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As you know, the economy is supply and demand. In Bulgaria, of course, there is hunger for capital and investments, and for large and extensive ones. When a foreign investor comes here, what will he receive? In Greece, there are some ecologists, other existing structures, which prevent an outside investor from entering. I do not mean just monopolies. As an agronomist I studied ecology, I cannot understand how ecology has turned into economics, social science and I do not know what other science. It is everything else except what it should be. An investor who enters Greece will face many problems: with the local authority, the church, with some structures which he is not familiar with. Likewise, if he comes to invest here in Bulgaria he will face similar problems, regardless of the specific organizations or structures that hamper the investing activities. Not only do we not offer demand, we also kill it. We still have very old Balkan notions of trade and development. We must break these outdated perceptions, this mesh, which prevents us from moving forward. We need to know in what direction we want to develop. And when we understand what we want, we can immediately offer something concrete to investors to attract foreign capital. Most major foreign investments in Bulgaria were not the result of any investment programme proposed by the Bulgarian state.

Does this mean that fiscal policy remains the only attractive thing that Bulgaria can offer to foreign capital to attract it?

There are other things such as cheap labour, but it is not as specialized as it was in the past. There is good administration as well. But the strongest and major advantage is that it is a tax haven. However, it should not remain Bulgaria’s only advantage because it is just one factor. Hunger exists in Greece, but it is not a tax haven. Note that a foreigner has to pay 50% in taxes, including a dividend tax in addition to the income tax, and there is an incredible bureaucracy.

Is this the reason why many Greek companies come to Bulgaria?

Yes, it is.

What do you think of this hydra, corruption? Is there a scenario in which to handle corruption in our two countries?

There is corruption everywhere. Everywhere! Ask Mr. Schäuble about Siemens and for the three submarines sold to Greece that could not sail.

There has been, there is, and there will be, corruption everywhere. Corruption is not the most important negative factor in an economy. It is important how this corruption seeks to develop, not as corruption but as penetration of capital in the economy. Allow me to say that, here in Bulgaria, there was much more corruption under socialism than there is now. Many people from the time of initial accumulation of capital in Bulgaria are now prominent businessmen. This is not a positive!

Are Bulgarians xenophobes? How do they accept a foreigner?

Sociologist Konstantinos Karavidas in 1924 concluded that our people, from the Balkan region, are the same in terms of culture, we just speak different languages. In his opinion, the mountaineer type is always stubborn, more suspicious, more closed to others, according to his criteria and ideas. In Greece, we have the same problem with xenophobia on the part of the same type of people. People who live on the coast are more open and the reason is not in climate but in trade relations. Trade always makes people more cosmopolitan.

I have heard a lot of things in Bulgaria, but I ignore them. You can hear the same things in Greece. The other Greeks who live here and I myself personally, we live very well, very normally and have no problems with our Bulgarian friends.

We often hear the argument that we, the people in the Balkans, are lazy, that we always avoid making an effort. Where does this argument stem from, is it true?

That is nonsense; it is something said by people who wrongly interpret statistics. We are not lazy! According to the statistics of hours worked per week, both Bulgarians and Greeks work the most across Europe, in terms of time. However, if one entirely trusts this indicator one will make a huge mistake. At least 12 different factors need to be analysed to properly assess productivity. So, let us put aside who is working hard and who is lazy, and see that people in Bulgaria work more than 48 hours a week, in Greece they work 42 hours a week. In both countries, the salary does not comply with working hours. Our problem is not that we are lazy but that we are not effective.

Is this why we are poorer compared to the rest of Europe?

A wrong notion of life in Europe is spread among us in the Balkans. In Europe, 80% of people do not have their own house. In Greece and Bulgaria, if you do not have your own house, you consider yourself as poor. About 60-65% of the huge salaries that we hear they receive in Western Europe go on the rent. This is the largest expense of a Western European family. The remaining money is spent on food, clothing and other everyday essential goods and services. A very small amount of the money goes on entertainment. In Bulgaria and Greece, we can live on sausages and deprive ourselves of other things but we drive expensive luxury cars into which we pour petrol for 10-20 lev. In Greece, the situation is similar, although at another level, at a little higher level, but in the same spirit. This is part of our culture. Everything is a matter of viewpoint. In Western Europe, they do not have their own houses or villas. The priorities are different.