The total cash resources available at the end of October at the State Fund for Guaranteeing the Sustainability of the State Pension System, known as the Silver Fund, amounted to BGN 3.120 billion. Of these, BGN 3.067 billion were formed in annual deposits in Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) with decisions of the Governing Council of the Fund. This is clear from data from the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The funds transferred to the Guarantee Fund from the Pensions Fund in the Social Security Fund in October amounted to BGN 3.41 million. For the first quarter of the year the amount was BGN 17.67 million and for the second quarter - BGN 141.45 million. For the third quarter of 2019 the amount is BGN 35.82 million. A total of BGN 136.54 million were transferred in 2018. According to the adopted long-term investment policy and the medium-term strategy for investing the Fund's resources for 2019-2021, the accumulated funds remain on deposit with the BNB until at least 2021 and most probably until 2040. Reserve money for pensions, which must guarantee the stability of the pension system, will be managed as conservatively as at the moment.

Proposed amendments to Bulgaria’s Agricultural Land Act posted for comment on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture envisage allowing citizens of other European Union countries to buy agricultural land in Bulgaria. If approved, the amendments would take effect in January 2020. Current law allows companies and organisations from other EU countries to buy agricultural land in Bulgaria, while barring individuals from doing so, as well as citizens of non-EU countries. The draft retains the bar on the purchase of land by non-EU nationals. The draft amendments are being proposed because the current form of the ban runs counter to an EU directive that EU citizens should have the right to buy land in all EU countries. The ban on foreigners buying land in Bulgaria was legislated in 2013, with the backing of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, ultra-nationalists Ataka and Boiko Borissov’s GERB party. The move was opposed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2014 that extending the ban on the sale of land to foreigners beyond that year was unconstitutional.

Three potential investors are interested in developing the Stara Zagora Airport after the government touts it to become an international cargo hub between Europe, Asia and Africa. This was announced by Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov. According to the minister, the investor must be strategic because the location is good. It's not a problem to make a monumental airport, but it's nice to find an investor operator, he added. The airport is not licensed, but it has developed infrastructure, electricity, sewerage, water and gas supply, vast areas provided including by the Ministry of Defense. Therefore, it also has potential to develop as a large industrial area, as has been planned for years, although not realized.

Investment fund Innovation Accelerator Bulgaria will support local start-up companies with investments totalling EUR 15.6 million. The fund will invest between EUR 25,000 and EUR 50,000 in start-up ideas, and between EUR 50,000 and EUR 1 million in the development of already established start-up companies. The fund's priority investment sectors are healthcare, light industry, transport and logistics, digital projects and media and enterprise software, defined by the fund manager as key high-priority sectors in the local economy with high potential for disruptive and scalable innovation. The main criteria set by the fund include a business model with a distinguishable approach to innovation, a clearly defined competitive advantage and an experienced team. Innovation Accelerator Bulgaria benefits from EUR 14 million in financing from Bulgaria's Fund of Funds, which manages BGN 1.2 billion under four EU-funded operational programs: Human Resources Development, Innovation and Competitiveness, Environment and Regions in Growth.

In October 2019, three notifications were received from the Financial Supervision Commission from insurance companies registered in other EU Member States, which declared their intention to pursue business on the territory of Bulgaria. During the period, two notifications were also submitted to insurance companies, which announce the termination of insurance business. A total of 645 insurers from EU Member States and the European Economic Area are allowed to operate in Bulgaria. The FSC has notified to the competent supervisory authority of the Republic of Romania of the intention of Groupama Insurance EAD to operate under the conditions of freedom to provide services in its territory by classes of insurance. The Commission has also notified the competent authorities of Austria, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Romania, Italy and Spain of the intention of a company - Legion Broker OOD to offer insurance brokerage in them.

Bulgarian technology specialists will be able to work for the giant in the aviation industry Rolls Royce. This is made possible through a partnership that private equity fund BrightCap Ventures has entered into with its innovation unit R2 Data Labs. Under the agreement, the Bulgarian liaison will seek out teams suitable for Rolls Royce's development program and finance them as startups to a stage where the product or service proves their economic viability in the global marketplace. The opportunity to integrate into the Rolls Royce Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is open to teams developing technologies in the areas of artificial intelligence, data analytics, Internet of Things in the industry, blockchain, quantum computing, autonomous devices and systems. It will look at how much their product or service is helping to solve a specific industrial problem that would be of significance to businesses globally.

Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has suspended the publication of a sqeezeout offer by Malta-based Harisson Management Limited for the remaining 131,729 shares it does not own in Bulgaria's Aroma Real Estate. The regulator did not provide further details in its statement. In September, Harisson Management increased its stake in the company to 95.84% via a buyout bid priced at BGN 1.03 per share. Four minority shareholders who held 160,668 shares accepted the buyout offer.

Cosmetics producer Bulgarian Rose pocketed sales revenue of BGN 469,000 in October, exceeding its forecast for BGN 440,000 levs in monthly revenue. The company's accumulated sales in the first ten months of the year amounted to BGN 5.44 million. Bulgarian Rose generated revenue of BGN 5.05 million in the January-October period of 2018. Sales in November are projected at BGN 226,000, down from its November 2018 sales of BGN 1.3 million, reported previously. Earlier this year, 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 blue-chip industrial group Stara Planina Hold, has stores in nine cities across Bulgaria.

MEPs will hold a plenary debate on the EU accession to the Istanbul Convention. They should urge member states that have not yet ratified the Convention to do so without delay and to take all necessary legislative and political action to stop violence against women and girls. The debate will be wrapped up by a resolution to be put to a vote on Thursday. To mark this international day, the EP in Strasbourg will be lit up in orange on Monday evening. Background The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, also known as the Istanbul Convention, is the first legally binding international instrument on this issue. It establishes a comprehensive framework of measures for preventing such violence, supporting victims and punishing perpetrators. Although the EU signed the Convention on 13 June 2017, seven member states still have not ratified it: Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia and the UK.

U.S. manufacturing output accelerated in November to its fastest pace in seven months and services activity also picked up more than expected, a survey of purchasing managers showed in a sign of the continued resilience of the U.S. economy in the face of the U.S.-China trade war and other headwinds. IHS Markit said its “flash” purchasing managers index for manufacturing rose to 52.2 in November from a final reading of 51.3 in October, while its preliminary services PMI increased to 51.6 this month from 50.6 last month. Both indexes were at their highest since April and were modestly above the median forecasts among economists polled by Reuters. A reading above 50 signals expansion, while one below that mark indicates a contraction in activity. Markit’s flash composite index, a blend of the two, rose to 51.9 from 50.9 in October and reaching its highest level since July. The U.S. economy has slowed this year from 2018’s brisk pace that had been fueled by $1.5 trillion in stimulus from tax cuts and spending.

Audi AG said it is in talks to buy batteries from China’s BYD Co. for its locally made cars, a move that would break the luxury automaker’s reliance on a single supplier in the country as it rolls out new electrified models. “We are in talks with BYD, but I cannot tell you details,” Gaby-Luise Wuest, Audi’s recently appointed Audi China president, said in an interview ahead of the Guangzhou auto show. People familiar with the matter said in August that Audi was in talks with Warren Buffett-backed BYD, China’s top electric carmaker and No. 2 auto-battery supplier, as well as other potential suppliers. Audi, owned by Volkswagen AG, plans to start selling nine new-energy models in China over the next two years, with more than half of the new models purely battery-electric, Wuest said. Electric-vehicle sales in China have been held back by cutbacks in subsidies and stagnant consumption, even as contenders from Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz to Tesla Inc. bring out new models.