In latest figures of the Bulgarian central bank for the first eight months of the year, foreign investments in the country were 12% down on the same period of the preceding year when their sum total reached 1.3 billion euro. This result is far smaller than the volume of investments Bulgaria saw at the end of the first 21 c. decade when achievements such as 8 to 9 billion euro annually were not surprising. This money though virtually evaporated after the local real estate market collapsed.

Now things have changed and foreign investments are mostly driven by the authentic potential of the Bulgarian market. In official statistics, by end-August a little over 900 million euro in fresh capital entered Bulgaria from the Netherlands, France and Austria in the main.

The predictions of the Bulgaria Invest Agency however remain optimistic and suggest an annual growth of 5% year-on-year. This optimism is to a large extent shared by economic observers and potential investors. Let us recall that a few major investment projects are at different stages of implementation in Bulgaria – so far this year impressive amounts have been invested in various Bulgarian IT companies; the wave of outsourcing and call centers of big internationals continues and there is already a shortage of qualified hands; the telecom sector has enlivened by a huge deal; a French tourist project in Mount Rila has been moving ahead; a few big Chinese investors have decided to enter Bulgaria from Europe. There is constant foreign interest in opening new facilities for automotive spare parts as well. Online trade that has been growing in popularity among Bulgarian consumers and has also seen an inflow of foreign capital.

An international investment conference held earlier this week has made clear that interest in Bulgaria is back among business circles. This is hardly due to an impressive growth of the Bulgarian market but rather to the political and macroeconomic stability and to the improved conditions for doing business locally. It is not for nothing that this country has claimed a very good position regarding protection of investors – 14the worldwide – awarded by the renowned chart Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency.

English Daniela Konstantinova