Minister of Economy: Arms exports in 2022 up by 200%

"According to data from 2022, exports of specialised arms production have increased by 200%. This is about 1.6 - 1.7 billion euros or about 220% growth compared to 2020," Bulgaria’s Minister of the Economy, Bogdan Bogdanov told BNT morning programme on July 17.

He said that the industry was developing and the goal is to continue its development, as well as the modernisation of production. "We are also trying to provide a safe environment for the people who work in these factories," the minister said.

Last week, the Ministry of Economy filed a lawsuit against the Plovdiv Fair's shares being assigned to Georgi Gergov's company. According to the latest data, the fair is losing more than 100 million due to inefficient management, and perhaps on purpose, Bogdan Bogdanov commented.

"The court is yet to say who is guilty. It was important for us to first stop the entry, which was supposed to happen at the beginning of June and the Plovdiv Fair to be largely in private hands. We will follow the development of the legal process. It is not only the Ministry of Economy, we have also received support from the Council of Ministers."

According to Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) data, 2022 is the second of the past 15 years with the highest investment growth in the country, the minister said.

"We are continuing this trend in 2023, and for the first four months the BNB reports about 60% growth in investment in Bulgaria, this is preliminary data."

Investors are interested in specific industries, in Bulgaria it is mainly manufacturing companies. The Minister commented that every day he meets with international investors and local companies that want to expand their production and are optimistic about Bulgaria's upcoming accession to Schengen and the euro area.

The regions that have invested the most in infrastructure are Plovdiv and in the last year Burgas, which last year was the first in attracting foreign direct investment with infrastructure and well prepared industrial zones.

"We will work with priority for Northern Bulgaria, especially because of the north-south connections, which will improve because of the entry into Schengen. For example, Ruse, Pleven, Vidin, these are regions that have yet to develop and require efforts especially for infrastructure provision, but also a suitable workforce."

Our tax policy is currently attractive for a large number of investors, but we need to update the law on investment promotion, the minister said. We must have new incentives and they must be targeted at sectors with real high added value.

The things that are happening in the State Consolidation Company are known to the public, but there is no change, the minister said. The problems are chronic - inefficient management, awarding projects without public procurement.

"One company is “Montages”, the other is LB, we have seen problems there too, some money is missing. However, we need to get feedback from the competent authorities, who were alerted as early as 2021, when Kiril Petkov was Minister of Economy."

State takes measures to strengthen security at military industry enterprises and warehouses

The results of the inspections into the explosions in our arms warehouses are still pending, Minister Bogdanov said. The last one was at the end of June, in Emilian Gebrev's warehouse. There is also no result of the investigations into similar incidents in previous years, Bogdanov added.