Bulgaria's gross external debt amounted to EUR 33,349.1 million (56.4 per cent of GDP) at end-February 2019, dropping by EUR 435.6 million (1.3 per cent) year on year, the Bulgarian National Bank said on Tuesday. Long-term liabilities totalled EUR 25,121.8 million (75.3 per cent of the total debt, 42.5 per cent of GDP) at end-February 2019, decreasing by EUR 874.3 million (3.4 per cent) year on year. Short-term liabilities equalled EUR 8,227.3 million (24.7 per cent of the total debt, 13.9 per cent of GDP), growing by EUR 438.7 million (5.6 per cent) year on year. General government's gross external debt totalled EUR 5,513.6 million (9.3 per cent of GDP) at end-February 2019. On a year-on-year basis, general government's debt decreased by EUR 125.6 million (2.2 per cent).

Bulgaria’s unemployment fell to 4.6% in March 2019. This is the lowest unemployment rate since 2000, when Eurostat started publishing data about Bulgaria. In February this year unemployment was at 4.7%. One year earlier 5.3% of the Bulgarians in active age were unemployed. In March 2019 the EU unemployment fell to 6.4% and unemployment in the Eurozone fell to 7.7%. The record-low unemployment levels in the whole EU mean that the risk of economic recession is low. Theoretically, the very low unemployment levels in Bulgaria should boost consumer spending and respectively the national economy, which in 2018 suffered from the weakening exports.

Lockheed Martin informed the Bulgarian authorities that it is ready to establish maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Bulgaria, if a deal for the acquisition of F-16 Bloc 70 fighter aircraft is completed. “This means that for each aircraft’s 12,000 hours operational life, Bulgarian F-16s can be maintained in Bulgaria, by Bulgarian engineers and technicians”, says Jim Robinson, F-16 campaign lead in Bulgaria. “Lockheed Martin is also discussing a range of other partnership opportunities with Bulgarian industry and the potential involvement of Bulgarian academician institutions in research and development programmes that will develop the talent in science and engineering that is needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century”. The Bulgarian authorities have the ambition to complete the negotiations by the end of July this year. Some open issues such as the price of the fighter aircraft and the delivery time still remain.

State-owned Bulgartransgaz announced a new tender for the construction of two compressor stations enabling gas transit between the TurkStream pipeline extension and existing Bulgarian pipelines. The estimated cost of the project is set at BGN 351 mln. The amount added to the BGN 2.6 bln cost of the TurkStream pipeline construction and will raise Bulgartransgaz’ total investment in the pipeline to approximately BGN 3 bln. Overall, the total cost of the project puts a question mark to the potential profitability of the pipeline within the medium run, in our view. Bulgartransgaz expects to receive an average BGN 340 mln per year from gas transit fees from the TurkStream extension but it will also have to cover exploitation fees of BGN 130 mln per year, as well as interest payments on the investment. The company has already announced that it considers issuing Eurobonds or taking a loan in H2 to ensure the TurkStream pipeline funding. The first compressor station will be built near Provadia and the other station will be close to Montana.

Bulgarian car battery manufacturer Monbat said that its consolidated profit before taxes soared 245.5% on the year to BGN 7.3 million in the first quarter of 2019. The company’s consolidated net sales revenue increased by 23.8% year-on-year to BGN 83.5 million in the in the period under review. Monbat’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by an annual 63.9% to BGN 11.8 million in the first three months of 2019. In March alone, Monbat generated a pre-tax profit of BGN 3.3 million, 346.7% higher compared to the same month of 2018. Net sales revenue rose by 10.6% to BGN 26 million, whereas EBITDA increased by 69.2% to BGN 4.6 million in March. Monbat's consolidated net profit shrank to BGN 2.8 million last year from BGN 31.2 million in 2017 due to a drop in revenue by 9.5% to BGN 298.1 million.

