HEALTH

ECONOMY

LIFE

The deficit in Bulgaria’s foreign trade last year amounted to BGN 5.202 billion, according to preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

1balance (exports FOB – imports CIF) was in the red by BGN 7.530 billion, which means that the decrease is nearly 31%.

In December alone, the balance was in the red by BGN 726.5 million. Trade for one-year Last year, the exported Bulgarian goods were worth BGN 54.450 billion, which is 6.9% less than in 2019.

In December, exports amounted to BGN 4.432 billion and increased by 5.6% on an annual basis. Last year, goods worth BGN 59.652 billion (at CIF prices) were imported into the country, or 9.6% less on an annual basis. In December, imports decreased by 6.2% compared to a year earlier and amounted to BGN 5.158 billion.

Trade in goods of Bulgaria with third countries

Last year, exports of goods from Bulgaria to third countries decreased by 11.3% compared to 2019 and amounted to BGN 18.686 billion, according to the NSI. Bulgaria’s main trade partners are Turkey, China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Serbia, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, and the Russian Federation, which account for 55% of exports to third countries. In December, exports to third countries decreased by 1% compared to a year earlier and amounted to BGN 1.727 billion.

GDP Growth By 2,7 Percent In 2021, 4,9 In 2022 (Link)

Bulgaria’s GDP is expected to grow by 2.7 percent this year and by 4.9 percent in 2022, according to the winter economic forecast for 2021 of the European Commission.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a serious loss in revenues from foreign tourism, which account for about three-quarters of total tourism receipt flow, the Commission points out, adding that GDP shrank by 4.9 percent last year.

The EC expects domestic consumption to remain lower in the first half of this year, given the continuing lockdown.

The possible opening of the economy is expected to boost consumption and investment in the second half of 2021, the EC also points out.

The Commission expects exports to gradually recover from the second quarter onwards, but foreign tourists will only start coming back in the third quarter of the year.

However, the Commission underlines that Bulgaria faces a serious risk because of the relatively low vaccination rate in our country and the spread of the infection compared to other tourist destinations.  

There is also a risk for public investment as the implementation of the recovery and sustainability plan has not been taken into account.

The EC expects that inflation, which fell to 1.2 percent last year, will rise to 1.7 percent this year and to 1.8 percent next year.

The net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Bulgaria decreased by 50.7% on the year to 561.7 million euro ($681.7 million) in 2020, the central bank said on Friday. 

The net FDI inflow last year calculated according to the directional principle, was equal to 0.9% of Bulgaria's 2020 projected gross domestic product, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a statement, citing preliminary data.

The largest net FDI inflow into Bulgaria in 2020, of 303.1 million euro, came from Austria. Germany and Switzerland followed with 294.5 million euro and 207.2 million euro, respectively.

In December alone, Bulgaria recorded a net FDI outflow of 261.8 million euro, up from an outflow of 86.4 million euro in the same month of 2019.

Canada and the Republic of Bulgaria enjoy mutually beneficial commercial relations, including through trade, investment, and cooperation on innovation, science, and technology.

The Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement provides further opportunities to build a stronger bilateral economic relationship. Canada and the Republic of Bulgaria have a modest trade relationship with total trade of just over $414-million in 2018. Canadian exports totaled almost $230-million with $185-million in imports. 

In 2020 the minimum wage in Bulgaria stood at 1.87 euro an hour – the lowest in the EU.

Data of the European Trade Union Institute regarding the lowest statutory remuneration in the European countries show that North Macedonia is the only country where the minimum wage is lower – at 1.63 euro an hour, in Serbia it is 2 euro an hour. In Romania and Hungary, the minimum wage per hour is a little under 3 euro, in Greece and Portugal – 4 euro. The list is topped by France at 10.15 euro per hour, followed by Ireland at 10 euro per hour. Data also show that 60% of all people working for a minimum wage in the EU are women.

According to information from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, salaries are set by collective bargaining in six countries of the EU. The trade union is demanding an accelerated rate of increase of the minimum salary in this country until it reaches 50% of the average salary.

