Ten years after the creation of the Silver Fund, the money in it exceed BGN 3 billion. According to the Ministry of Finance, as of May 31, the amount was BGN 3.067 billion, of which BGN 2.922 billion were held on a deposit with the BNB. When the fund was set up in 2007, the expectations were that within 15 years it would accumulate over BGN 10 billion, with which the basic pensions of the Bulgarians would be supplemented in time. At this point, the money is enough to pay the pensions for several months. One of the reasons for the funds to grow at an unpredictable rate is that the revenue sources specified in the law dry up one by one. Over the past five years, concessions have proved to be the only serious source. 31 May is the deadline by which all money due from the previous year must be paid by law to the Silver Fund. Thus, it is clear that BGN 101 million came from the concessions to the Fund in 2018, and from privatization - BGN 1.15 mln.

863 financial corrections have been imposed so far under OP "Regions in Growth" because of irregularities in the award and execution of contracts. As a result of these adjustments, expenditures amounting to BGN 22.6 million have not been approved to the beneficiaries, which will remain at their expense and will not be covered by the program. This was announced by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) commented the news of financial corrections imposed in a number of municipalities. Sofia Municipality was sanctioned with a financial correction for a total of BGN 1.6 million under the contracts for repairs to the center, large sanctions were imposed in other municipalities as well. The main reason for the contract adjustments is the imposition of unlawful selection criteria for the award of public contracts, as well as subjective indicators in the evaluation methodologies, the MRDPW specified. Financial corrections are massively appealed, but at the moment the MRDPW manages to win a huge share of the cases.

Velocity Minerals Ltd. announces that it has entered into an option agreement with Bulgarian partner, Gorubso Kardzhali JSC, to acquire a 70% interest in the 388-hectare Momchil property, which includes the Obichnik gold project; a geological resource registered on the Bulgarian State balance. Under the terms of the option agreement, Velocity can earn a 70% interest by delivering a mineral resource estimate prepared under National Instrument 43-101. The Obichnik deposit is located in southeast Bulgaria, approximately 25 km by road from Gorubso’s modern CIL processing plant. The resource which is registered with the Ministry of Energy in Bulgaria is based on historical exploration, including approximately 32 drill holes (4,800m) and 137 trenches completed by Geoengineering and Gorubso.

ICGB, the company developing the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria project, has signed a EUR 5.67 million contract with the TIBEI consortium, which won the tender for selecting an owner's engineer for the project. The contract was signed on May 20, according to a notice by the ICGB. The TIBEI consortium comprises Belgium's Tractebel Engineering S.A, Italy's Tractebel Engineering SRL, Austria's Intber GmbH and Bulgarian companies Ipsilon Consult and Bulgaria Engineering. The tender attracted 12 offers, four of which advanced to the evaluation stage of the public procurement procedure. Besides TIBEI, the other three offers proceeded to the final stage came from Enereco S.p.A, Technip Italy Direzione Lavori, and C&M-Asprofos-S Energy-Miks. The IGB pipeline, which has a total estimated cost of some EUR 220 million, 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 planned length of the pipeline is 182 km and the projected capacity will be up to 3 billion cu m per year in the direction from Greece to Bulgaria. Depending on interest from the market and the capacities of the neighbouring gas transmission systems, the capacity of the pipeline can be increased up to 5 billion cu m per year, thus allowing for physical reverse flow from Bulgaria to Greece with the additional installation of a compressor station.

Price pressure to lower the value of medicines has led to the decision of the largest Bulgarian pharmaceutical company, Sopharma, to withhold from building a new plant for the production of lyophilized forms. This became clear at a meeting with investors after the annual general meeting of the company. The construction of the plant, which last year was voted by the shareholders to cost at least BGN 12 million without VAT, proved to be economically inexpedient. Price pressure on medicines is the most significant factor in the reduction of Sopharma's revenue from sales by BGN 7 million to BGN 212 million in 2018. The company's profit also decreased from BGN 44.2 to BGN 33.3 million. At the same time, however, the consolidated revenues of the Sopharma Group increased from BGN 1,017 billion in 2017 to BGN 1,179 billion last year. The General Assembly has authorized Sopharma's board of directors to extend EUR 24 million in loans from Raiffeisenbank Belgrade, with which Sopharma Trading will support its expansion in Serbia and invest in the construction of new warehouses in Belgrade and Nis.

