Borissov and Petkov pledge extra resources for culture and cyber security
The leaders of GERB and WCC-DB, Boyko Borissov and Kiril Petkov, told journalists in parliament that they have reached an agreement with Finance Minister Assen Vassilev to boost funding for a number of sectors, among them culture, healthcare, education, and security.
The two leaders, who seem to be cooperating on several issues recently, said this expenditure was vital but not too costly, and so would not impinge drastically on the budget. Petkov pledged that the budget would remain with a deficit of 3%, as it includes possibilities for maneuvering, such as "the record capital expenditure of more than 10 billion levs".
ABEE to invest 2 billion levs locally
Belgian Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering (ABEE) plans to invest more than 2 billion levs in a large-scale project for the production of batteries for electric cars in Bulgaria. The company intends to build a gigafactory, recycling power and R&D center in three locations - respectively Stara Zagora, Burgas and Plovdiv.
If the plans come to fruition, which are expected in the next 3 to 5 years, it will be the largest one-time industrial investment in the country. The government has committed to providing the maximum allowable state aid for the project, which was defined as strategic.
The only slight surprise is that it does not come from a top global producer in the sector, but from a fledgling Belgian company that just recently made a similarly ambitious announcement in Romania.
Tech growth is slacking in Bulgaria
Revenue growth of Bulgarian outsourced services is slowing to judge from results for 2022 and, especially, 2023, commented Iliya Krastev, chairman of the Association for Innovations, Business Services and Technologies (AIBEST).
The sector covers a total of 802 Bulgarian companies, 360 of which deal with outsourced services, 416 in the IT sector. More than half of outsourcing companies are majority owned by foreign companies. There are 104,690 people employed in them, and the largest number of them - 62,778 - are in IT companies.
In total, these companies contribute 5.8% of Bulgaria's GDP in 2022, and the forecast is that their share in the country's economy will rise to 9.2% in 2025. However, Krastev, speaking during a presentation of the annual report on the sector, stressed that to achieve this companies' revenues must grow more than they have in recent years. This comes despite the growth of this industry - on average about 16% annually - being among the highest.
Borissov and Petkov pledge extra resources for culture and cyber security
The leaders of GERB and WCC-DB, Boyko Borissov and Kiril Petkov, told journalists in parliament that they have reached an agreement with Finance Minister Assen Vassilev to boost funding for a number of sectors, among them culture, healthcare, education, and security.