Online trade in Bulgaria grew by 8.83% last year on an annual basis. In total for the last five years the annual growth of this digital segment in our country is between 21% and 35%, according to a study by the Bulgarian E-Commerce Association (BEA).

The past year has been a turning point for the development of online commerce. The closure of physical sites for long periods of time has forced many businesses to reorganize their operations and rely on a stronger Internet presence.

This has led to a significant increase in new inquiries for online stores and other digital projects according to Lyubomir Rusanov, managing partner of SuperHosting.BG and a member of BEA, this trend will continue to expand its influence, even after the pandemic subsides.

Automation and artificial intelligence will still be at the heart of the sector’s development. This means that in order to sell more successfully, Bulgarian retailers need to constantly invest in innovations that will bring them opportunities for better customer service, flexibility, visibility and even easier management of business processes. -the new report of the Bulgarian E-Commerce Association.

Having an e-shop is the basis that needs to be upgraded with investments in a number of other technologies, digital marketing and a better consumer experience (UX, UI), experts say. SuperHosting.BG and BEA recommend business owners to rely on technology partners who have proven experience in digital services and who can provide them with support services.

Forecasts suggest that in three to four years, trade will become largely mobile.

The consumer survey shows that purchasing surveys in most cases start over the phone, whether the order is made online or from the merchant’s physical store. The conclusion is that trade will merge in the near future – there will be no boundary between physical and online trade, and the connection will be made by mobile devices. That’s why it’s important for online retailers to continually improve the consumer experience through their store’s mobile device, experts advise. The conditions and changes require retailers to be present everywhere – both through physical and online stores.

The challenge for many of them in 2021 will be to launch a second dimension in their business. If they have only operated online so far, it will be time to open a physical store to expand their presence. If they have operated entirely physically, then the Internet will help them reach a new type of customers and increase their orders, experts recommend. The data for the growing market also correspond to the statistics presented by SuperHosting.BG, according to which the number of new installations of online stores has increased by 45.5% in 2020, compared to a year earlier. The strongest month last year was October, an increase of 55% compared to the most inactive months of the year (February and July).

Meanwhile, it is clear that according to the annual report of E-commerce Europe, the volume of B2C (business to end user) e-commerce of products and services in Bulgaria in 2020 has exceeded BGN 1.9 billion. It is expected to see double-digit growth on an annual basis in 2021.

From the information of the Bulgarian E-Commerce Association (BEA) it is understood that 60% of Bulgarians prefer cash on delivery as the most preferred payment methods for online purchases. In second place are credit and debit cards with 32%, and in third place – bank payments with 8%.

For comparison, in 2018 the same indicators were 70%, 20% and 5%, respectively. According to BEA data, last year 75% of the population of Bulgaria has access to the Internet, and for comparison in 2019 this indicator was 71%.

It’s no surprise that Canada’s housing market has been on fire lately, with historic low mortgage rates continuing to attract buyers. Though with demand continually outpacing supply and home prices steadily increasing, there are now early signs of overheating in Canada’s housing market.

Despite these signs of overheating, however, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says so far there are no plans to raise interest rates until the economy and employment are back on track following the declines caused by COVID-19. So, the interest rates — which currently sit at a record-low of 0.25% — are expected to remain low until 2023 to support the economy through the pandemic recovery.

“We’re all spending more time at home, people are working at home, they want more space, they don’t have to commute, and they figure their employers are probably going to be more flexible about the need to go into work every day, so they’re moving out of the downtown core,” said Macklem, adding, “they’re getting more space and that’s driving up prices particularly outside of our largest cities for single-family homes.”

While he believes the situation should be monitored “very closely,” Macklem said that, at this time, the Bank of Canada is not recommending any new measures for the housing market.

In the meantime, Macklem says the bank will keep an eye on debt levels, as mortgage debt rises as households pay down other debt like credit cards and personal loans.

