The state of emergency declared in Bulgaria last Friday over the outbreak of the new coronavirus has been quite flexible and soft until now. People are still allowed to travel, go to work and do shopping. Retail trade has suffered slight damages due to the closure of shops in the big shopping centers, but most small food stores are still working. Huge crowds of people flooded the big retail chains shortly after a state of emergency was declared in Bulgaria, but now the situation is back to normal, although some food shelves are still empty or half-empty. Other businesses are still waiting to see what will happen and many companies do not know what to do next, but overall feelings are bad.

At this point Bulgaria is among the least affected countries by COVID-19, the Chief State Health Inspector Dr. Angel Kunchev contends. New rules have been introduced during the state of emergency and they concern the business as well. Bulgaria’s tourism, transport, hotel keeping, restaurant business and entertainment business are the most affected sectors of the national economy. However, experts contend that we are only in the beginning of the crisis and no one can forecast how the situation will develop further. The state authorities together with the Bulgarian business are discussing different scenarios and they share similar opinions how this country should act during the crisis.

This was also proven at the meeting between the Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and the employers' organizations. Bans, sanctions and penalties are not enough to deal with the crisis, President Rumen Radev commented at the meeting. Bulgaria’s authorities need to adopt a set of measures in support of the Bulgarian business, which has already incurred losses, President Radev contends. The state cannot survive without its business, Rumen Radev went on to say. The President of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association Vasil Velev said in return that the authorities must take non-symbolic measures. The companies affected by the COVID-19 crisis and the employees who will not receive their salaries must receive financial compensations from the state, because the damages for economic crisis will be greater than the damages for medical reasons. Radosvet Radev who is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Industrial Association insisted that the state must show its correctness and pay all obligations under various programmes and public procurement orders. Another meeting was held yesterday between Bulgaria’s Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov, Bulgaria’s Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov, the Bulgarian business and labor unions. The parties agreed that the fiscal measures cannot replace the business and a balance between the measures for social distance and the real economic and trade activities has to be stricken. The capital of the Bulgarian Development Bank will be raised with EUR 250 million and the bank will have enough financial resource to support the companies if necessary which will keep the industry going and will reduce the number of redundancies in the companies.

This well intentioned dialogue causes admirations only and expectations that it will continue in the same spirit in the future. Most people believe that the future does not look bright at all and the economy has a vital role in the whole process. The EU has promised to allot EUR 812 million to Bulgaria to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus crisis. This money may play a key role in this process as well. Besides, Bulgaria still has to adopt EUR 546 million under EU structural and investment funds after the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative was announced.

According to previous economic forecasts, in 2020 Bulgaria had to register economic growth for another consecutive year. However, it is very likely to fall in recession, like many other European countries after the COVID-19 crisis. Then, the Bulgarian government will have to freeze, postpone or merely suspend a series of public investment projects, which had to allot more money to the private business and create new and well-paid jobs.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov