Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria amounted to 2.28 billion euros at the end of May, according to preliminary data from the Bulgarian National Bank. Direct investments are 1.74 billion euros, or more than 4 times more than in the same period in 2025. At that time, 535.3 million euros flowed into the economy from abroad. Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria for the period January-May this year is equal to 1.8 percent of the country's estimated gross domestic product. In May this year, the net flow reached 254 million euros compared to 258.9 million euros in the same month last year. Share capital - cash and in-kind contributions, as well as payments on real estate transactions in the country, is positive and amounts to 227 million euros for January - May 2026. It is 281.4 million euros higher than that for January - May last year, which was negative at the amount of 54.4 million euros. The net flow of investments by foreign persons in real estate is negative at the amount of 2.4 million euros, with a negative net flow of 16.6 million euros for January - May 2025. According to preliminary data, the net flow of direct investments abroad for January - May 2026 is positive and amounts to 3.2 million euros (0.003 percent of GDP), with a positive value of 54.1 million euros (0.05 percent of GDP) for the same period of the previous year. In May 2026, the net flow is positive and amounts to EUR 6 million, compared to a positive value of EUR 8.4 million for May 2025.

Bulgaria's trade balance for May is negative at EUR 782.6 million, with a deficit of EUR 419.2 million for May 2025, the BNB reported. Thus, on a year-on-year basis, the deficit in our country's foreign trade has increased by 86.69%. For January-May, the trade balance is negative at EUR 4,565.3 million (3.7% of GDP) compared to EUR 3,317 million (2.9% of GDP) for the same period last year. For the five months from the beginning of the year, exports are EUR 18,602.5 million (14.9% of GDP), increasing by EUR 1,323.3 million (7.7%) compared to the same period in 2025 (EUR 17,279.1 million, 14.9% of GDP). Imports have increased at an even faster pace - to 23,167.8 million euros (18.6% of GDP), which is an increase of 2,571.7 million euros (12.5%) compared to the period January-May 2025 (20,596.1 million euros, 17.8% of GDP). The current and capital account of our country is negative and amounts to 481.2 million euros with a deficit of 23.2 million euros for May 2025.

Bulgaria is the leader in public payments in the EU for hospital treatment last year - 1.9% of GDP. It is also the champion in the number of hospital beds - 864 beds per 100 thousand people, or in other words - 56,925 hospital beds. We are also among the leaders in the championship for the largest hospital admissions per 100 thousand people and in the number of hospitalizations - every third Bulgarian, or 2.6 million people, was hospitalized at least once last year. Against the huge bed base stands the lowest average life expectancy in the EU - 75.9 years compared to an average of 81.5 for the member states.

Newly registered companies in Bulgaria numbered 11,334 in the second quarter of 2026. Those that entered insolvency/bankruptcy procedures, including those declared bankrupt, numbered 966, the National Statistical Institute announced. Compared to the same quarter of 2025, the total number of newly registered companies decreased by 9.2 percent, and that of bankrupt companies decreased by 17.7 percent. Compared to the first quarter of 2026, newly registered companies decreased by 8.9 percent, and those that entered insolvency/bankruptcy procedures, including those declared bankrupt, decreased by 5.9 percent. In the second quarter of this year, the companies with the largest relative share of both newly registered and bankrupt companies were the companies from the "Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles" sector, with 83.7 percent (9,481) and 86.4 percent (835), respectively.

Arms industrialist Emilian Gebrev announced that the construction of a private gunpowder plant project will begin in early September 2026. The factory is planned on the site of the former military chemical plant in Smyadovo, and although the National Agency for National Security and Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria twice approved the project, it did not reach the point of production of military nitroester gunpowder for artillery shells. The facility was not included in the List of Strategic Sites of National Security Importance, which does not entitle it to state protection.

A Japanese company, which is already developing a project in Bulgaria, plans to expand its activities with a new investment worth 6 million euros. This is the Japanese company Kyowa Europe, which opened its new production facility in the Iskar Industrial Zone in Sofia. The expansion is related to the implementation of two production robots, which will increase capacity with the ability to manufacture up to 1,000 products per day. The new facility includes two industrial robots, which will increase production capacity to 1,000 products per day. The investment comes 14 years after the Japanese company entered Bulgaria in 2012, and the new facility will mainly serve the European market. Kyowa Europe produces motorized rollers for conveyor and sorting systems used in logistics and warehouse automation. The Sofia plant is one of the three production facilities of the Japanese group in the world, along with those in Japan and the USA.