Bulgaria Air starts operating 10 new regular passenger flights to some of the most attractive cities in Europe and Asia in 2021. While other airlines report further flight cuts, the national air carrier will surprise its customers with new direct flights to Dubai, Corfu, Rhodes, Crete, Thessaloniki, Budapest, Kiev, as well as many other top destinations.

Tickets for them are already on sale and can be booked, and the airlines will start performing flights as early as the spring. Three exclusive flights are planned for Dubai during the May holidays – on April 30, May 5 and May 10, and regular flights to this destination will run from September 30 with two flights per week – every Thursday and Sunday with a convenient timetable and the possibility of a round-trip connection with departure from Varna. At the end of April, Air Bulgaria launches the first regular direct flights to Budapest and Kiev, and for the holidays from 21 May it opens new Greek destinations – Thessaloniki, the islands of Crete and Rhodes. On June 11, the first direct flight of Bulgaria Air to the magnificent Ionian island of Corfu is due to take place.

Pleasant surprises will continue throughout the year with more good news and new flights to even more attractive destinations. The airline has restored its regular routes between Sofia and St. Petersburg and between Sofia and Valencia for the summer season2021, and tickets for them are also already on sale. Very soon Bulgaria Air will announce the start date for another new regular line to Tenerife, as well as many other exotic places that until now we could only reach by charter flights.

In line with its mission to ensure comfortable and secure travel, all flights of the national carrier are performed according to the highest hygiene requirements in the interest of the wellbeing and health of all passengers and after thorough disinfection with certified detergents and UV machine, which the The Time magazine defines as one of the most innovative inventions for 2020.

Air quality on board is ensured by special HEPA filtering systems that provide constant circulation of heat-treated air at up to 200 degrees, reducing to minimum the possible spread of any airborne infection.

Bulgaria has the most favourable tax regime in Europe and a low cost of doing business across the board, but navigating the local corporate environment can be difficult without having local help on board.

Although Bulgaria isn’t part of the Eurozone, it is a member of the European Union and its currency (the Bulgarian lev) is pegged to the euro. It has the second-lowest government debt in the EU and one of the lowest budget deficits, making Bulgaria one of the most stable countries in which to do business.

Located at the heart of the Balkans, Bulgaria is a strategic logistics hub. With four major airports (Sofia, Plovdiv, Bourgas, and Varna) and two main seaports (Varna and Bourgas), there is quick access to huge consumer markets. What’s more, the cost of using Bulgaria as a strategic hub is very low and there are several tax exemptions on offer to urge businesses to invest in the country. A corporate tax rate of 10% and a personal income tax of 10% emphasize the country’s competitiveness next to its European neighbours, and the cost of labour and favourable office rents add to its appeal.

However, the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) rank Bulgaria in 66th place in the world for ease of doing business, which is why having local help when establishing an overseas venture is crucial.

Starting a Business

It takes almost three weeks to start a business in Bulgaria, most of which is spent registering with the Commercial Register at the Registry Agency and filing for VAT. A deposit should be paid in full to a Bulgarian bank and articles of incorporation must also be completed.

Dealing with Construction Permits

Construction works are by far the most arduous element of establishing a corporate entity in Bulgaria. Dealing with permits can take over 100 days to sort and requires sifting through some 21 procedures, including correspondence with the chief architect of the municipality, water authorities, the telecom provider, fire department, and many other inter-governmental departments.

Getting Electricity

Getting electricity is a similarly laborious process that requires long-term communication with CEZ Distribution Bulgaria. Once the works have been completed, businesses must receive a note from the utility and conclude the contract with the electricity supplier before obtaining meter installation and the flow of electricity.

Registering Property

Property registration takes just over two weeks to complete. A sketch of the estate has to be drafted by the municipality and a tax valuation of the property should be made. A certificate of good standing then has to be issued for the seller and buyer and a certificate from the Real Estate Register has to be picked up before tax can be paid and final registration completed.

Getting Credit and Protecting Investors

There is a healthy public registry coverage, credit information index, and legal rights index in Bulgaria, which makes obtaining credit relatively easy. Thanks to a strong regulatory environment, investor protection is also good.

