Let’s compare numbers. On one hand we have EUR 1.7 bln., on the other – EUR 1.2 bln. The first one shows how much money Bulgarian emigrants sent to this country in 2013, the second points out the amount of direct foreign investments. Emigrants win. I.e. Bulgarians abroad remain the biggest investors in our economy. This data come from the Institute for Economy with the BAS. Those cannot be argued, because we will compare numbers again. The first one is 2.5 mln., the second – 2.2 mln. The first one is for those, employed abroad, while the second – for those, employed in Bulgaria. The difference is obvious once again. So, it turns out that Bulgarians abroad enliven our economy in times, when foreign investments are reduced.

Many Bulgarian villages are now empty, with only a few old men remaining there, as the season for working abroad is now open. Lots of people from such places go to Greece, Spain, England and Holland for seasoned work and will return with the autumn. A spring wave of some 50,000 Bulgarians takes off to Greece each year. The number of Bulgarian emigrants across the Northern Mediterranean exceeds 500,000 people.

The emigration issue has been commented many times. However, today we will try to see its other side, or what the profit for our economy is. A Bulgarian MP stated a few days ago that emigrants send about EUR 3 bln. each year to their relatives here. This is unofficial data, because most of them use different channels for the transfers. Otherwise the official info of BNB is about EUR 806 mln. for 2013. “It is not very clear how close to reality this method is,” Industry Watch’s economy expert Krasen Yotov comments for RB: “There are other channels, untouchable by official statistics and the data is lowered.” A part of the Bulgarians, working abroad save money and do not send it constantly here. No matter the manner, this money creates some added value, one way or another. Perhaps not the one we’d wanted, but it is for sure somehow beneficial to the economy.

“The influx of foreign money is significant, maybe 7 – 8 percent of GDP,” Krasen Yotov says. “Bulgarian emigrants very often send money from abroad to their relatives, living in areas with higher unemployment rates, who actually rely on it only. The effect is even bigger, as the money practically goes to those, who need it the most. This is beneficial to areas with lower incomes and higher unemployment rates that produce the greatest percentage of economic emigrants.”

At the same time Bulgarian economy loses a lot with these 2.5 mln. Bulgarians working abroad.

“The greatest loss marked is the fact that a large number of highly skilled individuals emigrate,” Krasem Yotov goes on to say. “This can be felt really well at the labor market, since unemployment is mainly among people with middle and lower qualification. Unemployment rates are really low with highly skilled persons. This comes to show that the Bulgarian economy can hardly attract foreign investments, because it is limited in manpower. The loss is smallest for Sofia, where almost the entire domestic migration inflows, but a deficit of young people can be felt in most other towns. A vicious circle occurs, because companies prefer to invest in regions, where qualified manpower is found more easily. Hence for the economic gap between different regions.”

Bulgaria has funded West Europe with EUR 1.5 bln. via the emigration of university graduates during the transition years. Famous jurist Prof. Ivan Todorov has estimated that a student in medicine here is paid by the state, while foreign students give at least EUR 8,000 per year for that study. Upon graduation, the new doctor emigrates and becomes a doctor in Germany or GB. Thus Bulgaria’s investment to the tune of EUR 48,000 goes to the West. At least 90,000 software engineers, doctors, engineers, pharmacists, chemists and geophysicists have emigrated at a market price of Bulgarian education of EUR 1.35 bln. When one adds nurses, paramedics and others, the overall sum exceeds EUR 1.5 bln.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev