Exports of goods and services from Bulgaria for the first four months of the year reached a record BGN 18.663 billion, according to NSI data. The bulk of it – BGN 9.6 billion, is to EU countries. Growth is 9.5% on an annual basis. At the same time, imports grew by only 4.6% year-on-year to BGN 20.6 billion. Exports to third countries for the months from January to the end of April amounted to BGN 5.9 billion, up 14.7% over the same period of last year. More than half of it is for 6 countries: Turkey, China, Serbia, USA, Russia, Northern Macedonia. Due to the imports of energy resources, Russia ranks first among the importers from non-EU countries, followed by Turkey, China and Egypt. In trade with EU countries, Bulgaria almost achieved a zero foreign trade balance, as imports from these countries amounted to BGN 9.8 billion, while exports were BGN 9.6 billion. According to NSI data, the balance is in fact, positive, but only if the transport and insurance costs of imported goods are eliminated. The balance is positive at the amount of BGN 384 million.

The National Social Security Institute declares that Bulgaria’s average insured income in April 2019 is BGN 991.12. This was announced by the Institute's press center. The average monthly insurance income for the country for the period from 01.05.2018 to 30.04.2019 is BGN 920.83. The defined average monthly social security income for the country for the indicated period is used in calculating the amounts of newly granted pensions in May 2019, clause 70 paragraph 2 of the Social Insurance Code.

Two consortiums have submitted offers for the construction of Rasovo and Nova Provadia compressor stations of the Balkan gas pipeline, which would be located from Provadia to the Serbian border. The estimated value of the order is BGN 351.6 mln. On Tuesday, a commission opened the offers infront of representatives of the associations and journalists in Bulgartransgaz. One consortium, which has proposed to design, deliver the equipment and build the stations, is Ferrostal Balkangas. It is led by the German company Ferrostaal Industrieanlagen GmbH. It was established in 1920 and until 2010 was part of the MAN Group. It is currently part of Deutsche Industrieanlagen GmbH, which brings together international companies specializing in the design, management and construction of energy infrastructure projects. The other partners are Glavbolgarstroy and Glavbolgarstroy International. Glavbolgarstroy, in partnership with US Solar Turbines and Honeywell, modernized 4 compressor stations - Strandzha, Petrich, Lozenets and Ihtiman, which provide transit to Turkey, Greece and Northern Macedonia.

Intermodal Terminal Plovdiv is given as an example of the most successful public-private partnership in Bulgaria, with the volume of cargo over the last year exceeding the traffic forecasts of the project. Approximately 40,000 TEUs (cargo containers) are currently being processed per year and full capacity is expected to be reached in 2020. 1.5-2 trains are being processed daily from and to Turkey. The terminal creates conditions for optimal interaction and integration of different modes of transport and thus improves intermodality in the EU's southeastern region. The project creates optimal conditions for improvement of the ecological situation in the country, assists the transport and logistics sector, which gives a serious impetus to the overall economic development at regional and national level. Intermodal Terminal Plovdiv was funded under the Operational Program "Transport" with a total value of BGN 11.9 million, of which BGN 2.1 million EU grants. It was built between May 2015 and March 2017, and in December 2017 was given at concession.

Bulgarian drug maker Sopharma said that Serbia-based Sopharma Trading Beograd and Sopharma Trading Pharmaceuticals Beograd intend to seek bank loans from Raiffeisen Banka Beograd in order to finance their expansion in the country. Sopharma controls Sopharma Trading Beograd and Sopharma Trading Pharmaceuticals Beograd through its majority-owned unit Sopharma Trading. Sopharma Trading Pharmaceuticals Beograd intends to finance the acquisition of a land plot in Stara Pazova, construction of a storage and administrative base, and purchase of equipment and vehicles via a EUR 19.2 million loan, Sopharma said. Another loan from Raiffeisen Banka Beograd, worth EUR 5.2 million, will be used by Sopharma Trading Beograd for the acquisition of a land plot in Nis, construction of a storage and administrative base, and purchase of equipment and vehicles.

