Galery

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In a research the Greek National Institute reported that during the first 6 months of 2009 there is a drastic drop in goods export to Bulgaria and a decrease in direct investments. The data was taken from the economic and trade relations department in the Greek embassy in Sofia. According to the report of the institute the volume of bilateral trade for the first half of the year was €955.3 million. This is with 23.6% less in comparison to the same period in 2008, when a 37.6% increase in import/export and pure investments was recorded compared to the same period in 2007.

Greek export to Bulgaria has dropped with 30.5% (or €453 million) for the same period, when you keep in mind that during the first half of 2008 there was an increase of 25.8%. On the other hand Bulgarian export to Greece has dropped with 34% this year in comparison to the same period of 2008 when the percentage was 52.6. As a result of the drastic drop of Bulgarian export, Greece notes an increase in turnover, which accounts for €50.7 million in comparison to 33.1% from last year or €17.6 million difference for the two periods.

For the first six months of this year Bulgaria is number four in the Greek importers – 6.4% out of the whole volume the country exports. This is one step down since during the same period in 2008 Bulgaria was number three with 7.4%. The direct Greek investments in Bulgaria for the period January-June 2009 are valued to be €69.6 million, which drastically reflects the decrease in investments in comparison to the same period in 2008. Back then the value had reached €296.7 million or four times higher than the index now. (Data provided by the National Statistics Institute in Sofia).

Greece is third in Bulgaria’s list for country investors, right after Austria and Holland. The total amount of investments reaches €2 billion per year.