Dynamics of trade with Spain

Alexey Andreev, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Kingdom of Spain, visited the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He discussed with the President of BCCI Tsvetan Simeonov the trade, economic and investment relations between the two countries in the context of the pandemic.

According to information of the Ministry of Economy, in the period January - September 2020 the trade between Bulgaria and Spain amounted to EUR 902.9 million and decreased by 44.2%. Exports to Spain dropped by 23.7% and accounted for 2.4% of Bulgaria’s total exports. Imports decreased by 57.4% and had a share of 1.9%. For the first time in ten years, the trade balance was positive for Bulgaria (EUR 30 million).

Despite the negative results in bilateral trade, Spain ranks 11^th in terms of exports and 15^th in terms of imports among Bulgaria’s trading partners.

According to BNB data, foreign direct investment from Spain to Bulgaria as of 1 October 2020 amounted to EUR 1.1619 billion. In 2019, the flow of foreign direct investment from Spain to Bulgaria was EUR 35.8 million.

Tsvetan Simeonov and Ambassador Andreev discussed the difficult economic situation in Europe, outlining concrete steps to facilitate relations between companies from Bulgaria and Spain. Ambassador Andreev will include in his program a visit to the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation of Spain, and the BCCI will organize virtual events with its partners in Spain to inform businesses in detail about the new situation. Spain is in a state of emergency until 9 May 2021 and the measures are dynamic.

Alexey Andreev got acquainted with the information databases of the BCCI and an even stronger exchange of information was agreed with the Embassy of Bulgaria in Madrid and the Bulgarian Commercial and Economic Section there.