Bulgaria can adopt the euro at the earliest in 4 years, provided it meets the criteria of the waiting room known as ERM II. This is predicted by the international rating agency Fitch Ratings in its report on the Eurozone. The process of entering the currency mechanism in Bulgaria officially began in July last year, with the final decision expected to be announced by the end of 2019. According to experts, the fateful year for Bulgaria is 2023. According to the report, the main advantages of adopting the euro are access to a reserve currency to prevent the risk of a currency crisis and to support foreign demand for domestic financial assets. The countries will also have access to trustworthy European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy. Consumers will have lower transaction costs, which will lead to higher capital flows for the rest of the euro area.

As of June 30, 2019, the supplementary pension insurance system has accumulated net assets of BGN 14,709 billion. Compared to the end of the first half of 2018, the net assets of pension funds registered an increase of 12.23%, according to the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). A year earlier - as of June 30, 2018, the accumulated net assets in the supplementary pension system amounted to BGN 13.107 billion. The revenues of the pension insurance companies for the first half of 2019 amounted to BGN 100.2 million and increased by 8.12% compared to the reported revenues for the first half of 2018. The net financial result of the companies at the end of June 2019 amounted to BGN 33.2 million. The total number of insured persons in the four types of pension funds at the end of the half-year of 2019 was 4 712 456, increasing by 1.61% compared to the previous year.

Another investor starts construction of a new base in Burgas Industrial and Logistics Park. It is BSM Balkan Service Management SPLTD, part of the Mack Port International Group, which is based in Austria. It offers servicing, repair and technical assistance to machines from the Liebherr brand - from the Maritime Division of the German brand. Overall solutions in specialized services have succeeded in establishing the company as a suitable and reliable partner for companies in the sector. Construction works are expected to be completed within about 12 months. This week, another foreign investor signed a contract to buy a property in Burgas Industrial and Logistics Park. The name of the company is SIZA General Trading and Contracting SPLTD. The property it bought is 5.5 decares. The company will build a modern production facility for the production and reformation of air lines with assembly lines and the assembly of air-conditioning systems.

Bulgaria's economy ministry said that the ministry's secretary general met with representatives of German car parts maker VOSS Automotive to discuss the company's plans to set up a new production facility in Eastern Europe and the options to build the plant in Bulgaria. VOSS Automotive opened in May its first plant in Bulgaria, which has already been certified by Germany's Volkswagen Group. The company invested some EUR 15 million in the production facility in Bulgaria's Bahovitsa Industrial Park, near the city of Lovech. "The VOSS team unanimously chose Bulgaria among more than 22 selected countries to position our next business. Already during our first visit to Bulgaria, the people who are educated and motivated, the stable infrastructure, Bulgaria’s membership in the EU and the stable political and economic environment all made a very strong impression on us," Roland Weiss, managing director of VOSS Automotive Bulgaria, said last year upon announcing the investment in the country. VOSS Automotive specialises in the production of fuel and coolant lines and fittings, quick connector systems, thermal management lines and fittings, and other components.

Bulgartransgaz said it has ranked first the BGN 350.8 million offer of a tie-up of Germany's Ferrostaal and two Bulgarian companies to build two compressor stations for the planned extension of the TurkStream gas pipeline through Bulgaria. The consortium, of which Bulgaria's Glavbolgarstroy and Glavbolgarstroy International are members, has received the maximum score of 100 in the tender called by Bulgartransgaz, the state-owned Bulgarian natural gas transmission network operator said in a statement earlier this week. The other consortium which filed a bid for the contract comprises Bulgarian company Klimatronik, Belarus-based construction company Alvora, Ukraine's Poltavaspezmontage and Spanish infrastructure consulting company TEC Cuatro. It proposed to build the two compressor stations for BGN 369.1 million. The construction of the two compressor stations is part of a project for extending the TurkStream gas pipeline of Russia's Gazprom westwards from Turkey through Bulgaria. Bulgartransgaz is also due to sign a contract for construction of the 484 km pipeline for transit of natural gas from Bulgaria's border with Turkey to the border with Serbia.

Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals has begun to develop the oldest gold mine in Europe, located on Ada Tepe Hill near Krumovgrad. This will be the first newly developed mine in Bulgaria for the last 40 years. The investment in the mine is estimated at USD 160 million. The actual operation of the mine began in July and the first quantities of gold concentrate have already been produced. All mining facilities are already running on Ada Tepe Hill. The annual processing is 800,000 tonnes. Dundee Precious also operates the largest working gold mine in Europe - the one in Chelopech. The mine will give employment to 280 people. The production of Ada Tepe gold is expected to continue for about 10 years, but the processing facilities built there will continue to operate after that.

Cosmetics producer Bulgarian Rose said that it pocketed sales revenue of BGN 697,000 in July, exceeding its forecast for BGN 638,000 in monthly revenue. The company's accumulated sales in the first seven months of the year amounted to BGN 2.83 million. Bulgarian Rose generated revenue of BGN 3.30 million in the January-July period of 2018, according to previously reported data. Sales in August are projected at BGN 360,000, down from its August 2018 sales of BGN 537,000, reported previously. Last month, Bulgarian Rose terminated its deal with Beijing Fangcaoziyan Cosmetics Trading Co. for exports of cosmetic products and rose oil due to the Chinese company's systemic failure to adhere to the agreement. Karlovo-based Bulgarian Rose, established in 1948, manufactures cosmetic products for face, body, and hair using rose oil and locally-grown herbs. Bulgarian Rose, part of the blue-chip industrial group Stara Planina Hold, has stores in nine cities across Bulgaria.

Germany’s solidarity surcharge, which raises money from taxpayers to boost the economy in the east, is to be abolished for 90% of Germans. Finance minister Olaf Scholz sent the proposal to government departments for approval last week, and if accepted, it will become law in 2021. The extra tax, known as the "Soli tax" amounts to 5.5% of income tax and corporation tax. The law would take 90% of taxpayers completely out of the "Soli tax" and would reduce the tax bill for another 6-7% of the population. The bill, proposed by the finance minister from Angela Merkel’s CDU party, has been encouraged with support from the CDU’s coalition partner the SPD. The Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, said: "It is absolutely time to noticeably reduce the burden on small and medium incomes by abolishing the solidarity surcharge." Weil also thinks it's good that 10% of Germans should continue to pay the solidarity surcharge.

Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped to a four-week low, offering the latest sign of labor-market strength. Jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 209,000 in the week ended Aug. 17, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday that fell below all estimates in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, ticked up by 500 to 214,500. The drop in claims bodes well for the August jobs report as the period encompasses the reporting week that the Labor Department surveys for the tally. Jobless claims remain near historically low levels, evidence of tightness that may help ease recession fears. Employment remains a bright spot for the economy, even as cracks begin to show in the manufacturing sector and business investment. The August payrolls report due Sept. 6 will shed light on whether the latest escalation of the trade war with China has impacted hiring at American businesses.

China's State Council decided to further ease market access by promoting separation of permits from business licenses in pilot free trade zones (FTZ). Starting December 1, the country will carry out trial programs of separating operation permits from business licenses in all pilot FTZs, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The move, in a bid to level the playing field for all market entities, is conducive to improvements of the business environment, the statement said. The separation is also one of the forceful measures to stabilize employment, according to the meeting. China will further cut the red tape concerning 523 items related to business operation permits set by the central government, the meeting decided. Thirteen items of approval concerning foreign trade will be cancelled. More items of approval will be simplified, require shorter time for approval or have a longer period of validity, the statement said. The government will strengthen its supervision and improve its service to enterprises, while mature practices of the reform will be promoted nationwide in a timely manner, the meeting noted.