The French Framatome will endeavour to secure financing for a quarter of the technical units of Belene Nuclear Power Plant. We are ready to take part with the volume of activities set down in 2012 when the project was halted, and will, respectively, ensure the political support, said Framatome representative Stanislav Georgiev after a meeting at the energy ministry. The French company was main subcontractor to the Russian Atomstroyexport, then selected to build Belene NPP. Framatome will respond to the invitation to tender for a new strategic investor though it is not yet clear in what form, Stanislav Georgiev said.

The Bulgarian company Toplivo-2 has filed a complaint against the ecision of the The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) for the preliminary execution of the pipeline procurement contract for the pipeline between Bulgaria and Greece. The procedure was won by the Greek company Corinth Pipeworks S.A. with a price of EUR 58.2 million, excl. VAT, at a maximum value set to EUR 60 million. The bid of the second bidder Toplivo-2 was not allowed to be opened because it did not meet the pre-selection criteria and the third invited contender - Turkey's Erciyas Çelik Boru Sanayi A.S. dropped out of the race. The Bulgarian company appealed against Corinth's selection, but the CPC allowed the ICGB project company to enter into a contract with Corinth as the complaint proceeded. The dispute continues with a complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) against the preliminary execution of the contract. ICGB hopes to confirm the pre-execution by mid-July, which will allow the contract to be signed.

Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel’s plan to form a landmark joint venture was rejected by EU antitrust regulators, concerned that the deal would have pushed up prices and reduced competition. The European Commission said the companies, which had looked to the deal as one way to tackle overcapacity and other challenges in the steel industry, had not done enough to allay its concerns. “Steel is a crucial input for many things we use in our everyday life, such as canned food and cars. Millions of people in Europe work in these sectors and companies depend on competitive steel prices to sell on a global level,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. The Commission said imports from third countries would not have been able to offset potential price hikes resulting from the deal. This is Vestager’s third veto this year, after she blocked Siemens’ bid for Alstom, and German copper company Wieland-Werke AG to buy a business unit from Aurubis, Europe’s biggest copper smelter, in February.

Venezuela’s annual inflation dropped below 1 million percent in May for the first time since 2018, the opposition-run congress said on Monday, the result of the central bank restricting the domestic money supply. Consumer prices in the 12 months ending in May rose 815,194%, the legislature said, compared with 1.3 million percent in April. Prices rose 906 percent in the first five months of year, it said. The slowdown is the result of regulations requiring banks to keep a greater percentage of the bolivar currency in reserve, and because the central bank is issuing fewer new bolivars than in the past. The result is that the banking system has less capacity to lend, said legislator Angel Alvarado in an interview, which will further slow an already ailing economy. “They are slowing inflation through greater economic contraction,” Alvarado said. The figures are significantly more dire than those published by the central bank last week that showed inflation at around 130,060% in the 12 months ending in April, part of the first official economic indicators released in more than five years.

The China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Expo has become an arena where businessmen from CEE countries can show the competitiveness of their products in the Chinese market. The expo, which opened in the eastern city of Ningbo on June 8, has attracted more than 700 government officials and businessmen from the CEE countries, as well as over 6,700 buyers from more than 40 Fortune 500 firms and other leading international enterprises in 22 countries and regions. Businessmen from 17 CEE countries have been promoting dairy products, wine, logistics and other products and services at the expo, which is scheduled to close on June 12. Jan Chaloupka, head of the export business development of Rajo, is confident about the competitiveness of his products in the Chinese market. "We export more than 57,000 tonnes of our products every year to over 70 countries around the world," he said. "All of our products are healthy and of high quality, which are based on the advanced technologies and knowledge that Rajo owns to meet the needs of customers." "I believe that our products can be one of the best in the Chinese market," he added.