Before answering this question, we must stop asking questions such as whether Bulgaria should be a member of the EU and the eurozone or not. According to analysts, we should join the EU and adopt the euro, since “the markets as a whole demand it. This became clear during the Fifth International Conference on Industrial Property – BGSKLAD 2025, whose media partner was the largest real estate website in Bulgaria - imot.bg.
“Currently, we have a great advantage in attracting Chinese investors, but if we structure our tasks correctly and make a good action plan. It should be at the state level and a strategy, a vision for at least 15-20 years should be developed. We - private companies, as participants in this process, are the engine, we bring change and trends. There are many obstacles, but there are also many opportunities. The question is on what plane we will build this dialogue - whether the focus will be to complain non-stop about the problems or to implement things in our management at the state level“, says Daniela Boycheva, Executive Director, CTP Invest Ltd.
Part of the answer to the question of whether we can meet the requirements of large foreign investors is to know what they want. “They are looking for a modern building, European quality, a stable partner in our person, to know that we will support them at any moment – we will offer him 5 companies for garbage removal, a transport location, we will not be just a landlord, but a partner and he expects to see a project in which he can realize his corporate social responsibility and everything he has committed to. The requirement is to be a European partner“, says Miroslava Alexandrova, Corporate Development Manager, East Ring LP Ltd.
There is a systemic risk – inflation, euro, political instability, but there is a non-systemic risk and we have focused on it – to have landscaping, facility management, good governance and for the investor to know that he will not be involved in anything other than his activity. “then the tenant leaves for longer. This is a compliment to us and helps us reduce the costs of replacement, commissions, repairs and others“, adds Alexandrova.
Some market participants are of the opinion that the focus should not fall only on China. “Enough with this China. China is a chimera for Bulgaria. Why would China come to Bulgaria from an economic point of view? If we answer this question, I agree to discuss it. There is no answer to the question of why companies like Temu and Shein, with a domestic market of 5 million people, should make a big hub in Bulgaria. Chasing some chimeras is not serious“, is the opinion of Gurdjieff. Bulgaria is not a place where someone will come to hire 15,000 jobs, but it is a wonderful place to hire up to 1,500 people.
According to him, Bulgaria's main problem is that it is an illiquid market. “The state needs to implement a stable policy regarding geopolitical development. Asking questions about whether the euro is our currency is absurd“, he adds.
Despite many tasks that need to be solved in order for more foreign investors to enter our country, interest in Bulgaria as a destination still exists at the moment. “We have something to offer them. There are new companies, but there are also existing ones that are developing at a faster pace than expected“, adds Boycheva.
She also takes into account another important point that should not be missed, namely that some investors do not want to be first in a given market. They prefer to be second, third, but not first. The fact that there is another before them is a kind of guarantee that the country they are targeting is pursuing a correct and good policy towards foreign investments.
Another problem that the Bulgarian market of logistics areas, and indeed of all types of properties in general, is that we put execution before strategy. “Our economy works on the principle of housing – I want to live in the center, but they built a great apartment in Manastirski Livadi. With such diverse actions, no one will come here just because we will offer them excellent infrastructure“, is categorical Gyurdzhiev.
“There must be a specific focus for a given industry, to work long-term in this direction. In order to reach a client, we strive to be the proactive side, to create prerequisites, to travel, so that we can create a larger contact network. TEZ has already proven itself as a brand in Bulgaria. Every week we have visits from companies, chambers and other foreign trade organizations. We are recognizable and we are sure that all this potential that the region has will be used to one degree or another“, is the opinion of Emil Yankov, Business Development Manager, Trakia Economic Zone. He recalled that in the last 6-7 years, a lot of investments have been made from Turkey.
Sooner or later, the investor encounters the state
The relationship between business and the state is a sore subject. Even if the brokers and companies that manage the industrial and logistics bases in our country do their job perfectly, sooner or later it comes to the state, since it is about the implementation of major business intentions that cannot be implemented by the private sector alone. Of course, the decisive role in the relationship between foreign business and the state is played by the intermediaries and management teams of the industrial zones.
„We work extremely closely with the state. We meet with at least 5-6 ministries that are interested parties in certain projects. We share with them our concept and vision of how, in our opinion, it is good to focus resources in order to attract a given investor. When there is a specific investor, the state always responds and works on this matter“, says Yankov.
“The most important thing is for the investor to stay in Bulgaria. We work successfully with municipalities, various state institutions, chambers of commerce. If we see that we cannot satisfy a demand, we try to keep it in Bulgaria by transferring it to a colleague, but for the investor to stay with us. In this regard, I notice that it is not only our attitude that is like this. Our effort is to have no competition, but partnership between intermediaries on the market, so that we can be more recognizable and satisfy investment demands“, says Alexandrova.
It is necessary to work on spreading the market for industrial and logistics areas evenly across the entire country. There are properties, and in some places there is even a built infrastructure. This is healthy for the entire Bulgarian economy, as it will create jobs in many small towns, and in the last year or two, Bulgarians have been returning to Bulgaria, specifically to their hometowns. They do not want to settle in Sofia or the largest cities, as the dynamics of life there are extremely high.
Unfortunately, today Bulgaria's industry is happening first in Plovdiv and then in the capital. “This is very harmful, because it puts an additional burden on the entire infrastructure and we are not able to develop our strengths at full capacity“, says Boycheva. “What needs to happen actively as soon as possible is a dialogue, and it should be from the side of the institutions towards private companies and investors. Unfortunately, a large part of the institutions in general do not know the people who actively participate in this market“, she is categorical.
“We all agree that every new client and employer is welcome and that we must do everything possible to win, but competition is something we have fought for for many years and now we cannot complain about it. The state's job is definitely not to take a piece of the private investor's pie, but to facilitate, i.e. to support the private investor, because he does something useful for the state, bringing new clients. Of all the industrial zones that I know of (7 so far), there is actually only one successfully implemented project, which is located in Sofia, and it is successful because it is located in the capital“, says Gyurdzhiev.
The state cannot do anything else except sell land to an investor. It does not have the tools to do so. “I have not heard of a state developer anywhere in Europe. I even think it might be prohibited. When there is unanimity between business and administration, this is the unique and perfect option for good work“, concludes Gurdzhiev.
And if we have to say what is the winning way to attract foreign investors, it is again good to look to the East. “The success of the Far East is not due to the fact that the state, represented by the government, invents every next step of specific business entities, but that it delegates them literally at a geographical level and a healthy competition is created between individual cities and regions to do something that is attractive to both international partners and local residents. Something that our public authorities failed to recognize“, says Ivan Velkov, president of “FIABCI Bulgaria“.
Detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by city and neighborhood can be seen HERE