Growth in external demand for Bulgarian goods and services will slow in 2019, according to the second issue of the BNB Economic Survey. Data on the country's economy in it are as of June 24. The slowdown in external demand for Bulgarian goods is expected due to the continued weakening of world trade growth, increased uncertainty related to international foreign trade conflicts and Brexit, the unfavorable economic situation in Turkey, as well as expectations of a slowdown in economic growth in Romania and some from the euro area, BNB points out. With the depletion of Turkey's negative contribution, BNB expects the growth of external demand for Bulgarian goods and services to accelerate in 2020-2021. For the period 2019 - 2021, central bank experts expect the price of petroleum products in USD to decrease compared to 2018, while prices of non-energy products in USD will initially decrease in 2019, but subsequently increase in 2020 and 2021.

Bulgaria's July annual inflation stood at 2.6 per cent, up from 2.3 per cent in June and down from 3.6 per cent in July 2018. The EU annual inflation rate was 1.4 per cent in July 2019, down from 1.6 per cent in June, Eurostat reported. The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.0 per cent in July 2019, down from 1.3 per cent in June. In July 2018, both the EU and euro area inflation rates were 2.2 per cent. The lowest annual rates were registered in Portugal (minus 0.7 per cent), Cyprus (0.1 per cent) and Italy (0.3 per cent). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (4.1 per cent), Hungary (3.3 per cent), Latvia and Slovakia (both 3.0 per cent). Compared with June, annual inflation fell in fifteen Member States, remained stable in two and rose in eleven.

Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry said it has received letters of interest from 13 candidates in its tender to pick a strategic investor for the restart of the Belene nuclear power plant. Not all letters were from potential strategic investors, since as part of the process, the ministry also sought offers for minority stakes and from potential long-term electricity buyers. In total, seven candidates formally recorded their interest in becoming a strategic investor, including Rosatom, China National Nuclear Corporation and Korea Hydro&Nuclear Power. Four other parties were named as in the running for strategic investor, including one German-registered company and three Bulgarian-registered entities. French Framatome and General Electric both declared their interest in supplying equipment and participating in securing the funding for the project. The Republic of North Macedonia has lodged its interest in acquiring a minority stake and signing an electricity-purchasing agreement. A task force that will include representatives of state electric utility NEK, its parent company Bulgarian Energy Holding and grid operator ESO, would draft a shortlist of strategic investor candidates within 90 days.

Mobile payments company Paysafe has opened its second office in Sofia. It is located in one of the buildings of Garitage Park, located by the Sofia ring road and has a total area of 2000 sq.m. The new location will employ about 200 people who have not yet been fully employed and are currently being recruited. They will be "primarily engaged in the company's information technology, security and financial activities," the company said. According to internal data, the company currently employs about 1,200 people. For 2018, Paysafe Bulgaria has revenues of BGN 150.4 million and a profit of BGN 12.4 million. The company deals mainly with complete payment solutions and is the result of the merger of Skrill and Optimal Payments in 2015. Garitage Park is one of the biggest real estate projects in recent years in Sofia, worth over EUR 180 million. The park covers a total area of 167 acres.

Bulgaria's Web Media Group will seek to raise up to BGN 9 million in a capital increase via a new share issue. The company will offer 7.5 million shares for subscription at a price of BGN 1.2 apiece. Web Media Group's capital currently stands at BGN 2.84 million. In June, the Financial Supervision Commission rejected Web Media Group's prospectus for a capital increase under the same terms. Web Media Group's majority owner at the end of 2018 was local company New Web Market, which held a stake of 58.38%. Web Media Group controls 100% of Web News BG, and a 70% stake in Infostock which it acquired in December 2018 for BGN 237,000. Web News BG manages news websites money.bg, news.bg, topsport.bg and lifestyle.bg, while Infostock operates the infostock.bg news website.