Paying Taxes

It takes a massive 454 hours of company time to make tax payments, which is largely spent dealing with social security contributions and VAT. Despite being tremendously competitive in terms of its fiscal policy, Bulgaria certainly makes businesses work hard to reap the rewards of such a system.

Trading Across Borders

Trading across borders is a very time-intensive task, taking up 21 days when exporting and 17 when importing. It is also quite a costly affair, which is out of character for Bulgaria.

Enforcing Contracts

It takes 564 days to enforce a contract, which is far longer than the average time in East Europe and Central Asia. There are 39 procedures to complete during the process, which is likely to be the reason for its longevity.

Resolving Insolvency

Resolving insolvency takes an average of 3.3 years, which is almost double the average time it takes elsewhere in the OECD. The recovery rate is half as much as the global average.

Culture

Corruption is still prevalent in the Bulgarian business environment and fair play becomes a competitive disadvantage for certain investors who refuse to bribe. There is also an aging population and a lack of purchasing power among consumers, which makes doing business challenging.

Around 15 million people speak this Southern Slavic language, which is also mutually intelligible with Macedonian and closely related to Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Slovenian.

Some words will sound familiar to speakers of Romance languages, since Bulgarian is influenced by Latin, French, and Italian, as well as Russian, Greek, Arabic, and German. English loanwords are also increasingly common, such as чат (čat), which means text or internet chat, and тост (toast), which means toast.

Turkish has also contributed a large number of loanwords. Bulgaria was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the late 14th century and continued under Ottoman rule until its unofficial independence in 1878 (followed by a formal declaration of independence in 1908). Hundreds of years of influence have led to distinct similarities between Turkish and Bulgarian words for everyday objects such as clothing and food.

BULGARIAN AND THE INVENTION OF THE CYRILLIC SCRIPT

Bulgarian was originally transcribed in Glagolitic script – the oldest Slavic alphabet. However, unless your aim is to study historical Bulgarian texts from the ninth to the twelfth century, you won’t need to study Glagolitic and can instead busy yourself with Cyrillic.

Cyrillic was created in the ninth to the tenth century in the Preslav Literary School in Pliska, the ancient capital of the Bulgarian Empire, under the orders of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I the Great.

And under the Bulgarian Empire, it spread across Eurasia. According to the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, more than 300 million people use the Cyrillic alphabet. It’s the script of Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, and many more.

Yet although Russian and Ukrainian speakers might have a head start on the script, they will still have to learn the Bulgarian version of it, which uses fewer characters and has some differences in pronunciation.

The modern Bulgarian alphabet uses 30 Cyrillic letters, 6 of which are vowels. Although some of them bear similarities to Roman script, don’t make the mistake of pronouncing them the same way. “P” is closer to an “R” sound, while Я sounds more like “ya” (and is a vowel).

HOW DIFFICULT IS BULGARIAN?

Bulgarian is not the world’s easiest language to learn. But let’s be honest, you probably aren’t considering picking it up for its simplicity, are you?

And we have some good news for you: the pronunciation is relatively easy – especially compared to English. The vowels, for example, are always pronounced the same way.

You do have to learn a new alphabet (which we will cover in more detail below), but there are only 30 letters. That’s more than in English, but the writing system is much simpler than many Asian languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Thai.

Contemporary Bulgarian has roughly 200,000 words, which isn’t much more than English (171,476). And while you may find yourself equally amazed and exasperated by the number of ways to say “but,” you’ll also find that this facilitates a rich, persuasive, and elegant way of speaking. You’ll love the poetic beauty of Bulgarian literature.

Bulgarian grammar will probably be the most frustrating part of your language journey. Yet while it is trickier than English grammar, it isn’t as challenging as German or other Slavic languages. There will be some things that English speakers recognize, such as articles (e.g. “the”) and a heavy use of conjunctions.

There are three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. If a word ends in a consonant, it’s usually masculine – but, like with most languages, there are some exceptions to the rules. Nouns and adjectives demonstrate the gender, as well as if the object is plural or singular.

