Bulgaria is among Europes most unattractive investment destinations, according to a research published by the IESE business school with the University of Navarra, in Spain.
Hungary was the best option for investors in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), followed closely by Slovenia, the Baltic states and Poland, the report was quoted as saying by the Bulgarian daily newspaper Dnevnik on October 9. Of the total of 26 positions, Bulgaria was 23rd, and only Romania, Slovakia and Greece were behind it.
The research paper, entitled "The Attractiveness of Central Eastern European Countries for Venture Capital and Private Equity Investors", was based on several key criteria, like investment opportunities, the size of each countrys economy, growth expectations, capital markets, taxes and entrepreneurial spirit of the local population. The authors considered the last criteria as the most important.
They came to the conclusion that as a whole CEE was a little less attractive to investors, compared to the older 15 member states of the European Union. The gross domestic product (GDP) in some of the new members is less than half of GDP in the so-called old Europe, the authors say, adding that decades would be needed to deal with such a discrepancy.
Some CEE states were better placed on the investment market compared to a few of the older EU members. Hungary and Slovenia are ahead of France, and the entire CEE region is ranked better than Spain and Italy.
Greece, which has been a European Community (later EU) member since 1981 was at the bottom of the table because of its poor management results, low capital market activity and unfavourable tax legislation.
