World Bank: Bulgaria Fast at Starting Foreign Business, Slow at Leasing Public Land
In Bulgaria, it is faster to establish a foreign-owned limited liability company but the procedure for leasing public land is slower, in comparison to the global average, the World Bank has announced.
The World Bank's project “Investing across Borders” (IAB) announced Wednesday the annual indicators of the quality of regulations and efficiency of administrative processes for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 87 countries.
IAB states that Bulgaria has fewer restrictions on foreign equity ownership, in comparison to other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
“Over the past few years, Bulgarian legislation has undergone harmonization with EU legislation. During this process, many sectors of the economy have been opened to foreign capital participation. Today, Bulgaria does not apply any restrictions on foreign equity ownership in 31 of the 33 sectors measured by the Investing Across Sectors indicators,” IAB said.
On the topic of starting a foreign business, the World Bank noted that there are no additional procedures required of a foreign-owned company establishing a subsidiary in Sofia.
“A foreign-owned company does not need to get an investment approval. The company registration is entirely electronic and companies can monitor the whole process on the official web page of the registry agency,” the report states.
The World Bank stated, however, that process of accessing industrial land in Bulgaria is slow compared to the regional and global average.
“It requires several procedures and takes place after approval by the respective governing bodies, and after undergoing a tender procedure. Purchase of public land is not common, as the process is time-consuming. The most common means of acquiring land is by the purchase or lease of private land,” IAB said.
According to the report, this process takes about351 days in Bulgaria, while the regional average is 133 days and the global – 140 days.
From all the reported countries, only Malaysia has a slower process of accessing industrial land than Bulgaria.