Bulgarian thermal power plant (TPP) Maritsa 3 said that its non-consolidated net profit fell to BGN 898,000 in the first quarter of 2019 from BGN 1.64 million in the comparable period of last year. The plant's revenue grew sharply to BGN 5 million in the first three months of the year from BGN 2.8 million in the same period of 2018, TPP Maritsa 3 said. TPP Maritsa 3's total expenses increased to BGN 4.2 million in the review period from BGN 1.2 million a year earlier. The plant has one functioning 120 MW unit. TPP Maritsa 3 is located in the town of Dimitrovgrad, in southern Bulgaria. Its largest shareholder is local Topgroup with a 49% stake, followed by Draft with 46% interest.

The saga around the sale of CEZ's assets in Bulgaria is approaching its definitive end, writes the Czech business edition "E15", citing a source close to the negotiations between the Czech company and the Bulgarian buyer Eurohold. The publication specifies that the latest details of the contract are currently being harmonized, with CEZ receiving EUR 320 million for its assets in Bulgaria. That was the acceptable price for the Czechs. "In the coming weeks, we expect the final financial structure of the deal and the possible requirements of the funders to be presented, but I cannot comment more," CEZ spokesman Alice Horakova said, referring to confidentiality agreements. In turn, Eurohold stressed that it would pay for the assets with its own funds and funding from Western European banks. A week ago, shareholders of Eurohold Bulgaria approved an increase in the company's capital to BGN 277 million through the issue of new shares. In this way the holding can raise up to BGN 154 million.

Several European nations have suspended oil imports from Russia after contaminated supplies were found in a major pipeline from the world’s second-largest crude exporter. The sudden suspension of imports from the Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline has disrupted supplies to European refineries. Germany, Poland and Belarus have all suspended shipments through the Druzhba line, and trading sources say the Czech Republic has also halted imports, according to S&P Global Platts. The firm estimates that 700,000 barrels per day of Russian oil that usually transits through the Druzhba line has been suspended. At least five tankers containing the contaminated oil also sailed from the Baltic port of Ust Luga. The incident will cause short-term disruptions to supply, potentially resulting in reduced activity at affected refineries, according to Chris Midgley, global head of analytics at S&P Global Platts. That should boost product prices and refinery margins in northwest Europe, but it’s not likely to significantly tighten global oil supplies or disrupt production. Russia currently plans to start pumping clean fuel through Druzhba on April 29. 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Monday symbolically launched work on a new airport for Mexico City to replace the nearly half-built $13 billion project he cancelled upon taking office. López Obrador promised the new Felipe Ángeles airport northeast of the capital won't exceed its budget and will save the government money even with the cancellation of the partially built airport. "It's going to resolve the problem of saturation at the current Mexico City airport , but also be an example of how you can carry out a rational, austere policy based on honesty that needs to establish itself as the way to live and the way to govern in our country," López Obrador said. The new airport — named for a general allied with revolutionary icon Pancho Villa — is at the Santa Lucia military air base and the army is in charge of getting it built for USD 4.1 billion. It is supposed to begin operating in mid-2021, though construction has not yet begun. Two new runways would be added to its existing one and the commercial airport would share the space with the military. Critics have argued that the new airport will have difficulty operating simultaneously with the existing airport, but in a report by the military, consultant Navblue said they could operate simultaneously in terms of air space.

LG Electronics Inc said it would stop producing smartphones in South Korea and move manufacturing to Vietnam, joining global rivals in reorganizing production as they battle a slump in global demand. The restructuring of its money-losing business comes as LG, once one of the world’s top three mobile phone makers, has seen its global market share spiraling to less than 3 percent in the decade that smartphones came to dominate the mobile market. “I find its decision positive,” said analyst John Park at Daishin Securities. “Their existence may be barely noticeable in the global smartphone market, but they have solid presence in the U.S. market. It’s too early for them to close the whole business when fifth generation (5G) networks are starting,” Park said. LG is ranked third in the U.S. smartphone market, with a 17 percent share as of the third quarter of 2018, showed data from market researcher Counterpoint, after Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. LG, whose smartphone business has been losing money for several years, said in a statement that shifting production will boost annual capacity of its smartphone plant in Vietnam by 83 percent to 11 million handsets from the second half of 2019.