At an online conference, the European Investment Bank (EIB) presented the results of its annual survey on the corporate investment landscape in Bulgaria. The event was held on February 8 and was organized jointly with the Ministry of Finance. The presentation of the results for Bulgaria is part of a series of events in all EU countries. TThe survey is based on 12 000 companies across the 27 Member States countires.
The meeting was attended by EIB Vice President Lilyana Pavlova, Finance Minister Kiril Ananiev, EIB Senior Economist and Analyst Atanas Kolev, Deputy Minister of Economy Stamen Yanev, Fund of Fund’s Executive Director Vladimir Danailov, Trakia Tech Chairman Georgi Stoev, CEO and Board Member of the Bulgarian Startup Association – BESCO and others.
Should you be interested, you can get the EIB Investment Survey for Bulgaria here https://www.eib.org/en/publications/econ-eibis-2020-bulgaria, and below are some of the main conclusions.
Highlights of the report
Investment Dynamics
The COVID-19 crisis has affected companies’ investment strategies this year, with more than a half of them (53%) stating that they will either invest less (46%) or invest more than planned (7%), which is close to the EU averages.
Investment Priorities
Almost 59% report operating at or above full capacity in the last financial year. In the next 3 years, enterprises plan to invest mostly in capacity expansion (34%) and new products and services (27%).
Innovation Activities
Almost one third of all firms claim to have developed or introduced new products, processes or
services (28%) which is close to 2019 results but well behind the EU average (42%). More than 55% of all companies have implemented (fully or partially) at least one digital technology. This is below the EU average of 63%.
Drivers and Constraints
Both in BUlgaria and in Europe, the businesses are less optimistic about the overall economic climate. The most cited long term barrier to investment in Bulgaria is uncertainty about the future (86%). This is above the EU average (81%).
Investment Finance
Around eight in ten firms in Bulgaria (83%) and EU-wide (80%) report that they were generating a profit in the last financial year. Internal funding was the main source of investment in
Bulgaria (67%) in 2019, above the EU average (62%). Bank loans made up the largest share of external finance (40%), well below the EU average (59%).
Energy Efficiency
In 2020, 37% of the Bulgarian companies have invested in measures to improve energy efficiency. The share is in line with 2019 (41%) but below the EU average (47%). The share of investment in measures to improve energy efficiency was 15% (compared to 12% EU average).
Climate Change
Bulgarian companies believe that the transition to a low carbon future will not have much impact on their business over the next 5 years. Almost 63% of the enterprises have no investment plans to tackle climate change impact – high above the EU average of 35%.