The assets managed by Bulgarian insurance companies increased by an annual 3% to BGN 7.95 billion at the end of March, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a quarterly insurance sector report. On a quarterly comparison basis, the assets managed by Bulgarian insurers rose 4%. The assets of general insurance companies edged up 0.1% year-on-year to BGN 5.70 billion at the end of March, while the assets managed by life insurance companies increased by an annual 10.9% to BGN 2.25 billion. The assets of general insurance companies made up 71.7% of the total, while the assets of life insurance companies formed 28.3%. Securities other than shares formed 47.6% of the insurance companies' assets at end-March, down from 49.4% a year earlier. Shares accounted for 13.8% of insurers' total assets at the end of March, while claims from insurance operations constituted 10.9%.

Bulgarian public gas supplier Bulgargaz has proposed a 0.60% decrease in the wholesale price of natural gas, to be valid in the third quarter of 2019. According to the proposal, the price will fall by BGN 0.27 to BGN 44.90 per MWh, excluding VAT and excise duty. Bulgarian energy regulations require Bulgargaz to set the gas price quarterly, taking into account global oil prices and the lev/dollar exchange rate. The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) has the final say on proposed changes in the wholesale price, at which the state-owned company sells natural gas to end-suppliers and customers directly connected to its transmission network. Bulgaria currently imports most of the natural gas it needs from Russia via a pipeline crossing Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.

Discount chain Lidl Bulgaria, part of Germany's Lidl Stiftung & Co, has opened two new stores in Sofia, increasing the total number of its stores in the country to 97. The two stores spread on a total area of 1,500 sq. m. and 1,400 sq. m, respectively. Earlier this year, Lidl said it is planning to increase the number of its stores in the country to at least 98 by the end of 2019. Lidl entered the Bulgarian market in 2010 and currently operates stores in 47 cities in the country, employing over 2,800. Lidl, part of Germany's Schwarz-Gruppe, is a global discount supermarket chain based in Neckarsulm, Germany and present in 30 countries.

U.K. manufacturing output fell the most in almost 17 years in April as the boost from Brexit stockpiling evaporated and car producers went ahead with planned shutdowns. The 3.9% decline, the most since June 2002, saw the economy as a whole shrink for a second straight month, Office for National Statistics figures published Monday show. Vehicle production plunged by a quarter. Gross domestic product fell 0.4%, the biggest monthly drop since March 2016, leaving the economy at risk of a sharp slowdown this quarter. Growth in the latest three months was a weaker-than-forecast 0.3%, down from 0.5% in the first quarter. Factories boomed in the early months of 2019 as companies stockpiled goods to avoid supply disruptions ahead of the original March 29 deadline to leave the European Union. But with Brexit now delayed until October, orders are being scaled back and demand met from products piled up in warehouses. In a further blow to the sector, auto makers including BMW and Peugeot brought forward planned shutdowns from the summer in case there were Brexit disruptions.

President Donald Trump said he has concerns that a merger between United Technologies and Raytheon would harm competition and make it more difficult for the U.S. government to negotiate defense contracts. “I’m a little concerned about United Technologies and Raytheon,” Trump said in an exclusive interview. Aerospace companies have “all merged in so it’s hard to negotiate” with them, he added, suggesting the defense industry could be heading in the same direction. Asked whether he would have problems with the merger, Trump replied, “Only if they have the same products. That would be the thing that bothers me most.” United Technologies and Raytheon announced on Sunday that they had struck deal to combine, which would bring together a booming aerospace business with a giant government defense contractor. That tie-up could rattle suppliers, customers and competitors. The new company, with an estimated $74 billion in sales, would become the second-largest aerospace-and-defense company in the U.S. after Boeing.

The Bank of Japan can deliver more big monetary stimulus if necessary, but needs to take care with its side effects on the financial system, said Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. The BOJ will ease further if momentum toward its 2% inflation target is lost, Kuroda said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Kathleen Hays in Fukuoka, Japan, where central bankers and finance chiefs from the Group of 20 met over the weekend. The governor emphasized that the BOJ doesn’t need to act now, citing the health of the economy. Kuroda’s comments come after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled a willingness to act if the economy needs it, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowed to support growth and People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang told Bloomberg in a separate interview that he has "tremendous" policy options to stoke demand. "Like Mario Draghi, I think we can do these things if necessary," Kuroda said. While economic growth data released Monday provides some support to Kuroda, inflation is still less than halfway to his goal and investors question whether the BOJ’s ultra-aggressive stimulus program is sustainable.