site.btaInnovation and Growth Minister: Foreign Direct Investments Are Returning to Pre-Pandemic Levels

There is no decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) but rather a return to pre-pandemic levels, caretaker Innovation and Growth Minister Alexander Pulev said during Question Time Friday. Quoting Central Bank data of investments amounting to EUR 1.0 billion euros, Pulev said this was a more than threefold increase compared to previous years.

In spite of the galloping inflation, the war in Ukraine and the complicated geopolitical situation, the caretaker cabinet managed to return investments to pre-pandemic levels, Pulev said.

The leading investors currently come from Austria, Italy and Belgium. Growing interest has been registered from new destinations like the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and the United States, Pulev said. Prioritized sectors of interes include transport, logistics, digital transformation and IT. 

The government is currently in the process of developing a standard database related to investments in Bulgaria. The database will include everything that may be of interest to future investors - locations, sites, areas of production. This database will be public and accessible to the relevant authorities and municipalities. Investors will also have easy access to information, Pulev said.