Management representatives on member organizations on Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers' (AOBE) - BICA, BIA, BCCI and CEIB, held a meeting with the Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov and his team.
Vasil Todorov, General Secretary of the BCCI, emphasized the main priorities of the AOBE, which are also in the focus of the Ministry of Economy and Industry - namely - the acceptance of Bulgaria into the Eurozone, the Schengen area and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Subject of discussion were preservation of the tax model and limitation of bureaucratic obstacles for businesses, with a focus on the difficulties for enterprises when using services of water supply companies, energy distribution company (EDC) and heating systems.
Vasil Todorov brought specifics to the measures proposed by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry related to the possibility of financing quotas for the education of foreign citizens from third countries (developing economies) in Bulgaria, which is an investment with a high return in the future.
Vasil Velev, chairman of BICA, emphasized in his speech the 4 reasons for the decline of investments, namely: (1) corrupt practices, (2) high prices of energy carriers, (3) shortage of human resources, which is due to demographic reasons, migration and problems in the education system, and (4) delayed and insufficient direct investment support. The chairman of BICA shared with concrete graphs the current decline in orders in industrial production in our country, as well as the negative trend in Europe, which will inevitably affect Bulgaria.
Vasil Velev argued for preservation of the current mechanism for compensating for high electricity prices, with a possible option for continuation at the beginning of next year in the event of a sharp jump in prices during the winter season.
Stanislav Popdonchev, vice-chairman of BIA, marked controversial texts in the Transitional and final provisions of the draft Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria for 2023, regarding the introduction of an obligation to pay wages only by bank transfer, as well as the planned introduction of a requirement for advance declaration of shipments of goods with high fiscal risk (which number more than 550 items), which, if accepted, will increase the administrative burden and costs for business. The declaration of cash balances on a monthly basis will also be an obstacle for the business, which will increase the price for accounting services and make the operations of the business much more difficult. The importance of preparing export strategies by sector was also indicated, as well as the need to create a concept for the national presentation of Bulgaria at international exhibitions.
Adoption of annual plans to review and ease regulatory regimes and rules for their implementation, including deadlines for issuing documents and the amount of administrative fees. Compliance with the "1-in-2-out" principle. Reforming the selection, work and certification of OTEA.
Konstatin Stamenov, chairman of the Energy Committee at CEIB, in his speech focused on the need to drop the restriction for companies that receive free emissions quotas to apply for projects with European funding. The need for changes to the Law on Oil Stocks and Oil Products, in relation to enterprises that import and store coke for their own consumption, was also indicated.
Minister Bogdan Bogdanov confirmed the importance of the priorities that AOBE has set - entry into the Eurozone, Schengen and OECD, as key to the improvement of the business environment in Bulgaria, expressing a desire for employer organizations to be actively involved in the communication campaign to increase the positive attitude among businesses for these purposes.
Minister Bogdanov highlighted several main issues and problems that will be a priority in his work, such as: strengthening the post-investment service for investors who have made investments in our market, reducing the administrative burden for businesses and reviewing and facilitating the procedures for joining or repairing an underground or overhead infrastructure of enterprises.
Improving the work of the Offices for Trade and Economic Affairs (OTEA) of Bulgaria abroad, by improving the personnel selection methodology, increasing the ranking of Bulgaria in the authoritative international rating rankings, as well as improving the regulation and providing incentive measures for investments in renewable energy sources (RES) for the production of electricity for own needs and installations for its storage, the same were indicated as priority activities for the ministry.
Minister Bogdanov gave a positive assessment of the effect of the compensatory mechanism for compensating high electricity prices. On his part, readiness to review and improve the procedures for importing personnel by borrowing the best practices was also confirmed.