The production base of "United Dairy Company" in Sliven is one of the most modern enterprises for the production of dairy products in Bulgaria. In recent years, the company has consistently invested in the modernization of production, automation and implementation of modern technologies. The production of dairy products under the "Vereya" brand is one of the leading brands of "United Dairy Company". The average salary at the plant is 43.3%* higher than the average for the region for the first quarter of 2026. The company works with over 40 Bulgarian dairy farms. The volume of total milk purchased on an annual basis has increased from 58.4 thousand tons in 2023 to 72.9 thousand tons in 2025. For the period 2023-2025, OMK's investments are EUR 45.9 million and include new yogurt and cow's milk workshops with all associated machines and lines, a new production packaging workshop, as well as a new microbiology and chemistry laboratory.

Eng. Krasimir Shopov has been appointed General Director of the National Company "Railway Infrastructure" (NCRI) in place of the previous General Director Eng. Yordan Varbanov. Eng. Shopov has over 35 years of professional experience in the field of railway construction, infrastructure project management and railway infrastructure. Over the years, he has held various expert and management positions in the system of "Transport Construction and Reconstruction", and before his current appointment he was Director of the Sofia Railway Section at the National Company "Railway Infrastructure".

The Board of Directors of Bulgargaz has elected Georgi Tatarski as the company's executive director in place of Vesselin Sinabov. At the same meeting, the members of the board elected Vesselina Kanatova-Buchkova as the chairwoman of the Board of Directors. Ivan Topchiyski, Bianka Racheva and Mari Filipovski were removed from the Board of Directors. The mandate of the members of the Board of Directors is five years. Georgi Tatarski, Vesselina Kanatova-Buchkova and Velislav Yonev are scheduled to perform their functions until a new tender procedure is held, but for a period not exceeding six months. The changes are taking place at a time when the Bulgarian Bulgargaz is in negotiations with the Turkish Botas to amend the 13-year contract signed in early 2023.

As of June 30, 2026, Vazovski Masinostroitelni Zavodi (VMZ) - Sopot reported an accounting profit of EUR 16.091 million, and available cash amounted to EUR 24.545 million. Additional revenues of EUR 150 million are expected by the end of the year. At the end of June, VMZ's operating income was EUR 164 million, sales revenue was EUR 135.543 million, and operating expenses were EUR 148.664 million. The company's business program for this year provides for investments of over EUR 8 million to improve working conditions and build new production facilities.

