G3-247 Report BULGARIA MARKET REPORT


01 Bulgaria comes third in the list of countries with most valuable archaeological sites discovered on their territories, preceded only by Greece and Italy.


Although historically Bulgaria was largely an agricultural country by the 1980s it had transformed into an industrial economy with scientific and technological research as main concerns. The loss of the COMECON markets in 1990 caused a steep decline and ultimately followed by an economic collapse in 1997.


It did recover but the average salary remains one of the lowest in the EU at around €419 per month and more than a fifth of the work force are employed on a minimum wage of €1 per hour.


With the global economic crisis the situation has worsened and GDP contracted 5.5 cent in 2009 and unemployment is around 12 percent. Although there was some growth in 2010 inter company debt exceeded €51bn which by 2012 had increased to €83bn. Strict measures were introduced to help but this caused ‘catastrophic’ results.


Meanwhile the government took out a €1.5bn loan from a collection of private banks to support the banking system in December last year after the Corporate Commercial Bank, the fourth largest lender, collapsed.


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By 2013 GDP was €41bn and growth was 1.1 percent. Today Bulgaria is an upper middle income economy with a per capita income of €5,671. Growth in 2015 is predicated to be 1.6 percent.


Today the main industries are production of chemicals, machinery and vehicle components, extraction of metals and minerals, petroleum refining and steel and mining. Tourism is the most significant contributor to economic growth and it has emerged as a travelling destination with its inexpensive resorts and beaches. Most visitors are British, Romanian, German and Russian.


A total of 6.5 million tourists visited Bulgaria in 2012 which was a 3.4 percent increase on the previous year. Revenues from international tourism amounted to €2.9bn.


Bulgaria is well known for its simplified registration procedures when setting up companies and the most popular types of companies under Bulgarian law are a limited liability company and a joint stock company, general partnership, limited partnership and a partnership limited by shares.


02 Over 15 000 Thracian tombs have been discovered on the territory of Bulgaria. The bulk of them are yet to be explored.


03 There is solid historical evidence that wine has been produced on the territory of what is now modern-day Bulgaria ever since the Stone Age. Today the country has earned the reputation of a world-class wine producer.


04 The famous Bulgarian rose oil is used for making some of the world’s most popular and expensive perfumes. One gram rose oil is produced out of 1000 rose blossoms.


05 Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is the only big city in Europe that lies just 15 minutes away from an imposing mountain – Vitosha. Cherni Vrah (Black Peak – 2290m) is its highest peak.


06 A third of Bulgaria is forested.


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