Due to the materialization of some of the risks of its previous underlying scenario, UniCredit Bulbank has revised downwards its forecast for the growth of the Bulgarian economy in 2019 from 3.9% to 3.3%. The bank expects the economy to keep its growth slightly above potential in both 2019 and 2020. UniCredit Bulbank believes that this year Bulgarian exports will grow moderately against the backdrop of weaker prospects for global growth and world trade. GDP growth slowed down last year (from 3.8% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018), but the economy entered a relatively high momentum in 2019, so the bank has predicted that growth would remain above potential for the fifth consecutive year. For the next year, the slowdown in developed economies, coupled with a slower job creation, due to the unfavorable demographic outlook, will affect GDP growth to 3.1% next year. With full employment in early 2019, job creation will lose its role as a major driver of growth. From an annual average of 1.5% over the last five years, the growth of new jobs is expected to slow down to an average of 0.4% over the next two years, with new jobs at the expense of falling unemployment and increasing the employment rate in the population aged over 55 years.

The profit of the banking system for the first two months of this year increased by 7.6% on an annual basis and reached BGN 204 million. This is more by BGN 14 million compared to the same period last year, according to the data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). The central bank estimates that the balance sheet figure of the banking system increased in February 2019, with deposits, balance sheet capital and loans and advances increasing. Compared to the end of January 2019, the total assets have increased by 0.7% (BGN 787 million) to BGN 107.7 billion. The BNB reported that the cost of impairment of financial assets not reported at fair value through profit or loss at the end of February amounted to BGN 44 million compared to BGN 64 million a year ago.

BORICA, a leading provider of services to the financial sector in Bulgaria, in partnership with BULPROS, the fastest growing technology company established in Bulgaria, has successfully built a standardized platform for compliance of banks with the regulatory requirements of Directive (EC) 2015/2366 (Payment Service Directive or PSD2) that entered into force in March 2019. The aim of the project is to support payment service providers in view of the new technical standards imposed by the introduction of PSD2. According to the Directive, all banks in the European Union must provide secure and standardized access for payment service providers to consumer billing accounts, ensuring both the security of payments and the trustworthy environment for their implementation. The shared platform XS2A Gateway, built by BORICA and BULPROS, is an opportunity for banks in Bulgaria to achieve cost-effective and fast compliance with these regulatory requirements and to adapt to the new competitive environment of "open banking".

Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition has granted approval to paper and cardboard packaging company Smurfit Kappa Europe, part of London-listed Smurfit Kappa Group, to acquire Bulgarian peer Vitavel. The combined market share of Smurfit Kappa Group's local units and Vitavel on the Bulgarian corrugated fiberboard and corrugated fiberboard packaging markets does not exceed 15%, and is not expected to negatively affect competition. Vitavel is majority owned by Bulgaria's Vitavel Invest, which holds an 84.73% stake. The company booked revenue of BGN 13.9 million from operations in the country in 2017. Smurfit Kappa Group operates in Bulgaria through its local units Balkanpack and Elzem Bulgaria, as well as its Serbian subsidiary Fabrika Hartije. The group generated revenue of BGN 23 million from operations in Bulgaria in 2017. Smurfit Kappa Group operates in 21 countries in Europe and 12 countries in North and South America.

The European Commission has approved EUR 33 million in EU financing for the construction of the gas interconnector Greece-Bulgaria. As a result of the project, consumers will enjoy lower prices on the back of increased competition on the gas market. Earlier on Tuesday, ICGB, the company developing the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria project, said that Greece's J&P-AVAX and a tie-up named IGB-2018 have submitted offers in the tender for awarding a contract for construction of the gas link. The tender is worth an estimated EUR 145 million, VAT excluded. According to previous statements from ICGB, the IGB-2018 tie-up comprises Italy's Bonatti, and Bulgarian construction companies GP Group and Glavbolgarstroy International. ICGB is planning to complete the selection process next month, paving the way for construction work to begin in June. The deadline for completing construction works is 18 months from their start. The IGB pipeline will connect the Greek gas transmission system in the area of Komotini to the Bulgarian gas transmission system in the area of Stara Zagora. The gas link is estimated to cost EUR 220 million overall. The project company has secured a sovereign guarantee of EUR 110 million which could ensure loan financing under preferable conditions. ICGB is a 50/50 joint venture of state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Greece-registered IGI Poseidon. Greek public gas corporation DEPA and Italian energy group Edison own 50% each of IGI Poseidon.

International rating agency Fitch upgraded Bulgarian Development bank’s long-term credit rating from BBB with stable to BBB with a positive outlook. This is the highest possible credit rating for a financial institution in Bulgaria. The positive outlook shows a balance in the risks associated with credit rating. At the end of 2018, the assets of the Bulgarian Development Bank increased by 22% compared to the same period in 2017 and exceeded the level of BGN 3 billion. The Bank maintains the highest levels of liquidity and capital adequacy in the Bulgarian banking system: its capital adequacy amounts to 40.5% on an average 20%, with the liquidity coverage ratio above 1300% on an average of 228%. Loans provided to business in 2018 amounted to almost BGN 400 million - compared to BGN 120 million for 2017 and the number of supported enterprises through the BDB on-line programs increased 4 times. In 2018, the bank has negotiated a long-term investment resource worth more than EUR 1.5 billion from foreign financial institutions, including China Development Bank and China Exim Bank. BDB is also actively involved with the European Investment Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the KfW German Development Bank and others.

One of the most anticipated projects in Plovdiv, which will create the future of biotechnology, may begin soon. PlantaSYST has introduced its investment plans for the establishment of the "Plant Systemic Biology and Biotechnology Center", which will be located in the Trakia district. The plot was provided by the municipal council with a free right to build. The land will remain municipal property and the company will have an unlimited right to use it. PlantaSYST is a result of the joint work of three Bulgarian and two German institutes - Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Maritza Institute of Vegetable Crops in Plovdiv, Institute of Microbiology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Potsdam University and Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam-Golm. This is the most high-budget project in Plovdiv in recent years, worth more than EUR 15 million. There will be a number of plant protection activities, biotechnology to many areas in the agricultural center. The project is supported by all universities and will be an important part of the scientific developments in the sector.

Britain is at risk of "trashing its fabulous relationship" with the rest of Europe because of its failure to secure a Brexit deal, a top businessman says. Jurgen Maier, the UK chief executive of Siemens, said: "We are at a point of crisis right at this moment in time. "We need to find a way forward so we can re-establish that trust to give us the confidence to invest here again." Confidence in Britain would return once the situation was resolved, he added. Mr Maier said: "If I was going to go to my board today and say here is another factory that I want to open for a major infrastructure project in the UK, I can tell you that with this turmoil right now, we would not be putting that over the line. "I'm saying to our parliament, 'enough is enough' and this is the week where a decision needs to be made. "I remember this country being the sick man of Europe in 1974 and it has taken us 45 years to create a Britain which is a trusting, reliable trading partner. "My company, like many others, has invested hundreds of millions in this country over that period." Mr Maier said, however, that once Britain knew its future, he was "100% sure" that investment in the country would follow.

Ferrero agreed to acquire the cookie, fruit and fruit-flavored snack, ice cream cone and pie crust businesses from Kellogg for $1.3 billon, defeating rival bidder Hostess Brands. JP Morgan and Davis Polk & Wardwell served as advisors to Ferrero. The Italian chocolate giant is the owner of brands such as Ferrero Rocher, tic tac and Nutella, and it became the third largest confectioner in the U.S. following Mars and Hershey after acquiring Nestlé’s U.S. candy brands for $2.8 billion a year ago. The deal involving brands from Keebler, Famous Amos, Mother’s and Murray to Little Brownie Bakers is expected to close in the second half of this year. All these brands will be managed under Ferrara, the gummy producer Ferrero acquired in late 2017 as part of its ongoing U.S. market expansion plan. The transaction also includes six owned food manufacturing facilities located the country in Allyn, Washington; Augusta, Georgia; Florence and Louisville, Kentucky; two plants in Chicago, Illinois; as well as a leased manufacturing facility in Baltimore, Maryland.

Home-renting company Airbnb will invest between $100 and $200 million in SoftBank Group-backed Indian hotel start-up OYO, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as it dives deeper into the hotel-booking business. Airbnb said earlier on Monday it has invested in OYO’s latest funding round and it will look at ways to make the Indian start-up’s accommodation available on its platform. It did not disclose details of the deal. The investment will give U.S.-based Airbnb access to a variety of franchised or leased hotels, helping it lure travelers who have shied away from the risks and quirks of renting a stranger’s home. Airbnb, last month bought HotelTonight, an app for finding hotel rooms at a discount, with an eye on a variety of travelers ahead of the U.S. company’s hotly anticipated initial public offering. OYO, which raised $1 billion last year from investors including SoftBank and ride-hailing firm Grab, operates in India, China, Britain, Dubai, Indonesia and Malaysia. It expects revenue to more than treble every year over the next five years, as it expands locally and in international markets, a senior company executive told Reuters earlier this year.