Assets managed by insurance companies operating in Bulgaria amounted to BGN 7.645 billion as of the end of December 2018. They increased by BGN347.7 million (4.8%) compared to the end of December 2017, the Bulgarian National Bank reported. Assets of life insurance companies increased by BGN118.4 leva (5.8%) from BGN2.034 billion as of the end of December 2017 toBGN 2.153 billion at the end of the same month of 2018. Assets managed by general insurance companies increased by BGN229.4 million (4.4%) from BGN 5.263 billion as of the end of December 2017 to BGN5.492 billion at the end of the same month of 2018. Among the instruments included in the assets of insurance companies, securities other than shares prevailed as of the end of December 2018. Their amount decreased on an annual basis by BGN10.6 million (0.3%) to BGN3.751 billion. In the currency breakdown of the assets of insurance companies at the end of December 2018, the assets denominated in leva held the main share - 42.5% compared to 40.3% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2017. Assets denominated in euro were 31.3% against 30.7% as of the end of December 2017.

The banks in Bulgaria have taken a serious cleanup of their portfolios of bad loans in 2018. Only for a year they have releaved themselves from troubled loans for EUR 0.8 billion (about BGN 1.56 billion), reads the Deloitte report for non-performing bank loans in Central and Eastern Europe. In total, two deals marked the sale of bad loans in 2018 in Bulgaria - the sale of EUR 250 million (nearly BGN 500 million) of secured and unsecured non-performing loans to individuals and companies from UniCredit Bulbank, as well as the UBB deal with EOS Matrix for a portfolio of EUR 235 million (BGN 460 million) of problem loans. Between 2015 and 2018, the sale of non-performing debts in Bulgaria amounts to about EUR 1.5 billion (BGN 2.93 billion). The sale of problem loans is part of the banking sector strategy in Bulgaria to reduce the share of non-performing loans, promoted by the BNB and required by the European Commission. The reason is that, according to statistics in the EU, only four troubled states have a higher share of non-performing loans compared to Bulgaria according to data from 2017.

Bulgaria's energy ministry has launched a procedure to select a strategic investor in a project for the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Belene. The candidates can also state their interest in acquiring a minority interest in the future project company, and/or in buying electricity from the planned NPP. Belene NPP must be built on a market basis, as the state will not sign with the investor long-term power purchase agreements, nor provide state guarantees. Bulgaria will participate in the project company via a non-monetary contribution - the reactors and other equipment plus the construction site and the respective licences. The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is the 90th day following the publication of the invitation in the Official Journal of the European Union. The procedure is expected to be completed within one year. In June 2018, Bulgaria's government mandated the energy minister to seek options for the construction of an NPP in Belene with the participation of a strategic investor.

After several years of loss, which was funded by the state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB), the Lovech-based manufacturer of power tools Sparky Eltos faces claims for insolvency proceedings, which have been filed by UniCredit Bulbank. This includes also the Rousse-based machine-building factory Sparky, as well as their direct owner Sparky group. Practically their largest creditor is BDB. According to data published by the company by the end of 2017, long-term bank loans to Sparky Eltos ,amounted to BGN 31.1 million and short-term (up to 12 months) reached BGN 50.6 million. A year later - at the end of 2018, the current liabilities on bank loans amounted to a total of BGN 51.6 million, but there is no detailed information on creditors. According to the report for 2017, the short-term liabilities to Unicredit Bulbank amount to BGN 6.5 million and the deadline for their payment is the beginning of 2018. The company also has long-term liabilities to the bank at the amount of BGN 14.8 million. Debts to the BDB amount to BGN 37 million, which had to be paid by the end of September last year. The company also has to repay about BGN 17 million in total on a syndicated loan granted by the BDB and the International Investment Bank in 2015, but the term is longer (10 years).

