“How can we help the business? By not creating obstacles,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski said at the ceremony for giving the Investor of the Year 2013 Award. German company for electric equipment ABB grabbed the prize. The company has been investing for years in this country and has 4 production facilities. This has been the 8th edition of the awards, organized by the Bulgarian Investment Agency.

A total of 16 more companies out of 50 nominations in various sectors received recognition. Bulgarian and foreign investors from Germany, France, Italy, US, Switzerland received prizes. The companies have invested in automotive industry, information technologies, tourism, food industry, electronics, and chemical industry. The winners were selected according to several criteria. Among them were the amount of investments, number of opened jobs, potential for future growth and positive effect on the economic situation in a given region.

“When I asked a businessman how we could help the business he said we should interfere less. I am trying to follow this piece of advice and reduce administrative burden. All the rest is up to one’s entrepreneurship, risk-taking abilities and innovation. With joint efforts we could change economic trends and report successes next year,” Prime Minister Oresharski said

The annual Investor of the Year Award is a professional recognition for Bulgarian and foreign investors, who chose this country to do business. These entrepreneurs give their contribution for the development of Bulgarian economy.

“Interest towards Bulgaria is truly big,” Minister of Economy Dragomir Stoynev says. “It is important for us to be an attractive destination for foreign investors. What we need is pragmatic dialogue because stability and foreseeable future is important. Our policy should not focus on the banking and financial sector only but on real economy, too, because it creates jobs. When a job is create d in industry, this leads to a number of positive changes in other sectors. It is important for us to make changes to the Investment Law. We want everyone who wants to invest in Bulgaria to know there is administration ready to help and not to create obstacles. I think we are on the correct road now,” the Minister said in conclusion.

English version: Alexander Markov