“Political instability doesn’t always mean insecurity, regarding investments too,” Austrian President Heinz Fischer commented in a diplomatic manner the political instability in Bulgaria, alluding to other European countries. President Fischer was on a two-day official visit to Bulgaria marking the 135^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states. However, the topics of the talks with President Rossen Plevneliev far exceeded the protocol occasion of the visit.

It was not only the bilateral business forum with the participation of over 50 Austrian and 50 Bulgarian companies that focused the official visit of Mr. Fischer to Sofia on intense economic relations between the two countries. Figures make it more than clear – bilateral turnover exceeds EUR 1 billion per year and Austrian investments to Bulgaria amount to EUR 6 billion. Thus the Alpine republic turns into the leader among foreign investors here, putting aside the Russian Lukoil. According to Vice President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce Christoph Matznetter “the Bulgarians appreciate the experience of Austrian economy within Central East European countries”. Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev also relies on that experience for the implementation of a series of new infrastructure projects:

“We are building and modernizing transport infrastructure as part of the European network. The construction of complex and technically tough projects is forthcoming, for instance the 15-km-long tunnel at the Struma highway, the one beneath the Shipka Peak, also railway tunnels and bridges… Austrian companies here are a world leader and we will rely on cooperation and on their interest towards the forthcoming tenders that will be funded by the EU.”

Bulgaria and Austria have already been partners within a mega project – South Stream. After the talks between the two presidents it became clear that Sofia and Vienna did support the construction of the pipeline, but under the exact compliance with EU legislation. Heinz Fischer underlined that the decision on the future of South Stream was entirely in the hands of the new EC, which is negotiating with Russian Gazprom the imposing of the Third Energy Package. It is all about the separation of the production and supply of natural gas from the exploitation of the transfer grid. President Fischer turned indirectly to Brussels in Sofia:

“South Stream crosses the territory of EU and NATO member-states. We expect that the EU will give a sensible and fair assessment to this project. It is as necessary as the way North Stream for the diversification of energy supplies to Europe. This pipeline is being constructed by European companies. When all the criteria of the European legislation are met, I don’t see why the South Stream project should face any obstacles.”

Despite the good indexes of economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Austria, Austrian investors have been suffering for years due to the lack of legal security here. Political instability in this country, lasting for nearly two years now, affects business climate in a negative manner as well. That was how Rossen Plevneliev commented these factors:

“It is more than clear that Bulgarian institutions are not perfect. We have things to improve in their work. If politicians unite, if we manage to reach a higher level of stability, both political and institutional, the country make good use of far more investments and achieve really stronger economic growth. We are not perfect, but there is a great potential.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev