Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria has led to the creation of 7398 new jobs in 2018, which is three times higher than in the previous year. This shows a study on the attractiveness of Europe as an investment destination prepared by the consultancy company EY. It is based on data and interviews among business representatives. The number of projects created with foreign investments in Bulgaria reached 43 last year. The number of projects newly created as a result of direct investment in Europe declined by 4% for the first time in 6 years to 6356 in 2018. Britain, Germany and France remain the three most attractive destinations for investors, but their attractiveness is diminishing. The highest growth among the top 20 marks Italy, Ireland and Poland, while the largest declines were in the Czech Republic, Sweden and Portugal. Bulgaria is not ranked among the top 20 European destinations for foreign investment. Last in the Top 20 is the Czech Republic with 65 projects in 2018. However, Bulgaria ranks 16th among the European economies on attractiveness of the digital sector with 15 new projects created with foreign investments.

In the period from the beginning of 2019 until the end of April, Bulgarians working abroad have sent their families in Bulgaria EUR 400 million, indicate balance of payments data of the Bulgarian National Bank. This makes our compatriots abroad top investors in Bulgaria. But Bulgarian National Bank data do not cover all money transferred to this country by Bulgarians abroad, because they do not include the cash brought into the country. Moreover the Bulgarian National Bank also omits transfers under EUR 2500. The money coming in from Bulgarians in other countries is usually spent right away – to pay bills, credits, medical bills, education and other commodities, and is rarely invested in businesses.

China's second-largest bank, China Construction Bank, is considering entering Bulgaria. China Construction Bank Corporation's assets are worth USD 3.3 trillion and record an annual profit of USD 37 billion. The executive vice-president of the bank and a very serious team and their representative in Luxembourg visited Bulgaria. Last week, a presidential announcement made it clear that the head of state, Rumen Radev, has invited a Chinese bank to open a representation in Bulgaria, but without reporting which bank. China Construction Bank Corporation is one of the leading commercial banks in mainland China and began its operations in October 1954 as China Building Bank. It is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since October 2005 and on the Shanghai Stock Exchange since September 2007. At the end of 2018, the Bank's market capitalization reached USD 207.179 billion, making it the fifth largest bank in the world. With 14,977 branches and 345,971 employees, it provides complete financial services, including personal banking, corporate banking, investment management to hundreds of millions of individuals and corporate clients. Subsidiaries cover multiple business areas such as mutual funds, finance leases, life insurance, property insurance, investment banking, futures and pensions.

Bulgarian veterinary drugs producer Biovet will launch this year the construction of a new plant for vaccines at its production base in the town of Razgrad, in the northeast of the country. Biovet will also continue the construction of its plant for pharmaceutical products and feed additives in the town of Peshtera, in south-central Bulgaria. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said that it intends to grant Bulgaria's Huvepharma - the majority owner of Biovet - an exclusive royalty-bearing license for an experimental African swine fever vaccine. Biovet has three production sites in Bulgaria - in the towns of Peshtera, Razgrad and Botevgrad. Biovet generated sales of BGN 285.5 million in 2018.

ABB Bulgaria, part of Zurich-headquartered power and automation company ABB, said that it intends to invest BGN 19.8 million in 2019. The company invested BGN 15.5 million in machinery, equipment, production buildings, etc. in 2018. ABB Bulgaria currently four production bases and a turbocharger service centre. It employs over 2,300 people in the country. ABB’s first production unit in Petrich was built in 1996 on a total area of 5,000 sq.m. It produces low-voltage control products and DIN rail mounted products.

The England and Wales High Court (Commercial Court) has rejected the complaints by British Virgin Islands-registered special-purpose investment vehicle Empreno Ventures against the deal that resulted in the sale of Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC). The London-based court dismissed the complaints filed by Empreno Ventures Limited and its Luxembourg-registered 100%-owned subsidiary LIC Telecommunications, which claimed that the sale was a sham and ought to be reviseded. In February 2018 the High Court of Justice in London rejected the claims filed by Empreno Venture and LIC Telecommunications. Russian businessman Dmitry Kosarev, the owner of Empreno, argued that LIC Telecommunications holds a stake in BTC via its shares in InterV which were allegedly dishonestly appropriated by a unit of Russian financial group VTB. BTC, which operates under the brand name Vivacom, competes with Mtel, a unit of Telekom Austria, and the local unit of Norway's Telenor.

Grain trader Cargill Bulgaria, part of U.S. giant Cargill, said that its net profit rose to BGN 4.5 million in 2018 from BGN 3.5 million the year before, following a sharp increase in revenue. Cargill Bulgaria's revenue from sale of goods grew to BGN 539.8 million last year from BGN 324.8 million in 2017. Cost of goods sold amounted to BGN 505.8 million in 2018, up from BGN 308.5 million in 2017. Revenue from services edged down to BGN 63.8 million from BGN 65.2 million, while cost of services offered fell to BGN 59.8 million from BGN 60.1 million. Selling and distribution costs increased to BGN 27.5 million from BGN 15.4 million in 2017. The company's assets rose to BGN 94.1 million at the end of 2018 from BGN 92.1 million a year earlier.

Leo Varadkar said there would be a great deal of reluctance among European Union leaders to grant Britain another extension to negotiations to leave the bloc if a new prime minister sought one. "I certainly wouldn't rule it out and from Ireland's point of view, we would be as facilitative to the UK as is possible but I think a lot of other countries have become very frustrated at these rolling extensions," Mr Varadkar said. "So if there was an extension, it would have to be for a particular purpose, not for renegotiations, not for indicative votes (in the British parliament) but in the context perhaps, if there were to be a general election in the UK or something like that but we are getting ahead of ourselves there." Earlier, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney warned that the chances of a disorderly Brexit have never been higher and the Government now considered the risk of this outcome on 31 October as significant. Mr Coveney will bring to Cabinet tomorrow a detailed update on contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit with this possibility now just 115 days away. The Government's updated plan to deal with a hard Brexit will be published this week and it will also be debated in the Dáil.

Cruise, a US self-driving vehicle company majority-owned by General Motors Co, said that a US national security panel approved a $2.25 billion investment in the firm by Japan’s SoftBank Corp. SoftBank has come under increasing US scrutiny over its ties to Chinese firms in the face of an escalating trade and technology war between Washington and Beijing. It is in the process of raising its second $100 billion investment vehicle, dubbed Vision Fund, after deploying its first one of equal size. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), which reviews deals for potential national security concerns, approved the investment based on fresh assurances that Cruise’s technology would be completely off limits to SoftBank, a source familiar with the matter said. A SoftBank spokesman declined to comment. The Treasury Department, which leads CFIUS, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The approval unlocks a seat for SoftBank on Cruise’s board, formalizing its oversight, and cements key financing for Cruise, which has raised $7.25 billion in capital since last year, the company said.

New bank loans in China are expected to have picked up to a five-month high in June, a Reuters poll showed, as Beijing kept ample liquidity in the financial system to support the slowing economy and offset growing U.S. trade pressure. The central bank also stepped up cash injections last month to calm nerves after regulators seized a troubled regional bank, which sparked worries of financial contagion and briefly drove some short-term lending rates to record highs. Chinese banks likely extended 1.7 trillion yuan ($246.92 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, up from 1.18 trillion in May but below 1.84 trillion in June 2018, according to a median estimate in a Reuters survey of 29 economists. But some analysts are bracing for a weaker reading, after data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) last week suggested lenders doled out more than 990 billion in new loans last month. “We expect a modest rise in new loans due to seasonal factors,” said Tang Jianwei, a senior economist at Bank of Communications in Shanghai.