Highlights

The first meeting of the “Breakfast with investors” format, which took place today, is with representatives of Austrian business and is organized with the assistance of the Embassy of Austria in Bulgaria.
The cumulative amount of foreign direct investment in Bulgaria at the beginning of 2022 exceeds EUR 50 billion. “Behind these numbers is the work of thousands of companies. We, as a state, are obliged to have a much more cooperative dialogue with them,” Minister Stoyanov stressed. According to him, it is very important to make these meetings regular because they provide a quick and direct form of communication for foreign businesses with the minister in charge. “It is key for us to hear first-hand the problems and future intentions of foreign investors in the country. This will assist us in the preparation of legislative changes and future development of industrial zones,” Nikola Stoyanov added at the opening of the event.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of our economic system, employing over 75% of our workforce and generating 66% of value added. This was announced by the Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stoyanov during the opening of the International Conference “Financial and Investment Support for SMEs – Sofia International Money Expo” (SIM EXPO 2022). He added that Bulgaria is even more dependent on small and medium-sized enterprises compared to countries in Europe, where SMEs provide about 66% of employment.

The initiative of the Minister of Economy and Industry, Nikola Stoyanov, to visit the headquarters of employers’ organisations and talk to each of them separately during the first week of his administration is a peculiar phenomenon for the last 30 years.

More joint initiatives, operational dialogue on priority topics and use of the expertise of employers and trade unions in the formation of policies in the sector. These are some of the priorities that the Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stoyanov presented at a meeting with the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists of Bulgaria (CEIB).

On the initiative of the Minister of Economy and Industry, meetings were held with the management of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria.

A priority for us is the rehabilitation and development of state-owned companies in the system of the Ministry of Economy and Industry. This was said by Minister Nikola Stoyanov in the “The Day Begins” programme on BNT 1. According to him, a loss of more than 100 million was allowed only in VMZ for 2 months.

The issue of reducing administrative burdens and regulations for the businesses was raised by the management of leading German company Aurubis at a meeting held today with Minister of Economy Bojidar Loukarsky. The meeting was attended by the Senior Vice President of the company Wolf Gerkens, the Executive Directors Tim Kurth and Georgi Nikolov, as well as experts of the company.

“Sofia Tech Park is a strategic project for the country focused on the development of innovation, new technologies and science”. That was said by Economy Minister Bojidar Loukarsky whilst turning the first sod of Collider Activity Center – one of the main buildings in Sofia Tech Park. The world-leading manufacturer of climbing walls Walltopia will invest BGN 12 M. “The project Collider Activity Center will be a place, where science and business will be pooled to execute joint projects”, said Minister Loukarsky.

Our efforts are aimed at reducing of the administrative burden and ensuring a favorable and predictable business environment”. That was stated by the Minister of Economy Bojidar Loukarsky at the ceremony opening the modernized plant Verila Lubricants AD , part of Prista Oil.

“The Ministry of Economy is really committed to further improve the business environment and you can count on our active cooperation and support. We will work hard in order to implement the economic priorities of the government – to simplify and facilitate the administrative services, to maintain and improve a favourable business climate, to foster the investment and innovation and to improve the acces to finace”. That was stated by the Minister of Economy Bojidar Loukarsky at the ceremony opening a Rain Water Treatment Plant worth EUR 6.3 million at the industrial site of Aurubis Bulgaria in the town of Pirdop.