"KOOS, I've had enough of this country and I'm looking to move back to Holland"; the sombre sound of my young Dutch friend's voice cut straight through me. We had only seen each other very recently at the monthly Bulgarian-Dutch Business Drink and he was full of good spirit, eagerly awaiting the birth of his daughter who indeed showed her face to the world a few days later.

My friend, who asked to remain anonymous, is a young dynamic Dutchman who fell in love with both Bulgaria and his lovely wife. He is a trade expert in Bulgarian-Dutch relations and has brought several companies and individuals across Bulgaria's doorstep. His company, which he runs together with his wife and a few other expert partners, seems to be doing well and he has an excellent reputation in the community.

So what went wrong? In recent months his father, who commutes between the two countries, had a dispute with a wood-producing company from the Veliko Turnovo region over a relatively small amount of money (about 8000 leva). Not only was he not happy with the quality of a percentage of the products, the invoice was also not entirely correct. Anyway, instead of contacting the father, the Bulgarian producer thought it more prudent to get his hands on a local member of the family. He requested an appointment with my young friend, which was granted, and he showed up in Sofia. But surprisingly, he didn't arrive alone, but accompanied by four bodyguards the size of doors. My friend, who himself is a large man at 1.87m or so, actually had to look up at the gentlemen. As the meeting was supposed to be held in a friendly environment it was held at home and in front of his wife and baby.

The thugs immediately became threatening and when they were finally gone, left behind a totally shaken young family who just thanked God that no harm was done; although this was promised for a later date.

The whole affair only become worse after the Dutchman contacted a senior Sofia police officer who told him that he should report the incident and that they would take action if they showed up again. At the time of going to print, there was no further news on efforts to have the Bulgarian authorities take preventive action; this would give these people at least some sense of safety.

Since I became chairman of the Bulgarian-Dutch Business Club I have heard a lot of stories, both good and bad, about doing business in Bulgaria.

Another such story was told to me about six weeks ago by a friend of mine who recently spent a few years in this country as a consultant to the Saxe-Coburg government. According to this source there was recently a case of fraud committed by a Bulgarian meat trader against a Dutch meat exporter. The details of the case are at this time relevant only to the authorities and the legal system and when they go public I will gladly share them with you.

It suffices to say that the case involves about 1.25 million euro. What makes this case so interesting is that the Dutch company carries insurance with Lloyds of London and obviously their legal apparatus immediately jumped into action to start recovery of the losses. In any other country on this planet this would have been of grave concern to the accused party, but not here. The alleged culprit replied that he was the son of a former socialist minister and that that all their friends were in power again, so it would be dangerous for any Bulgarian lawyer to represent foreign interests against himself or his company.

To illustrate his powers within the borders of Bulgaria, the man bragged that he was able to bring any amount of beef from any country around the world through Bulgarian customs without any paperwork. Of course Lloyds will continue their legal procedures and hope for the best.

What I find upsetting in all this, is that I am lately hearing more of these stories, rather than less. 

Also read: www.koosschouten.com