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The 2024 amendments to the Investment Promotion Act (Закон за насърчаване на инвестициите) introduce Chapter Three "a" — a national authorisation regime for foreign direct investment, structured as Bulgaria's transposition of the cooperation obligations under EU Regulation 2019/452 and aligning Sofia with the 25 EU Member States that operate national screening regimes.
Institutional architecture. Decision-making is vested in an Interdepartmental Screening Council (Междуведомствен съвет за разглеждане на чуждестранните инвестиции) chaired through the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, with sectoral representation drawn from the ministries covering defence, interior, energy, transport, finance, foreign affairs, and the State Agency for National Security (DANS). The Council issues binding decisions within 45 working days of a complete notification — granting permission, imposing mitigation conditions, or prohibiting the investment.
Triggers. The regime captures non-EU investors acquiring at least 10 % equity or committing at least €2 million in a Bulgarian undertaking active in the protected sectors enumerated in Article 4 of EU Reg 2019/452 — critical infrastructure (energy, transport, water, health, communications, data, aerospace, defence, electoral, financial infrastructure, sensitive facilities), critical raw materials inputs, dual-use items, AI/quantum/semiconductors/biotech, cybersecurity, media freedom, and personal-data processing. The thresholds are eliminated entirely (mandatory notification at any size) where (i) the investor is Russian or Belarusian, (ii) the transaction touches oil or petroleum products, (iii) a third-country state holds direct/indirect equity or significant financing exposure to the investor, or (iv) the Council determines national-security or public-order risks regardless of size.
Enforcement. Closing without authorisation or providing false information carries an administrative fine of 5 % of the investment value with a BGN 50,000 floor (≈ €25,500). The Council also retains power to compel divestiture or impose conditions on already-completed transactions if non-notification or material misstatement is later detected.
horizontal FDI screening tool; pairs operationally with the EU-level cooperation mechanism under Reg 2019/452 (and the pending revised regulation reaching political agreement in Dec 2025).
routing through Bulgaria — the zero-threshold trigger is a meaningful step beyond the EU baseline and operates effectively as a sectoral sanctions adjunct.
Bulgarian critical-infrastructure assets (port concessions on the Black Sea, electricity-grid interconnectors, gas storage at Chiren, Kozloduy ancillary supply chains) — the "third-country state stake or financing" prong makes opaque-ownership transactions notifiable at any size.
amended in May 2025 to add the FDI screening application annex, closing the procedural gap.
annual FDI screening report comparable to those of Germany (BMWK) or France (DG Trésor); the EU Commission's Reg 2019/452 annual cooperation report will eventually surface aggregate notification volumes.
promotional regime — whether class-A/B/Priority certificate holders receive any pre-clearance preference is undocumented in the statute.
parents — the standard EU question on "ultimate beneficial control" thresholds is not explicitly resolved in the published Bulgarian text.