Issue 23/April- June2017
Issue23, year 5
April- June 2017
Dearreaders,
InvestBulgariaAgency (IBA)has the pleasure to bringto yourattentionourquarterly informationalnewsletter.
Thenewslettercontentseconomicnews, events, analysesandkeyindicatorsrelated to the business, investmentsandtrade.
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TheTeam of InvestBulgariaAgency.
MR. EMIL KARANIKOLOV,THE MINISTER OF ECONOMY, HAS HANDED TWO CERTIFICATES FOR INVESTMENT CLASS “A” TO COMPANIES THAT WILL INVEST NEAR 10 MILLION LEVS
July 7, 2017
According to theBulgarianMinister of EconomywhohashandedtwocertificatesforinvestmentClass “A”, issuedundertheInvestment Promotion Act, Bulgaria has established itself as one of the leading countries in terms of attractiveness as a manufacturing and outsourcing destination.Theprojects of “WoodwardBulgaria” and “TradeoBulgaria” havebeencertified. Thetotalvalue of thetwoprojectsisneartenmillionlevsandtheyaregoing to create 160 new work places. Theofficialceremonywasalso attendedbytheDeputyMinistersAleksanderManolevandLachezarBorisovandbytheExecutiveDirector of InvestBulgariaAgency, StamenYanev.
“Thetwoprojectsare in high- tech activities in the manufacturing sector and in the sector of services.” said Mr. Karanikolov. According to hiswordsthesesectorsare a priorityinthepolicy of TheMinistry of Economyforencouragingthe investments.TheMinister of Economyalsohighlightedthatfromthebeginning of 2017, undertheInvestmentPromotionAct, 11 projectshavebeencertified. Thetotalvalue of theseprojectsisover 158 millionlevsandthanks to them4008 newwork places will be created. “Seven of theprojectsareinthehigh- techmanufacturingsectorandinthesector of services”, added Mr. Karanikolov.
Emil Iliev, Manager of “Woodward Bulgaria”, pointed out that the project of the company is for expansion of the production of components, parts and systems for the airline industry. According to his words the American company “Woodward Inc.” is a leader in the aviation manufacturing and works with companies like “Airbus” and “Boeing”. The investment project is connected with the development of the European Production Target. The investment’s value is over 9 million levs and after the realization of the project there will be 107 new work places.
The manager of “Tradeo Bulgaria” Mr.Alex Behar pointed out that the investment project of thecompany foresees expansion of an actual enterprise and it aims to help the investment intermediaries to organize and to lead in an effective way the processes by the risk management software. “After the realization of the project there will be more than 50 new work places.” he added.
INVESTMENT OF 12, 4 MILLION LEVS AND 80 NEW WORK PLACES.
June 4, 2017
TheprojectisrealizedbytheCooperation “Panda”-mainfranchise of thetrademark “Office 1 Superstore” inRepublic of Bulgaria. Theinvestmentobjective isfor a creationof a warehouse- logisticbaseforstationery, paper, toners, technics, furnitureandchairs, cleaningserviceresources, etc., thatwillsecuretheneedforstorage of goodsfortheentire Office 1 Superstorestorechain.
TheeventwasalsoattendedbyElkaKamenova- a chairwoman of Cooperation “Panda”, IvayloSimeonov, mayor of ElinPelinandothers.
Theprojectisin a process of beingcertifiedforinvestmentClass “A” bytheInvestBulgariaAgency and itsrealizationlaysthefoundationforone of themostmodernfacilitiesinBulgaria- thebiggestandthemostmodernwarehouse- logisticcenterinthespherewithbuilt- uparea of 8 600 m2, whichwillbefurnishedwithone of themostmodernautomatedsystemsforstorage of goodsintheworld.It is provided for the construction to be made in two stages. The first stage includes the creation of a warehouse with an office and sanitary area on the first level and on the second levelpartly with sizes 75x73m, together with the necessary adjacent infrastructure for the two stages. At the second stage is foreseen an expansion of the warehouse base with one more center distance of 24m with width of 75m, which includes partially a second level with a storehouse as well. At a laterstage a thirdexpansion of thewarehouse- logisticzoneisbeingplanned.
