At the end of March 2019 assets managed by domestic and foreign investment funds operating in Bulgaria, amounted to BGN 4152.1 million, reported Bulgarian National Bank. The amount increased on an annual basis by BGN 492.2 million (13.4%) and by BGN 246.2 million (6.3%) as to December 2018. As a percentage of gross domestic product / GDP / total assets in domestic and foreign investment funds in March 2019 was 3.6% against 3.4% of the GDP in March 2018. As to the end of March 2019 assets of local investment funds amounted to BGN 1561.3 million and increased by BGN 214.9 million (16%) compared to the same month in 2018. At the end of the first quarter the funds attracted from residents in foreign investment funds amounted to BGN 2590.8 million as on an annual basis they increased by BGN 277.3 million (12%).

The number of residence permits granted to non-EU citizens in Bulgaria in 2017 was 41 per cent higher than in 2016, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on May 21. This was the second-highest increase after Hungary, where the number rose by 113 per cent, Eurostat said. In 2017, 51 021 non-EU nationals had residence permits in Bulgaria. This was significantly higher than the number in 2009, a total of 12 444. At the end of 2017, there were 20.3 million valid residence permits granted to non-EU citizens permitting them to reside in one of the EU member states, Eurostat said. Germany (23 per cent), Italy (18 per cent), France (14 per cent), Spain (13 per cent) and the United Kingdom (eight per cent) accounted for three-quarters of all valid residence permits granted to non-EU citizens. The stock of valid residence permits issued to non-EU citizens rose by five per cent between the end of 2016 and the end of 2017. Twenty-one out of 28 EU member states reported an increasing number of valid permits.

KCM is preparing a new large-scale investment project that will take place over the next five years. It will be realized on the site of the enterprise near Plovdiv. This was announced by Ivan Dobrev, Director of Development, Research and Repairs in the company. The working name of the project is "Technological Integration of KCM". By amount of the investment, it will be in scale with or larger than the investment project "Technological Renewal and Expansion of Production" (TREP), which was completed in 2014 and reached almost EUR 150 million and represents its continuation and upgrade. The intention of KCM is to fund the project with its own and raised resources. "We see the future development of the enterprise in two directions. One is the extraction to market of the other non-ferrous metals contained in the raw materials such as copper, cobalt and antimony and the second is the maximum utilization of the KCM site for the production of the basic metals lead and zinc," Dobrev explained.

Bulgarian vegetable oil producer Klas Oil has opened some 200 new jobs with the launch of a new production line in its plant in Karapelit, in the northeast of the country. This is an important investment for the company as the Karapelit plant exports 80% of its production - mainly to the EU and China. The new automated line is worth EUR 3 million. It raises the plant's daily capacity to 300 tonnes of refined oil, improves the quality of the output and makes production more environemnt-friendly. Klas Oil, founded in 2001, purchases and processes oilseeds to produce raw and refined oils.

The leader in the field of transport and logistics in Bulgaria Discordia has increased the number of its heavy-duty vehicles by 100 in the last six months to a total of 600 vehicles. By the end of the year, the company plans to invest in 180 new trucks, and by 2022 its management plans to have a total of 1,400 vehicles, the company said. The new 100 heavy-duty trucks are new generation and meet the Euro-6 standard. "We are extremely happy that we managed to increase our fleet with another 100 new trucks for 6 months, and it is a great achievement for us to be the only company in the country with a fleet of over 600 high-tech heavy-duty Euro-6 trucks", commented Executive Director at the company Hristo Hristov. At the end of 2018, Discordia announced that they would invest BGN 350 million in their business and employ 1,800 new employees within 5 years. Then, the company's management said they expect the revenues from their business to exceed EUR 177 million or BGN 346 million by the end of 2022.