Bulgarian thermal power plant (TPP) Maritsa 3 said its first-half consolidated net profit was little changed on an annual comparison basis at BGN 6.3 million. Operating expenses jumped to BGN 10.9 million in the first six months of the year from BGN 3.4 million in the corresponding period of 2018. TPP Maritsa 3's other expenses, including impairment of assets as well as provisions, amounted to BGN 7.3 million in the review period, up from just BGN 30,000 the year before. The plant's total operating revenue rose to BGN 17.3 million in the January-June period of 2019, from BGN 9.7 million in the prior-year period. TPP Maritsa 3 is located in the town of Dimitrovgrad, in southern Bulgaria.

BDZ - Passenger Transport and Information Services started the implementation in the real environment of the reservation module in the ticketing system. Tickets will soon be available to buy online, which will reduce the ability to buy transportation documents with no accountability. Thanks to the new system, customers will be able to choose a place of their own in the wagon. It is important for the system to function properly in a real environment. The national carrier announced that steps had been taken to remedy any inaccuracies in a timely manner. During the implementation of the system, two-screen displays will be installed in the main ticket offices and railroad offices to visualize seats on the train, facilitating customer choice. Transport Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced that no radical change in the price of rail should be expected. Within the 3-year budget forecast, the BDZ subsidy will not undergo a radical change and therefore relies on better absorption of European funds.

American tech giants Amazon, Facebook and Google joined forces to decry the French digital tax as retroactive and discriminatory. President Donald Trump is considering retaliating against the tax - approved on Jul 11 - with punitive tariffs on French wine imports, prompting an investigation by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The so-called GAFA companies appeared at a USTR hearing on possible countermeasures and were unanimous in their complaints, calling the tax a "troubling precedent." The tax, which Washington considers unfair, adds yet another bone of contention to the transatlantic trade disputes that now also include steel, aluminum, automobiles, aircraft and agriculture. The proposed three percent tax on total annual revenues of companies that provide services to French consumers applies only to the largest tech companies, which are mostly US-based. For Amazon, where France represents the second largest European market for e-commerce, the levy "creates a double taxation," said Peter Hiltz, director of tax planning for the online retail giant. Some 58 per cent of Amazon's sales are through partner companies, which stand to take the hit. The tax "negatively impacts Amazon and thousands of small and medium businesses," Hiltz said.

The United States Department of Commerce announced the addition of 46 Huawei affiliates to its Entity List. Effective today, the companies join more than 100 entries added to the list over connections to the embattled Chinese consumer electronics giant. The DoC also used this morning’s news to announce an extension of its Temporary General License (TGL), which affords people and companies a limited time use of goods from Huawei and affiliate companies in order to essentially wean them off of Huawei networking equipment. The license, which offers “narrow exceptions” is set to expire in 90 days. In a statement provided to the press, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross stated, “As we continue to urge consumers to transition away from Huawei’s products, we recognize that more time is necessary to prevent any disruption. Simultaneously, we are constantly working at the Department to ensure that any exports to Huawei and its affiliates do not violate the terms of the Entity Listing or Temporary General License.” Huawei has, of course, long denied any ties to security or spying accusations from the U.S. government.

South Korea will ban domestic sales of eight models of Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche diesel cars for violating emissions regulations, the Ministry of Environment said. The ministry said it will also slap fines on Audi Volkswagen Korea and Porsche Korea and seek a prosecution investigation. The ministry's probe has found that the German automakers manipulated pollution control devices used in those vehicles. A total of 1,261 cars in the eight models were sold in South Korea from May 2015 to January last year. "They were manipulated so that the emission mitigation devices perform at lower levels in driving conditions that are different from those when they were certificated," a ministry official said. The rigging caused the cars to emit 10 times more nitrogen oxide gas than the level of normal operation, the ministry said. The ministry plans to cancel import certifications of those models, order correction measures and impose penalties, estimated to be 7.9 billion won ($6.5 million) for Audi Volkswagen and 4 billion won for Porsche. The ministry said it will also file complaints with the prosecution to investigate the companies.