INVESTBULGARIA AGENCY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH KМЕТА.BG PRESENT THE BOOK “INVESTMENTS AND REGIONS”
June 19, 2017
Thespecialedition of thebook “Investments andRegions” of Kmeta.bg in partnership with InvestBulgaria Agency hasrecently comeintotheBulgarianmarket.TheBulgarianandEnglishluxuriouseditionprovidesinformationabouttheBulgarianmunicipalitiesandregionswithalltheopportunitiestheyprovideforattractingtheBulgarianand International business.
Whataretheconditionsin eachmunicipality, whatarethelocalauthorities’ plansforthedevelopment of theregionaleconomiesfortheimprovementoninfrastructure, forcreatingnewworkplaces. Whicharetheregionalpriorities- development of thetourismindustry, buildingnewfactories, attractingcompaniesonspecialseparateareasand others. All these things aregatheredinoneplace- inthespecialedition of thebook “Investments andRegions”. Thebookwillreach to thousands of companieswhichrepresenttheelite of theBulgarianand International business.
Thespirit of thespecialluxuriousedition of thehardbackbook “Investments andRegions” totallycorrespondswiththestrategy “Europe 2020” bytheEuropeanCommission, whichaimsapproximation of theregionswithfocusonthesocialintegration, ontherevealing of newworkplacesandoninvestmentsinthedevelopingregions.
113 administrativeserviceswillbeoptimizedorwilldropout, as a measure of easingtheadministrativeburdenonbusiness
June 15, 2017
InconnectionwiththeundertakenengagementsbytheBulgarianMinister of EconomyEmilKaranikolovforeasingtheadministrativeburdenonbusinessananalysis ofthemeasurestakento reducetheregulatoryburden, hasbeenmade. It is expected achangein 60 % of theservicesprovidedbytheMinistry of Economyandbyitssecond- levelspendingunits.Thechangeincludes: dropping out of services, reducingtherequireddocuments, reducingthefees, reducingthe deadlines andofficial providing of information.
An analysis of 187 current services provided by the Ministry of Economy and its second- level spending units has been made.It was suggested a change in113 administrative services, as of them67 number of fees are proposed to be reduced and for 21 services the fees will totally be avoided.It is suggested that 15 services and regimes reduce the required documents. 8 of the services and regimes will totally be removed. The deadlines, which are offered to be reduced, are 23. The official providing of the required documents is 14 in number.As a result of reducing the fees, according to the data by theregimes’ administrators, a reduction of the direct financial administrative burden for the business is expected with around 200 thousand levs per year. As a result of the optimization of the provided services a much larger reduction of the business costs is expected due to the reduction of the number of the required documents, the reduction of the deadlines, and theprovision of all ways of payment (bank transfers and POS terminals) of the administrative services which are a subject of the review.
Administrative services / In total / Ministry of Economy (ME) / Second- level spending units (SLSUs)Services, which are provided at the moment / 187 / 52 / 135
Services that will change: / 113 / 8 / 105
- Services/regimesproposed for dropping out, number
- Services/ regimes proposed for reduction in the required documents, number
- Fees proposed for dropping out, number
- Fees proposed for reduction, number
- Deadlines proposed for reduction, number
- Official provision of the required documents, number
Operational program
Anoperational program “Innovationsandcompetitiveness” 2014- 2020 (OPIC) is the main program documentat a national level, which outlines the help for the Bulgarian business from the European Structural and Investment Funds for the period 2014- 2020.
OPIC is directed to address the needs, to overcome the challenges and to seize the opportunities for development of the Bulgarian economy. The measures which are implemented in the program aim to contribute to increase the competitive advantages of the Bulgarian enterprises for a long period of time and to speed up the process of developing an economy based on knowledge. The support is focused on the development of the innovations, the entrepreneurship, the capacity for growth of the small and medium- size enterprises (SMEs), the energy and resource efficiency of the enterprises.