Over EUR 36 million has been invested by the German company for the production of aero-concrete blocks Xella since its entering the Bulgarian market in 1993 so far. The company has two plants in Kremikovtzi near Sofia and in Dobrich. For a quarter century, they have produced 5 million and 500,000 cubic meters of YTONG branded products. Investments of EUR 36 million are invested in priority areas in production capacities, personnel training, labor safety, environmental protection, technology digitization and sales. Xella Bulgaria reports revenues of nearly BGN 20 million for 2017. The company ended the year with a loss of BGN 1.4 million before taxes. About two thirds of the production is sold on the Bulgarian market. The rest is exported to countries from Western Europe to the Middle East. For the Bulgarian factories the German company employs about 130 people. The main competitor of Xella on the Bulgarian market is another German company - Wienerberger, which produces ceramic bricks, as well as importers from Greece and aerated concrete from Turkey, Greece and Romania. The biggest customers of Xella Bulgaria are BSM, Toplivo, Angro, Gospodinovi, Stroymarket.

Bulgaria's Industrial Capital Holding said that its consolidated net profit after minority interest fell to BGN 1.2 million in the first quarter of 2019 from BGN 1.4 million in the same period of last year. Including interest attributable to other shareholders in the company's subsidiaries, the group posted a net profit of BGN 5.6 million in January-March, down from BGN 6.5 million in the comparable period of 2018. The holding company's consolidated revenue decreased to BGN 57.5 million in the first three months of the year from BGN 63.7 million in the like period of 2018. Operating expenses dropped to BGN 51.4 million in the review period from BGN 56.7 million a year earlier, as expenses for materials fell to BGN 36.1 million from BGN 40.7 million the year before. Industrial Capital Holding owns stakes in ten local companies and consolidates the results of five of them - machinery manufacturer Siloma, supporting components maker Rubolt, cables producer Emka, hydraulic equipment manufacturer M+S Hydraulic and abrasive tools producer ZAI.

The final step towards a ban in the European Union on a number of single-use plastic products – including plates, cutlery, straws and earbuds – was taken on May 21 with approval of the directive by the Council of the EU. The single-use plastics directive builds on the EU’s existing waste legislation but goes further by setting stricter rules for those types of products and packaging which are among the top 10 most frequently found items polluting European beaches. The new rules ban the use of certain throwaway plastic products for which alternatives exist. In addition, specific measures are introduced to reduce the use of the most frequently littered plastic products. Single-use plastic products are made wholly or partly of plastic and are typically intended to be used just once or for a short period of time before they are thrown away. One of the main purposes of the directive is to reduce the amount of plastic waste. Under the new rules, single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks and cotton buds will be banned by 2021.

Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Foot Locker and other sneaker brands and retailers told President Donald Trump that proposed tariffs on imported shoes from China would be "catastrophic" for American consumers. "Any action taken to increase duties on Chinese footwear will have an immediate and long-lasting effect on American individuals and families," a coalition of more than 170 footwear companies said in a letter to Trump. "It will also threaten the very economic viability of many companies in our industry." The letter was posted on the website for the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, an industry trade group. It was also addressed to United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council. Earlier this month, the Trump administration hiked tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese-made goods. Additionally, the Trump administration has started a formal process to slap 25% tariffs on the remaining $325 billion in goods coming from China that aren't already taxed. That list included sneakers, toys and other consumer products.

China's new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD has delivered its electric buses to Japan's Oze National Park, the Shenzhen-headquartered company said Monday. The J6 model of the bus, specifically designed for Japan and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, has a compact body to enhance accessibility on Japan's narrow streets and a low floor designed to cater to the aged society of Japan. It was the fourth time that BYD has delivered electric buses to Japan, the company said, noting that at present, one in every three electric buses in Japan's public transport market is provided by BYD. "BYD plans to introduce a full range of new energy products to Japan, including all-electric buses, trucks and forklifts, as well as solar and power storage products," said Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD's Asia Pacific sales division. As of March 2019, BYD has a global reach boasting sales of over 50,000 electric buses in more than 50 countries and regions, as well as 17,000 units sold domestically.