Annual inflation in the EU accelerated to 1.3 percent in November from 1.1 percent in October and in the euro area rose to 1 percent from 0.7 percent in October, Eurostat said. Targeted inflation for the European Monetary bloc, set by the European Central Bank (ECB), is just under 2 percent. Last November the indicator was at the level of 2 percent and 1.9 percent respectively. In Bulgaria, inflation accelerated to 2.2 percent in November from 1.6 percent the previous month. A year ago, inflation in the country was 3 percent. In October, inflation was the lowest in Italy, Portugal (0.2 percent) and Belgium (0.4 percent). The highest rates were in Romania (3.8 percent), Hungary (3.4 percent), Slovakia (3.2 percent) and the Czech Republic (3 percent). Services are the biggest contributor to rising euro area inflation (+0.82 percentage points) and food, alcohol and tobacco (+0.37 percentage points).

The government has adopted an Action Plan for the implementation of the National Development Program: Bulgaria 2020 next year. It must achieve three strategic goals - raising living standards through competitive education and training, creating conditions for quality employment and social inclusion, and ensuring affordable and quality healthcare. The measures will build infrastructure networks that will provide optimal conditions for economic development and a quality and healthy environment for the population. They need to ensure the competitiveness of the economy through a favorable business environment that encourages investment by implementing innovative solutions and increasing resource efficiency. To this end, measures are planned to be implemented in 2020, broken down into eight priority areas. For each strategic objective and priority, a set of indicators is defined, the values of which are updated annually and show the progress made.

Cargotec's Bulgarian unit, a provider of innovative solutions and services for cargo handling and intelligent freight management, is already providing services to 17 countries in Europe and North America, but is also expanding to Asia. Sofia-based Cargotec Business Services focuses on the development of services in the areas of finance, human resources and indirect supply and delivery. The portfolio of serviced countries is to be expanded next year. This is partly due to the forthcoming opening of a new center in Singapore, which is an important location for the company's services in the Asia-Pacific region. In Bulgaria, 350 people work for Cargotec.

Greece-based durable goods provider Fourlis Group will start operating the first medium-size IKEA store in the Bulgarian city of Varna which will open next year. The new IKEA store, which will spread on 8,000 sq. m, will open in the second half of 2020. The new store will be located in Delta Planet Mall shopping centre and will replace the existing IKEA order and pick-up point in Varna. Fourlis Group is the exclusive franchisee of ΙΚΕΑ trademark in Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus. According to the development plan for the three countries, five new medium-size IKEA stores (5,000 - 12,000 sq. m.) and 10 small-size stores (1,000 – 2,000 sq. m.) will open in the next five years, the group said. In Bulgaria, Fourlis Group operates an IKEA store in Sofia, as well as three order and pick-up points - in Varna, Burgas and Plovdiv.

Bulgarian poultry producer Gradus has decided to acquire local Gold Farm - 91, which engages in live birds fattening, for BGN 4.05 million. Gold Farm - 91 is fully-owned by private individual, who is also a major shareholder in Gradus. The purpose of the acquisition is to optimise certain administrative and operational expenses.

Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission has decided to revoke the licence of local insurance company Euroamerican due to a gross violation of the Insurance Code. The regulator also banned the company from carrying out operations with its assets and from signing new insurance contracts for a six-month period starting from December 17. The FSC also appointed private individual to act as conservator until a liquidator is appointed. Insurance company Euroamerican, previously named health insurance company Planeta, has a registered capital of BGN 5 million.

A Swiss registered unit of U.S. General Dynamics and Finland’s Patria have filed firm offers in a BGN 1.46 billion tender to provide 150 armoured vehicles for the Bulgarian army, Bulgaria’s defence minister said. Germany’s Artec proposed a specific project while France’s Nexter offered direct government negotiations, Defence Minister Krasimir Karakachanov said. Addressing the French offer, Karakachanov said the direct talks were not an option in the current process. He added that if parliament changes the rules, the ministry could reconsider the tender’s requirements. Bulgaria’s parliament has already changed some regulations, allowing the government to buy eight new Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets from the United States earlier this year in a USD 1.26 billion deal - the country’s biggest military purchase since the fall of Communism three decades ago.

Bulgarian hydraulic equipment manufacturer M+S Hydraulic booked sales of BGN 7.9 million in November, slightly exceeding its forecast for sales of BGN 7.8 million during the month. The company expects to generate a further BGN 5.9 million in sales in December. M+S Hydraulic pocketed sales of BGN 10 million and BGN 7.5 million in November and December 2018, respectively. The company reported accumulated sales of BGN 103 million in the January-November period of 2019, and a preliminary gross profit of BGN 13.8 million. In the first eleven months of 2018, the company announced sales of BGN 116.3 million and a preliminary gross profit of BGN 15.8 million. M+S Hydraulic is an affiliate of blue-chip diversified group Stara Planina Hold.

U.S. homesharing site Airbnb will get a better idea of how it should be labeled when Europe’s top court rules on the tricky question of whether it is an online booking service or a real estate agent subject to onerous rules. The question arose following a complaint by French tourism association AHTOP, underlining the clash between lightly-regulated online platforms competing with bricks-and-mortar rivals. The ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) could have far-reaching consequences, particularly as Paris will host the Olympics in 2024 and the IOC has agreed to promote Airbnb for accommodation during the event. Airbnb has in recent years run up against hoteliers and authorities in cities from New York to Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris, who accused the company of worsening housing shortages and pushing out lower income residents. Airbnb won backing from a CJEU court adviser in April, who in a non-binding opinion said the company should be treated as a digital service provider and free to operate in the bloc. Judges follow such advice in the majority of cases.

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump after 10 hours of partisan debate. Trump becomes only the third president, joining Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, to be formally impeached by Congress. President Richard Nixon also faced impeachment over the Watergate scandal but resigned before the proceedings could take place. Trump has been impeached over allegations he tried to use military aid to pressure Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating his political rival Joe Biden, who is frontrunner to take on Trump in the 2020 election. It is extremely unlikely. Now he has been impeached by the lower house of Congress, which is controlled by the Democrats, he will face a trial by the Senate. In order for Trump — who has more support in Republican Party circles — to be removed from office, it would take a two-thirds majority of Senators to vote against him. The Republicans control the Senate, where each state gets two senators regardless of size.

Tesla Inc. is considering cutting the price of its China-built Model 3 sedans by 20% or more next year, people familiar with the plans said, betting the move will lure buyers as the world’s biggest electric-vehicle market slows. Tesla aims to bring down costs by using more local components, allowing it to import fewer parts and avoid tariffs, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter isn’t public. Prices of the cars, which will be built in Tesla’s new Shanghai factory and start at 355,800 yuan ($50,800), will probably be lowered from the second half of 2020, they said. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is counting on the multibillion-dollar Shanghai plant, Tesla’s first factory outside the U.S., to give it an edge over the likes of BMW AG and Daimler AG, which are also targeting China with new EV models. The move would also pressure local incumbents such as NIO Inc. and Xpeng Motors to follow suit with price cuts.