A large-scale three-story building in the Rhodope village of Dobrostan, used in the past as a hotel complex, has been announced for public sale by a private bailiff. The property is a remnant of the business empire of Russian citizen Konstantin Tsyganov, who was expelled from Bulgaria more than a decade ago by order of the National Security Agency as a threat to national security. The property, located in the "Gorno Selishte" area near the village of Dobrostan, is being sold with a starting price of 750,216 euros. 84.40% ideal parts of a land plot with an area of ​​2,201 sq m are being put up for public sale, along with the corresponding part of the massive building built on it. The building has a developed built-up area of ​​3,285 sq m. and has a basement with a boiler room and warehouses, a first floor with two reception lobbies, a dining room with a coffee bar and a huge professional kitchen. On the second floor there is a study, six rooms with separate bathrooms and four apartments, one of which has a winter garden. The claimant in the case is a creditor, and the debtor and owner of the property is the company "Laudis Agro" EOOD, with the sole owner of the capital "Laudis Holding Group" EOOD. For many years, "Laudis Holding Group" has been managed and majority owned by Russian citizen Konstantin Tsiganov. The holding company unites numerous subsidiary companies, investing tens of millions in real estate, construction and even agriculture and livestock in our country. In October 2017, years after he was forced to leave the country, Konstantin Tsiganov transferred all of his 74,290 company shares (totaling 7,429,000 leva) in "Laudis Holding Group" to Bulgarian citizen Angel Lazarov Stumbov through a purchase and sale agreement. According to the contract, the buyer is obliged to pay the amount within 10 years. To date, Angel Stumbov is listed as the sole owner and manager of the holding and its related companies, including Laudis Agro. The massive building and the land adjacent to it were valued at over 2.1 million leva and were used as a non-cash contribution to raise the capital of another company – Kormisosh Resorts EOOD, with a sole owner – the Cypriot offshore company Tima EOOD, and the ultimate beneficial owners are a company in Luxembourg and a woman residing in the UK named Elena Malygina. Despite the complex international network, the contact person for the foreigners is again Angel Stumbov – the heir to Konstantin Tsiganov’s business in Bulgaria. The name of the Cypriot offshore company "Tima" LTD is well known in the history of the Russian holding - it was she who appeared in 2014 as the main creditor, who tried to sell off the mega-complex "Costa del Croco" in Tsarevo through a bailiff due to mortgages. However, the attempt to "save" the object in the Rhodope Mountains in the capital of "Kormisosh Resorts" hit a snag. According to the official announcement of the private bailiff, the contribution of the property was never duly registered in the Registry Office in Asenovgrad. According to Bulgarian law, this omission makes the transfer of ownership unenforceable against the creditors of the debtor "Laudis Agro". Thus, due to a purely legal oversight, the property hidden in the offshore company is now going to a public auction. However, whether a buyer will be found for this latest remnant of the empire of Konstantin Tsyganov and his successor in Bulgaria, Angel Stumbov, will become clear very soon. The most grandiose and emblematic failure of the same holding remains the holiday mega-complex "Costa del Croco" (Crocodile Coast) near Tsarevo. Started in 2007 on 85 acres of land, the complex was supposed to be a city within a city: with over 60,000 sq.m. of developed area, a 5-star hotel, 53 residential buildings with over 900 apartments, 30 houses on the water, 12 swimming pools, a hospital, a casino and a private yacht marina. The investment was estimated at between 60 and 110 million euros. However, after the expulsion of the Russian investors by the National Security Agency, the project was finally stopped. For more than 15 years now, the concrete skeleton of "Costa del Croco" has been protruding above the sea. Over the years, Costa del Croco has repeatedly been the subject of attempts at public sale by private bailiffs due to accumulated debts to banks (with starting prices ranging from 1.6 million leva to 12.8 million leva), but due to the enormous legal chaos and lack of investor interest, the complex remains unsold. trafficnews

The District Court in Dupnitsa confirmed the property sanction in the amount of 102,258.38 euros or 200,000 leva, imposed on "TEC-Bobov Dol" AD by the Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment, Water and Water-Sofia. The sanction was imposed for failure to fulfill the conditions of the company's comprehensive permit, related to taking measures to limit emissions of dusty substances. Exactly a year ago - during an inspection on July 17, 2025, carried out after a report was filed, experts from the Regional Inspectorate for Environment, Water and Water-Sofia found significant dust in the area of ​​the "TEC-Bobov Dol" and the village of Golemo Selo. Dust emissions were found from the open coal warehouse of the plant during loading and unloading activities and moving coal with heavy equipment. The decision also notes that the company has been sanctioned in other administrative criminal proceedings for similar violations of the conditions of the comprehensive permit. The decision can be appealed before the Administrative Court in Kyustendil within 14 days of its notification to the parties.

At its meeting of 16.8.2026, the FSC decided: 1. Approves a prospectus for admission to trading on a regulated market of a bond issue issued by ITF Group AD, Sofia. The issue is in the amount of EUR 3,000,000, distributed in 3,000 ordinary, registered, dematerialized, interest-bearing, non-convertible, unsecured, freely transferable bonds, with a nominal value of one bond in the amount of EUR 1,000, with a fixed annual interest rate of 11%, payable in 6-month periods, with an issue date of 25.03.2026, a maturity of 2 years (24 months) and a maturity date of 25.03.2028, with ISIN code BG2100009260, with the right of bondholders to exercise two put options (a put option upon change in control of the issuer and a put option upon non-admission of the bonds for trading on a regulated market within 6 months of the date of their issuance). Enters the specified bond issue in the register of public companies and other issuers of securities. 2. Approves Ivelina Ilieva and Martin Georgiev as members of the board of directors of investment intermediary BenchMark Finance AD. 4. Approves Yoanna Tsoneva as an independent member of the board of directors of Phoenix Re Insurance Company AD. 5. Approves Iva Falina as a member of the board of directors and executive director of Euroins Insurance Company AD. 6. Enters Mason Consult OOD in the register of insurance brokers. 12. Terminates the initiated proceedings for issuing a license for a crypto-asset service provider to Global Exchange AD.

