In the first half of the year, exports of Bulgarian goods and services for third parties, i.e. for countries outside the European Union, dramatically decreased by as much as 12%. This may not sound particularly worrying, keeping in mind that Bulgarian foreign trade primarily targets EU countries. 59% of Bulgarian exports of goods and services go to the European Union, while 41% go to the rest of the world. The slight increase of less than 3% of exports to European countries, however, is not able to compensate for the decline of exports to third countries and trade balance of the country is negative.

 
Major trade partners of Bulgaria in the group of non-EU countries are Turkey, Singapore, Russia, China, Macedonia and Serbia. 54% of Bulgarian exports to third countries go there. But statistics show that Bulgaria’s southern neighbor Turkey bought 30% less Bulgarian goods in the first half of the year.  
 
What is the cause of the sharp decline in Bulgarian exports to third countries considering the fact that this group of countries was the least affected by the global financial and economic crisis? This means that the reason for the reduced demand for Bulgarian goods is not declining business activity of the trade partners.  
 
An important reason is the geographical and cultural distance between Bulgaria and most of these countries, as well as the lack of traditions and well-established business contacts. Structural analysis of Bulgarian exports on the other hand shows that entire sectors have marked losses in the first half of the year. Exports of food products and livestock have declined, as well as the exports of raw materials and fuels. The slight increase in exports of end-products and machines are not able to offset the decline in sales of those goods that are mostly imported by non-EU countries.  
 
Bulgaria has been paying a lot of efforts to reverse the negative trends in its foreign trade. One of the focuses of the authorities and business organizations is boosting relations with Arab countries and countries in the Middle East. There are special hopes for the vast Chinese market. So far, most of the initiatives in this direction remain at the level of intergovernmental meetings of committees, business delegations and participation in fairs and exhibitions. Tangible business results are still expected. Such results are becoming more urgently needed, keeping in mind the current economic situation in the EU is far from true economic recovery and growth, which for Bulgarian exporters means less demand for products offered by them. European markets are also very competitive and Bulgarian goods and services cannot always meet the requirements for quality, innovation and price.

English: Alexander Markov