The aim of the article is to provide guidance on how to optimize targeted social assistance mechanisms for heating in the broader context of the need to pursue a national policy for the reduction of energy poverty. The research tasks are: to summarize Bulgaria's historical experience in providing targeted social aid for heating after 1995; to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses; to outline possible solutions and guidelines for the development of social protection in this area in the context of reducing energy poverty.

The impact of Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and that of the Global financial crisis are assessed through an analysis of the changes in the country’s international trade for the period 2004-2016. Firstly, the general trends in the dynamics of the country’s trade flows in terms of value and volume are summarized, and then, the economy’s dependence on international trade is assessed. The study then presents an analysis of the direction of Bulgarian trade, including a comparison of the share of its intra-EU trade to that of the EU as a whole and to that of the Central and Eastern European countries. The changes in the commodity structure of trade are discussed by analyzing the share of primary and manufactured products and an index of the terms of trade is calculated in order to assess the trade benefits of Bulgaria’s post-crisis international trade relations. Based on the conclusions reached as a result of the analysis, recommendations are made regarding the opportunities in the field of Bulgaria’s international trade policy.

The methods and means utilised to maintain user interest in applications for mobile gaming are analysed. The stages that determine the length of use of a given application, the reasons for the user’s disappointment with it, and the decisions that need to be taken during app development in order to ensure its commercial success are examined. The topic of the opportunities and difficulties inherent to selling a product on the global market is also partially examined.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided that the Swedish National Bank Prize for Excellence in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel be awarded jointly to William D. Nordhaus for his contribution to "integrating climate change into long-term macroeconomic analysis" and to Paul M. Romer for his contribution to "integrating technological innovation into long-run macroeconomic analysis".

Around the globe, the understanding and assessment of the sustainability of farming enterprises is among the most topical academic and practical issues. At the current stage of development and reforming of European agriculture, the question about the level of sustainability of different types of farming enterprises during the implementation of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP) is particularly topical. However, there is still no consensus on questions such as “what is the sustainability of farming enterprises?”, “what is the relation between the sustainability of farms and agrarian sustainability?”, “which are the critical factors behind the sustainability of farms”, and “how to evaluate the sustainability level of farming enterprises?”.