"Advance Terrafund" REIT has sold 11,370 decares for the first half of 2026 decares. Of these, 6,208 decares were sold directly and 5,162 decares were on installment payments for 5 years compared to 3,667 decares directly during the same period in 2025. Thus, as of June 30, 2026, there were a total of 5,554 decares sold on installment payments compared to 392 at the end of 2025. As of June 30, 2026, the company has preliminary contracts for the direct sale of 562 decares of agricultural land and preliminary contracts for the sales of installment payments for another 2,529 decares. The year began with preliminary contracts for the direct sale of 1,864 decares and for the sales of installment payments for 2,556 decares. With the preliminary contracts, it can be expected that direct sales will reach 6770 decares, and those deferred for 5 years will be 7026 or a total of 13 796 decares, i.e. to sell 8% of all its lands. As of June 30, 2026, "Advance Terrafund" REIT has leased and leased 150 798 decares of agricultural land compared to 151 863 decares as of May 30, 2025. As of June 30, 2026, the fund owns 172 299 decares. "Advance Terrafund" REIT continues to buy land, for example 101 decares in June 2026, 55 decares in May, 142 decares in April, 351 decares in March, 940 decares in February and 223 decares in January, or a total of 1711 decares of purchases for the six months, which will compensate for 1/8, or 12.4% of the sales. The book value of the lands sold for the first half of 2026 is 10.5 million euros compared to 3.3 million euros for the same period in 2025. The fund's profit for the first six months of 2026 is 1.67 million euros compared to 2.15 million euros for the same period in 2025.

Bulgaria is among the countries with the highest number of judges per population in the European Union in 2024, according to data published by the European statistical office Eurostat. In our country, there are 35.4 judges per 100,000 people, which ranks the country in fourth place in the EU after Croatia (43.3), Slovenia (40.2) and Luxembourg (36). Romania ranks after Bulgaria with 35.3 judges per 100,000 people. On average for the European Union in 2024, there are 15.7 judges per 100,000 people, compared to 17.7 in 2014. The lowest number of judges is in Ireland – 3.6 per 100,000 people, followed by Austria (4.3), Spain (6.2), the Czech Republic (6.7) and Italy (7.9). Eurostat reports that in most member states, the majority of judges are women. Only in Ireland do men outnumber women judges – 56.4 percent versus 43.6 percent. The highest proportion of women judges is in Slovenia – 81.4 percent, followed by Latvia (79.7 percent) and Greece (75.5 percent). In Bulgaria, women represent 64.4 percent of judges.

The complete reversal in global economic policy is now a fact, after it became clear that the United States is preparing to restore the special trade and economic status of Hong Kong. This move practically erases one of the most aggressive punitive measures imposed during Donald Trump's first term and shows a sharp retreat of the American administration in the face of the economic pressure of the Asian giant. In the summer of 2020, Washington imposed a brutal blockade on Hong Kong, removing its preferential regime in response to the national security law introduced by Beijing. The executive order at that time equated the metropolis with the rest of mainland China and deprived it of customs benefits and special export controls. This year, however, the American authorities decided not to extend the sanction decree and let it expire silently, which automatically returns Hong Kong to the world map as a separate and privileged trading territory. Behind the scenes of this unexpected decision are large-scale trade negotiations, which have already led to a serious mutual reduction in import duties between the two superpowers. Official Beijing immediately welcomed Washington's decision and openly announced that this positive change was a direct result of the secret agreements between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping during their meeting in the Chinese capital. The Hong Kong government also expressed satisfaction with the pact, which will revive local businesses, but for international observers the bitter taste remains that the US has finally recognized China's sovereignty over the financial center in exchange for economic peace.

A total of 29 countries signed an agreement in Shanghai to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), Reuters reports. The intergovernmental body, first proposed by China a year ago, aims to impose an alternative framework for global regulation and governance of artificial intelligence. The historic signing took place just before the start of the World Conference on Artificial Intelligence, and the driving force behind the initiative is Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Beijing opposes the regulatory frameworks developed by the United States and the European Union, which have so far set the tone for safety and ethics in technology. The new organization is expected to focus on more liberal access to technology for developing countries and fewer restrictions on algorithms for mass surveillance and security. Membership in the organization is open to any sovereign state, with no entry criteria. For China, artificial intelligence is primarily a tool for economic development and industrial leap. Signatories include Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Belarus, Venezuela, Cuba and others.