There are technically three different cases – accusative, dative, and nominative – but in modern Bulgarian, these are only used with personal pronouns. The accusative marks the direct object (You introduced her to me), the dative marks the indirect object (You introduced her to me), and the nominative marks the subject (You introduced her to me). As far as cases go, this makes Bulgarian significantly easier than other Slavic languages and also German.

On the other hand, the language has thirty different tenses once you take into account the subjunctive (“If I were you”), imperative (“Do it!”), and conditional.

Yet once you’ve got your head around the grammar, you’ll find that learning Bulgarian opens the door to a country with breath-stopping landscapes, a fascinating history, and friendly locals.

HOW TO LEARN BULGARIAN

Your Bulgarian language journey is going to be a lot easier once you’ve mastered the alphabet. Doing so will enable you to use more textbooks, apps, and language courses – and help you out with street signs if you eventually visit the country.

Fortunately, with just 30 characters, you can probably master this quite quickly. In fact, we suggest learning this before you start work on any vocabulary or phrases – even Здравей (Zdravey) or “Hello.”

Once you’ve got the alphabet sorted, you’ll be ready to dive into the world of Bulgarian grammar, vocabulary, listening and more.

Your main focus will probably depend on your language goals. Want to make local friends? Listening, speaking and informal expressions will be essential. Interested in Bulgarian literature? Focus on reading. Hoping to stay in touch with a Bulgarian exchange student? You’ll need to work on writing for all those online messages.

Yet while effective language studies won’t necessarily hone all skill sets to the same degree, your studies will probably benefit from a certain amount of balance. Try to find a language-learning routine that allows you to practice your reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar – even if it’s more weighted towards some elements than others.

Perhaps even more importantly, be kind to yourself. Don’t overwhelm yourself by taking on too much at once. Aim to study for shorter periods but more frequently, and don’t beat yourself up if you get off track.

Remember that learning a language is a marathon rather than a sprint. It’s better to go slowly but consistently than push yourself too hard and become demotivated.

In fact, you may find one of the best ways to learn Bulgarian is by adopting a little айляк (aylyak), a Bulgarian concept for taking things easy, enjoying the moment, and going at your pace.

BULGARIAN LANGUAGE COURSES AND WEBSITES

Freemium course BulgarianPod101 has a wide range of video and audio lessons. We recommend it as a supplementary course, especially since it will help you practice your listening and vocabulary, but it would be good to use it alongside a textbook as well. You can get some of the material for free, but if you decide you want the full subscription, you can use our promo code ‘ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES’ to get 25% off.

Bulgaro.io is an online course focused on grammar and vocabulary. We like that each level or lesson starts off with a detailed explanation of the material, and then there are a series of quizzes you have to complete, as well as links to corresponding Anki decks. You get the first few classes for free, but to access the full material (47 classes spread over 25 levels) you’ll need to pay €6.90/month. The only annoying thing is that there’s no way to skip levels, meaning that this is best designed for beginners – or people with lots of patience.

My Languages has an extensive Bulgarian section that will break down many of the grammar points for free, but there are no quizzes or exercises. Drilling the material is down to you. You could, however, combine it with these free-to-use grammar drills from linguistics emeritus professor Kjetil Rå Hauge.

Subscription-based Transparent Language will help you drill vocabulary and practice your pronunciation, although we were unconvinced of their teaching methodology, disappointed by the lack of basic grammar explanations, and bored by the repetitiveness. You can read more of our thoughts on it here.

Looking for something like Transparent Language, but that’s free? iLanguages will help you drill basic vocabulary, as will Surface Languages. Polymath covers vocabulary and grammar relatively extensively but doesn’t have audio files.

50Languages has 100 free online Bulgarian lessons. Each lesson presents you with a long list of phrases in English along with the partially obscured Bulgarian translation. You can click to show the entire translation and also listen to a recording of it. While this might sound promising, there is no explanation and you are simply memorizing phrases out of context.

For CBBN: Ivan Popov