Italy exports to Bulgaria three times more than the volumes imported in Bulgaria from China. This was said by Andrea Casini, COO of UniCredit Bulbank, at the conference “Bulgaria and Italy: Building Together”, hosted by Confindustria Bulgaria. Italy is the third largest trade partner of Bulgaria after Germany and Russia. The export of Italian companies to Bulgaria for the last year equals 1.9 billion euro. For comparison the export of China to Bulgaria is 648 million euro for 2013.

The Italian businesses import to Bulgaria most of all textile and leather products, various machines and equipment, consumer goods, metals and construction materials.

Italy ranks also as one of the big investors in Bulgaria with nearly 2 billion euro of foreign direct investments. In the banking and insurance sector investments reach 600 million euro, the investments in the energy and textile sectors are of 300 million euro each, shows an analysis of Confindustria Bulgaria.

“The infrastructure sector is essential for the Bulgarian economy and it is expected to change a lot in the forthcoming years”, commented Andrea Casini. He pointed out that the big niche for business development in this sector is due to the need for improvement of the transport, communication and energy infrastructure of the country as well as the opportunities presented by the EU funds.

Representatives of the Italian business were informed also of the opportunities for investment in Bulgaria in the energy sector and especially in projects for biomass, small hydro power plants and solar plants. UniCredit Bulbank can support the Italian business not only by identifying potential projects but also by preparing an investment plan and its financing.

The real estate market in Bulgaria is also of interest to Italian companies. Further to an improvement in the sentiment of investors, it is due also to the stable rent levels and the lower prices of properties and building maintenance costs.

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