BCCI is issuing Force-Majeure Certificates to protect businesses

Further to the current pandemic situation caused by COVID-19 and the state of emergency declared by the Bulgarian Government since 13 March 2020, we would like to inform you that the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is issuing Force-Majeure Certificates in accordance with the international practice.

The Force-Majeure Certificate is a document for relieving of responsibility for failure to perform one’s obligations or delay in the performance of obligations under a transaction caused by some unpredictable circumstance.

The Force-Majeure Certificates are issued upon a request submitted in writing by a company that has fallen into the objective impossibility to fulfill its contractual obligations to foreign or Bulgarian partners on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria due to the numerous restrictions imposed and the state of emergency declared.

Documents issued by an independent organization proving indisputably the arisen force-majeure circumstances are to be enclosed to the application form.

The Force-Majeure Certificate should contain information about:

• the parties of the contract;
• Reference No ., date and place of conclusion of the contract;
• term of contract;
• defining the circumstances that have hindered or delayed its fulfillment, the place and time of their occurrence, their duration, other information useful for identifying the causation between them and the complete or partial non-execution of the obligations under the contract;
• the certificate should contain only the stated factual circumstances without their juridical assessment.

The Force-Majeure Certificate is printed on a form with the letterhead of the BCCI, in Bulgarian, English, French, German, Russian or any other foreign language at the request of the client. It is signed by an authorized representative of the BCCI and is stamped with the BCCI’s seal in Bulgarian or English.

By issuing Force-Majeure Certificates the Chamber assists the companies effectively and spares them the payment of penalties.

The Force-Majeure Certificates issued by BCCI are acknowledged internationally and are accepted as evidence by all international arbitration institutions.

Detailed information is available here: https://www.bcci.bg/tradereg-FMsertif-en.html

Tariff of rates of services (Art. 3, item 6)

For additional information and questions, please contact the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry:

Trade register and Membership Directorate
Phone: +359 2 8117 476, 8117 551, 987 88 84, 988 45 05
e-mail:  Z.Georgieva@bcci.bg,  R.Spassova@bcci.bg

International Relations and International Organizations Directorate
Phone: +359 2 8117 489
e-mail: interdpt@bcci.bg