gradus said. The company's operating expenses totalled BGN 825,000 last year. In June, Gradus raised BGN 81.4 million in a two-day initial public offering (IPO) on the BSE, making it the biggest IPO on the exchange since 2007. Investors subscribed for 45.2 million Gradus shares, or 81% of the total number of offered shares, at a price of BGN 1.8 apiece. The company's shares started trading on the Sofia bourse on August 6, 2018 and have lost 3.9% of their price to date.

The Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) said that an all-time high 27,291.40 MWh of electricity have traded on the exchange's day ahead market for delivery on Tuesday. The new record translates to an average hourly load of 1,137.14 MW, IBEX said. The previous record was set earlier this month and amounted to 25,663.10 MWh, or an average hourly load of 1,069.30 MW. IBEX, established in 2014, holds a 10-year license by the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission for organizing a Power Exchange for electricity in Bulgaria. IBEX is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, which acquired the company last year.

Bulgartransgaz said it has singed a BGN 48 million framework deal with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for rescue on-site archaeological studies along the route of planned expansion of the existing gas infrastructure. The agreement was signed on December 28, the state-owned gas transmission system operator announced. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences submitted the only offer in the public procurement procedure for the contract. Last month, Bulgartransgaz launched a BGN 2.29 billion tender for construction of a new 484 km gas pipeline from compressor station Nova Provadia, which will be located some 50 km west of the Black Sea coast city of Varna, to the border with Serbia.

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works has received 32 project proposals worth over BGN 33 million from 18 Bulgarian municipalities as part of the Energy Efficiency in Peripheral Areas - 2 procedure of the EU Priority Axis 2, which is financed by OP Regions in Growth 2014-2020. The projects include improving the energy efficiency of multifamily residential, municipal and state administration buildings and the municipal educational, social and cultural infrastructure. The Energy Efficiency in Peripheral Areas - 2 procedure is a follow-up of the first measure for energy efficiency in peripheral areas through which 170 contracts were concluded with a total worth of over BGN 167 million.

Bulgarian car battery maker Monbat said that its adjusted consolidated operating profit fell by 74.4% year-on-year to BGN 5.8 million in 2018. Monbat’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by an annual 30.2% to BGN 27.7 million in 2018. The company’s consolidated net sales revenue decreased 5.5% to BGN 301.6 million last year. In December alone, Monbat posted an adjusted operating loss of BGN 1.5 million after a 4.9% drop in net sales revenue, to BGN 23.6 million.

German government-appointed panel has recommended that Germany stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2038 at the latest, as part of efforts to curb climate change. The Coal Commission reached a deal early Saturday following months of wrangling that were closely watched by other coal-dependent countries. “We made it,” Ronald Pofalla, the head of the commission, told reporters in Berlin. “This is a historic effort.” Germany gets more than a third of its electricity from burning coal, generating large amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The 28-member panel, representing mining regions, utility companies, scientists and environmentalists, suggests a review in 2032 could bring forward the coal deadline to 2035. The plan foresees billions in federal funding to help affected regions cope with the economic impact, and to shield industry and consumers from higher electricity prices. The energy transition will also need a huge overhaul and modernization of the country’s power grid, the commission’s members said. The decision still needs government approval.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration lifted sanctions on aluminum giant Rusal and other Russian firms linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, despite a Democratic-led push in the U.S. Congress to maintain the restrictions. Earlier this month, 11 of Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate joined Democrats in a failed effort to keep the sanctions on Rusal, its parent, En+ Group, and power firm JSC EuroSibEnergo. But that was not enough to overcome opposition from Trump and most of his fellow Republicans. Advocates for keeping the sanctions had argued that Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, retained too much control over the companies to lift sanctions imposed in April to punish Russia for actions including its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, efforts to interfere in U.S. elections and support for Syria’s government in its civil war. Some lawmakers from both parties also said it was inappropriate to ease the sanctions while Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.

China is planning to apply the same technology used to detonate a nuclear bombs to access its massive shale gas reserves in Sichuan province. While success would mean a giant leap forward not only for the industry but also Beijing’s energy self-sufficiency ambitions, some observers are concerned about the potential risk of widespread drilling for the fuel in a region known for its devastating earthquakes. Despite being home to the largest reserves of shale gas on the planet – about 31.6 trillion cubic metres according to 2015 figures from the US Energy Information Administration, or twice as much as the United States and Australia combined – China is the world’s biggest importer of natural gas, with about 40 per cent of its annual requirement coming from overseas. In 2017, it produced just 6 billion cubic metres of shale gas, or about 6 per cent of its natural gas output for the whole year. The problem is that 80 per cent of its deposits are located more than 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) below sea level, which is far beyond the range of hydraulic fracturing, the standard method for extraction.