The total budget of OPIC 2014- 2020 is 1, 27 billion euros, out of which1, 079 billion euros (85 % of funds), financed by the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD) and 191 million euros (15 % of funds) by national co- financing.
Managing authority: Directorate-General European Funds for Competitiveness in the Ministry of Economy.
The resource for the program is divided into five (5) priority axes:
Priority Axis 1: “Technological development and innovations”
Priority Axis 2: “Entrepreneurship and Capacity for growth of SMEs”
Priority Axis 3: “Energy and Resource Efficiency”
Priority Axis 4: “Removing bottlenecks in security of gas supplies”
Priority Axis 5:” Technical Assistance”
Expected results after the realization of OPIC:
supportformorethan 7000 Enterprises;
mobilization of morethan 1billioneurosprivatecapital;
increasingtheinnovativeenterprises;
increasingtheproductivity of SMEs;
decreasingtheenergyintensity of theeconomy.
Actualoperations
From the beginning of the year until now the Ministry of Economy through the InvestBulgaria Agency (IBA) has given certificate to 17projects to the total value of over 201 million levs. Thanks to these projects more than 4300 new workplaces can be created. The certified projects will lead to the expansion of the current activity of already established Bulgarian and international companies in the country, which shows the investors’ confidence in the predictability of the business and the investment environment in Bulgaria. Among the companies whose projects have been certified are “AlcometAD”, “Rollplast Group”, “Yazaki Bulgaria Ltd.”, “Teklas- Bulgaria AD” and others. 5 more projects to the total value of more than 50 million levs are in the last stage to be certified. These projects have the potential to create another 430 new workplaces.
On the basis of the submitted applications the forecast until the end of 2017 is that the Agency will be able to certify another 23 projects for the total value of more than 830 million levs with the expectations of creating another 2200 workplaces. Bulgaria attracts investments connected with the construction of logistics bases, factories for production of automotive parts, outsourcing offices, projects in the field of high technologies and innovations. The interest in the seven priority sectors to which investors focus their projects will remain the same- computer and communication techniques, electrical items, machinery and equipment, textile and clothing, chemical products, rubber products, plastics and other non- metallic mineral raw materials and foodstuff. The expectations of the potential investors are to find high- quality workers, which isone of the challenges in front of Bulgaria. According to the words of the executive director of InvestBulgaria Agency, Stamen Yanev, the people are the ones who can do a business, make a system or a country more stable, more secure and more attractive. That’s why there should be good conditions for trainingthe skilled workforce that investors are looking for. The successful attraction of investments is also directly related to the strengthening of the activities under Art.11 of the Investment Promotion Act (IPA), which refers to the functions of the regional governors and the mayors of the municipalities. Above all this is connected with the tight connection between InvestBulgaria Agency and the local government whose aim is supporting and realizing the potential investments. It is needed to be made joint regular meetingsbetween the Agency and the municipalities in order to improve the investors’ service. All these will give the municipalities the opportunitytoreveal their potential and to meet with representatives of the business who are interested and willing to come to them.InvestBulgaria Agency is the institution which exemptsfrom corporate tax the companies which operate in regions where the unemployment is with more than 25 % of the average unemployment rate for the country. Until now the Agency has approved 22 projects with total first investment of 102 080 544, 86 levs and a tax levyof 41 258 497, 10 levs. The investments will be realized in municipalities with high unemployment for the period 2015- 2020.
- UPCOMING EVENTS
/ July,
25 2017 / Delhi,
India / Bloomberg Biometric Security & Safer Cities Summit
/ September, 05- 072017 / Krynica-Zdrój,
Poland / XXVII Economic Forum
/ September, 6- 7 2017 / Vladivostok,
Russia / East Economic Forum
/ September, 13 2017 / London,
England / FINANCIAL TIMES
Investing for Good Europe
/ September, 17 2017 / London,
England / GLOBAL INVESTMENT CONFERECE
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