In recent years, procedures for starting a business in Bulgaria have been simplified, the tax burden has been reduced, access to credit is easier and the cost of importing and exporting goods has decreased, according to a report published by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

The report, entitled Doing Business 2007 - How to Reform, ranks Bulgaria 54th among 175 countries in terms of doing business. This means that Bulgaria has moved five places up compared to last year’s ranking.

Rating the ease of doing business, the report said that starting a business, dealing with licences, employing workers, registering property and getting credit all had improved. However, in its assessment of the protection of investors, it recorded no change.

It said that entrepreneurs could expect to go through nine steps to launch a business, over 32 days on average, at a cost equivalent to 7.9 per cent of gross national income (GNI) per capital. As to getting licences, the report said that it took 22 steps and 226 days to complete the process.

Assessing the issue of employing and dismissing workers, the report rated countries according to an index of 0 to 100, with higher numbers representing a higher degree of difficulty. In “difficulty of hiring” Bulgaria rated 50 compared to a regional average of 34.2 while the “difficulty of firing” was 10 compared to a regional average of 37.1.

In Bulgaria, according to the report, it took nine steps and 19 days for a business to secure rights to property.

As to paying tax, entrepreneurs need, in a year, to make 27 payments, spend 616 hours, and pay 40.74 per cent of gross profit in taxes.

The report characterised Bulgaria as having a “lower middle income” income category with a GNI per capita of $3 450.

Commenting on this and another World Bank report, the Government media office said that the anticorruption reform being carried out by the Government was improving the business climate in Bulgaria.
“The country’s willingness to join the EU in 2007 helps it to better motivate the reforms and their implementation results in the reduction of corruption.”

The findings in the two reports further motivated the Government to make efforts towards the successful accession of Bulgaria to the EU and for the introduction of European criteria in all areas of the political and economic life, said Economy Minister Roumen Ovcharov.

He said that economic growth, the fight against corruption on all levels, the partnership with business and the rise in income are not an external but a domestic policy.

Ovcharov said that achieving equality for all economic entities and the elimination of long-lasting corruption relating to state-owned property were not an easy task.

The World Bank director for Europe and Central Asia, Cheryl Gray, said that progress against corruption enabled the improvement of Bulgaria’s business environment.

The report on Anticorruption in Transition - Who is Succeeding and Why? says that the country has recorded serious progress in its anticorruption reform. The will to meet European standards is a serious impetus for the improvement of the public sector management.

Companies polled for the report confirmed that there had been a reduction of embezzlement in a number of areas - customs, tax administration, etc. They shared the opinion that the merger of the collection of taxes and insurances had restricted corruption, according to the report.

Interior Minister Roumen Petkov, who chairs the Cabinet Committee on Prevention and Countering of Corruption saiid that the good co-operation among various institutions in recent years had produced results.

“This co-operation illustrates the will of the state as a whole and of state institutions to establish and pursue a common policy against corruption. I think that this is a very important step, because it shows to society that this is not a matter of the work of a certain ministry of agency, but what is important is state policy in the combat against corruption,” Petkov said.