Global economic deterioration and tight markets have hampered export assistance that state trade agency Bultrade was to provide to local firms, Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov told Dnevnik on June 18 2009.
 
The agency had to kick-start in January together with the national Industrial Zones enterprise.
 
A year ago, Dimitrov announced the Government strategy to encourage exports by 2013 by setting up 100 industrial areas across the country and trade missions abroad.
 
The Cabinet mapped out a plan to counter the downturn after the trade gap reached a formidable 2.5 billion leva in 2008. A year later, the measures have failed to get off the ground as shrinking imports narrowed the deficit to 1.6 billion leva in April 2009.
 
Dimitrov blamed the lack of experts and staff turnover for the delayed launch of the agency and brushed aside speculation that trade representation offices and embassies would reduce staff, a measure Hungary introduced yesterday to weather the storm.
 
The only stride the Cabinet could brag about was the allocation of 100 million leva of taxpayers' money to the national company to facilitate the construction of industrial zones infrastructure.
 
Dimitrov said the money would go to the first seven zones in Rousse, Vidin, Svilengrad, Plovdiv, Varna, Karlovo and Pleven.
 
However, opening seven zones a year is a rate too slow to attain its goal to have 100 industrial zones in 2013, experts said.
 
With elections for Parliament due on July 5 2009, it would be the next cabinet to decide on state subsidies to large investors who plough more than 50 million euro into the local economy, taking their cue from the UK and Germany, which back 50 per cent of top-priority investment projects, Dimitrov said.