Doing business in Bulgaria from abroad

Doing business in Bulgaria has never been easier. Company incorporation as well as all possible forms of starting business in Bulgaria are entirely covered by the modern and sophisticated corporate legislation adopted by The Republic of Bulgaria which consisting of Codes, Acts, Ordinances, etc. Generally speaking, all available applicable laws in force allow miscellaneous commercial and other real life business activities under many various forms. The major and most important of the above mentioned and described acts that do regulate the entire complicated process of doing business in Bulgaria are the Constitution, the Commercial Code, and the Act on Contracts and Obligations. There also exist other acts and laws but they are applicable in specific cases – for example if some type of business requires licensing. Bulgarian economy is very liberal and licenses apply to a very limited number of business activities (for example weapons, gambling, etc.). read more

Trade Representative Office / Bulgarian Residence Permit

Bulgarian trade representative office registration

Residence permit in Bulgaria for trade representatives

Trade representative office in Bulgaria can be registered and operated by any foreign company according to Bulgarian legislation. Representative offices are different from branch offices. They can be used only for marketing and advertising of products or services of the mother company. They are not allowed to trade on their own account, any sales are made directly by the mother company, but they can hire staff and keep their own accounting records. All expenses for the maintenance of the representation are also covered by the mother company. read more

Financial license Bulgaria – regulation of financial institutions

Financial license in Bulgaria can be obtained quickly and at quite reasonable costs. Bulgarian financial institutions are governed by the Credit Institutions Act and in accordance with its Art. 3, a financial institution is a legal entity different from an institution or an industrial holding. Main activity of licensed financial institutions in Bulgaria is performing one or more of the following:

  1. Providing payment services under the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act;
  2. Issuing and administering other means of payment (travellers checks and letters of credit) as far as this activity is not covered by item 1;
  3. Financial leasing;
  4. Guarantee transactions;
  5. Trading on your own account or for account of customers in foreign currencies and precious metals with the exception of derivative financial instruments on foreign currency and precious metals;
  6. Currency brokerage;
  7. Acquisition of credit claims and other forms of financing (factoring, forfeiting, etc.);
  8. Issuing electronic money;
  9. Acquisition of shareholdings;
  10. Lending funds, that are not raised through public deposits or other repayable funds.

Financial institutions are subject to registration with BNB (Bulgarian National Bank) public register. A very important detail in this regard is that if there is a specific activity under a special law – the arrangements for licensing a Bulgarian financial institution are different. For example, a financial institution that issues electronic money should be registered and licensed under the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act. read more

Lawsuit in Bulgaria – claim, costs, timeframe, court judgment and appeal by civil or commercial litigation lawyer

The present article is an overview of the development of court cases (civil or commercial) in Bulgaria under the rules of the Civil Procedure Code – from the filing of an application in court (in person or through an authorized lawyer), through the collection of evidence and other actions, to the issuance of the judgment, its appeal, entry into force and the issuance of a writ of execution for the opening of an enforcement case before the bailiff.

Court proceedings before the competent Bulgarian court are initiated either by a statement of claim (in performance claims) or by an application (in non-contentious proceedings). The subject of this article are the lawsuits in which there are 2 parties (plaintiff and defendant) and one of them wins the case and the other loses it (unless the claim is partially granted or the case is terminated before a judgment is rendered). In protective proceedings, there is only 1 party (the petitioner) who asks the court to make a particular judgment. read more

Bulgarian citizenship by investment 2022 fast track options

Bulgarian citizenship by investment

Buy Bulgarian citizenship by investing in Bulgarian companies or mutual funds

Fast track Bulgarian citizenship

Following the 2021 amendments to the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act and the Bulgarian Citizenship Act, adopted by the National Assembly, Bulgaria offers new options for obtaining citizenship by investment. These amendments allow non-EU citizens to practically buy Bulgarian citizenship by investing in the economy of the country. Current legislation offers four different types of investment:

  1. Investment in shares of Bulgarian commercial companies traded on a regulated market or a multilateral trading system in the Republic of Bulgaria, at a market value of not less than BGN 2,000,000.
  2. Purchase of shares or stocks in collective investment schemes (mutual funds) originating in the Republic of Bulgaria, with a value of not less than BGN 1,000,000.
  3. Shares in alternative investment funds established in the Republic of Bulgaria with a value of not less than BGN 1,000,000.
  4. Contribution to the capital of a Bulgarian commercial company in the amount of not less than BGN 2,000,000 for a priority investment project in Bulgaria implemented by the company.