The direct shareholding of Saglasie Universal Pension Fund in the capital of Central Cooperative Bank amounts to 6.98% (the voting rights of the General Shareholders Meeting exceed 5%). The company has received a notification for significant share participation from Saglasie - Pension Insurance Company. Armeec Insurance Company also notified about a change in the direct shareholding of the company in the capital of the bank, which is 9.43%. (respectively the voting rights in the General Shareholders Meeting exceed 5%). The share capital of CCB currently amounts to BGN 113.15 mln divided into 113.15 mln shares, each with a nominal value of BGN 1. Shares are registered, dematerialized, ordinary, freely transferable, each share entitling one vote. The shares of the bank are traded on the official market for shares "Premium" segment of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange - Sofia AD. At the end of last year, Chimimport AD was the main shareholder in Central Cooperative Bank, which directly (6.61%) and through related parties (68.56%) controls over 75% of the votes of the General Shareholders Meeting of CCB.

Bulgaria's BDZ Passengers, part of state-owned railway group BDZ Holding has singed a BGN 1.1 million deal with the local branch of SSS Trade Czech Republic for supply of spare parts for electric railcars. The deal was signed on February 18, BDZ Passengers said in a notice. Two companies filed bids in the public procurement procedure for awarding the contract.

Bulgarian pharmaceuticals trader Sopharma Trading said that it intends to rename its wholly-owned Serbian unit Lekovit to Sopharma Trading. The company also intends to integrate the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system it uses in Bulgaria into its Serbian operations, it said in a bourse filing. Sopharma Trading first introduced the ERP system, developed by business software provider SAP, two years ago to manage its Bulgarian operations. The innovations which Sopharma Trading plans to introduce in Serbia include the establishment of a new B2B website, based on the Hybris platform, the company noted. Sopharma Trading completed the acquisition of 70% interest in Lekovit for an undisclosed sum in August 2017 and the sole owner of Lekovit in January 2019. Sopharma Trading is a unit of Bulgarian drug maker Sopharma.

German industrial output unexpectedly fell in November for the third consecutive month, data showed on Tuesday, adding to signs that Europe's largest economy shifted into a lower gear in the final quarter of 2018. Data from the Federal Statistics Office showed industrial output was down by 1.9 percent, way below a Reuters forecast of an increase of 0.3 percent. The figure for October was revised down to a fall of 0.8 percent from a previously reported drop of 0.5 percent. German factories churned out fewer intermediate, capital and consumer goods, according to more detailed data published by the Economy Ministry. Output in the construction industry also decreased, as did production in the energy sector. The ministry pointed to special factors including an unusual high number of bridge days around national holidays and problems faced by the car industry as it adjusted to new emission standards.

The United States became the world’s biggest oil producer in 2018, and over the next five years, the nation will take aim at becoming the top oil exporter, according to the International Energy Agency. IEA forecasts U.S. exports of crude oil and petroleum products will nearly double, hitting about 9 million barrels per day by 2024. At that level, the U.S. will surpass Russia’s shipments and threaten to unseat Saudi Arabia, the current top exporter. The forecast from IEA comes just weeks after the U.S. exported a record 3.6 million barrels per day of crude oil. The country is also a major exporter of petroleum products, including refined fuels like gasoline. Those shipments will surge in the coming years as crude production from the nation’s shale fields continues to boom, IEA says in its annual five-year oil outlook. The Paris-based adviser to oil consumers and producers sees U.S. crude output — already at a record 12 million bpd — growing by another 4 million bpd through 2024.

An HL-2M Tokamak reactor, more commonly known as an “artificial sun”, is about to go live at a lab in Hefei in eastern China’s Anhui province. The cutting-edge magnetic confinement device experimenting in controlled thermonuclear fusion will soon achieve an ion temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, according to China National Nuclear Corp. The device is designed to trigger a process of nuclear fusion, replicating the source of the sun’s energy. The sun is a natural fusion reactor where stellar nucleosynthesis transforms lighter elements into heavier ones with the release of enormous amounts of energy. Harnessing nuclear fusion in a controlled way is also seen as a potential source of almost infinite clean energy to address diminishing resources of highly-pollutive fossil fuels and their related environmental issues. Tokamak is the most well-developed and well-funded approach to fusion energy. This method races hot plasma around in a magnetically confined torus, with an internal current. Achieving an ion temperature above 100 million degrees is a key hurdle, and to put that figure into perspective, the core of the sun is widely believed to be 15 million degrees.