Bulgaria

About Bulgaria

Bulgaria is situated in the South East of Europe. For centuries, the roads passing through the territory of the country have been connecting Europe with Asia and Africa. Four common European transport corridors, connecting West and North Europe with the eastern and southern part of the continent cross their roads here. Apart from its being situated on crossroads, Bulgaria is also known for its picturesque nature. In spite of its relatively small territory (110 912 sq. km), the country has various landscape. The scenery changes subsequently from vast plains, to hilly areas and high mountains. Large beaches and beautiful rocky shores stretch out along the Black sea coast. The region has a comparable climate to Northern Spain and the South West of France, being on a similar latitude to Monaco, Marseilles and Andorra.

General Information

Territory: 110 912 sq. km (42 842 sq. m)
Population: 7 973 671 people
Capital: Sofia
Official language: Bulgarian
Religions: Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Catolic Christianity, Judaism

Invest Bulgaria

Bulgaria offers unparallel high-yield/low-risk investment opportunities and has become the top target for investors seeking exposure to the growing lifestyle and leisure sector.

The consistent efforts of successive governments have been aimed at introducing market-driven economic reforms among which the privatization of key industries, pegging the national currency to the Euro, balanced fiscal policy and active sovereign debt management, opening up the economy to foreign banks and multinational corporations. The countrys GDP has been growing consistently over the last eight years. The improved economic and investment climate, successful structural reforms in the banking sector, achieving investment grade sovereign rating by all major credit rating agencies have all had strong positive effects on Bulgarias real estate and mortgage market which has rapidly gained pace and has become a prime objective for foreign investors.

Today Bulgaria is on target to join the European Union on January 1st, 2007.

The country has historically been the holiday destination of the region with stunning nature and favorable climate comparable with northern Spain and the South-West of France, being on similar latitude with Andorra, Monaco and Marseilles.

The Bulgarian Black Sea coast and the Mountain Ski and Spa resorts are currently going through an unprecedented property development boom predominantly in the leisure and second home market.

Some of the key economic drivers for the foreign and real estate investors are:

• Property prices are significantly lower levels than the ones on the similar European markets
• Increasing wealth in the region results in stronger demand for first and second homes
• Excellent climate, nature and food coupled with a strong growth in the tourism and leisure
• Accession into the EU in 2007
• Stable GDP growth prospects of about 5% per year
• Competitive tax rates - corporate profit and personal income tax among the lowest in EU.
• Significantly lower labour cost than the European average
• Strategic geographic location a gateway to the markets of CIS, Asia, and the Middle East
• Bulgaria's sovereign credit rating has been upgraded more than 15 times in the past 4 years