Any of the above investments grants directly Bulgarian residence permit to the investor and to their families (spouses and children under 18). A second investment at the same value during the second year from obtaining the residence permit grants citizenship. Thus, a non-EU citizen can get an EU permanent ID card for less than 6 months and an EU passport for two-three years. read more

Debt collection Bulgaria – debt recovery proceedings

Bulgarian debt collection proceedings is the final step for effective collection of business and personal debts and in most cases they are preceded by successful court litigation proceedings. Without this final step the rights implemented in a court judgment or a writ of execution cannot be materialized.

Bulgarian debt collection proceedings are not completely codified which unfortunately leaves many loopholes and opportunities for various legal interpretations. Debt recovery proceedings in Bulgaria are officially conducted by bailiffs (public or private enforcement agents). Debt collection agencies in Bulgaria could also help but in the end the role of a debt recovery lawyer is frequently most important. The regulations in force, especially of the registration of real estates, has many imperfections which can be used to sabotage the entire debt collection process. An experienced Bulgarian debt collection lawyer can undertake an investigation and carry out a number of researches in many different institutions with the aim of discovering all assets of the debtor. If the assets are not enough, sold or burdened, the solicitor can undertake specific legal actions for the return of sold or donated property back to the ownership of the debtor and thus they can be used to cover all amounts on the creditor’s writ of execution. read more

EU Laws & Cryptocurrencies – Trading Rules & Legislation

As of 2021, more and more European and world virtual currency traders choose Bulgaria for their headquarters of cryptocurrency business. There is still no law on virtual currencies based on blockchain technology, neither in Bulgaria, nor in the EU, nor in any other developed country, although cryptocurrency trading (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) has been flourishing for years. Supervisory authorities in various EU countries issue sporadic guidelines, recommendations and warnings, but this has nothing to do with creating a legally regulated framework for crypto trading to adhere to, let alone uniform legal requirements. read more

Registered address of Bulgarian companies – local business address of registration

Any Bulgarian company should have its own registered address. This is a local postal address in Bulgaria which is used for business, fiscal and other purposes. The registered address of a newly formed or existing Bulgarian company is probably one of the most important legal questions in the process of Bulgarian company setup.

The very first thing to mention in this relation is that from legal point of view there is no such legal term as ‘business address’. The official legal term, according to Bulgarian Commerce Law, is ‘seat and registered address’ but practically registered, business, fiscal, postal, etc. address in practice means one and the same thing.

The above mentioned local postal address is actually the company’s official business address. But what is the purpose of this official address one may ask? The main and maybe most important role is that this is the local address in Bulgaria where all official company correspondence is delivered. This is of utmost importance due to the fact that it may lead to monetary losses or even business closure. And here is one simple example in this relation – if someone, actually this could be anyone, is suing the company – all court summons are delivered to the official postal address of the Bulgarian company. And if there is no such company found at the address, then, according to Bulgarian laws, all papers are considered delivered and accepted and the company is not sought for the civil or commercial proceedings anymore. Which of course means that this company would bot for example be able to appoint a lawyer to defend its rights and best interest – and this in most cases leads to a lost case. And if it’s a big case then the company would suffer enormous losses and could even go bankrupt.

Having in mind the above, a common question of foreign businessmen who are living abroad is: Can I use the address of someone else in Bulgaria? And the answer is positive. There are companies in Bulgaria that offer registered address or even virtual office services. The first thing means that you are officially registering your company at the address in Bulgaria of a trusted person (e.g. lawyers, etc.) and then all correspondence is duly accepted by the authorized persons and then forwarded to the company owner/s or shareholder/s – usually scanned copies of the documents via e-mail over the Internet. The fee for this service varies but is usually in a very low amount, typically around 100 Euros per annum. The virtual office service is more expensive.

Private security company incorporation in Bulgaria

If you are considering opening a private security company in Bulgaria, you should know that this activity can be conducted only after obtaining a private security licence.

The definition of “private security activity”, the procedure for obtaining the licence and the necessary documents are specified in the Private Security Activity Act and the respective sub-legislation. Private security companies can provide any of the following services: physical security, security of individuals, protection of property, protection of events, protection of real estate, etc. It is important to note that if the company wants to provide more than one type of security services, it must have an explicit permit for each type of security activity separately. Security activities can be armed or unarmed. The company can be licenced to operate on the whole territory of Bulgaria or only within a specific area. Depending on the above listed options, the licensing fee is different. read more

Liquidation of a company in Bulgaria – winding up proceedings

Winding up a Bulgarian company (i.e. liquidation) is an option related to the growing financial and economic crisis as a result of the worldwide spread of COVID-19 virus and the difficulties many companies are currently experiencing which brings to the fore the question of voluntary company liquidation procedures. In 2020, many companies will face the only opportunity to cease operations because they will not be able to fulfil their obligations. Bulgarian Commercial Law provides for several possibilities for termination of a sole proprietorship or a limited liability company, the most commonly used of which is the voluntary liquidation of a Bulgarian company. read more