Christine Milner: It Gets Easier to Do Business in Bulgaria

Novinite Insider » INTERVIEW | October 15, 2002, Tuesday // 00:00

Christine Milner is the managing director of The Sofia Echo, a weekly English-language newspaper published in Bulgaria. The goal of the newspaper (founded in April 1997) and its website is to provide a source of information on Bulgaria for those living in the country, or those living abroad with an interest in it. Christine Milner is born in the UK but she has lived in Bulgaria long enough to know the country and the people profoundly. Except an excellent Bulgarian, she speaks also German, Russian and French.

Christine Milner answered questions of Milena Dinkova.

Q: What made you choose to work in Bulgaria?

A: I came to Bulgaria in the summers of 1991 and 1992 on Bulgarian-language seminars organized by Sofia University - I was studying Russian and German at Leeds University, where there was an optional course in Bulgarian. I graduated in 1992 and planned on spending a year out here before going back to the UK to get a ‘proper' job. Everyone laughed at me and said I'd end up marrying a shepherd and living on a hill (that's what people thought about Bulgaria then). And here I am ten years later, married but not living on a hill.

Q: What does it take to run a business in Bulgaria?

A: You have to be brave enough to set up your own business in the first place, but I think that's probably true wherever you do it. You have to be tough and assertive because not everyone does ethical business, and revenue collection can be a real nightmare. If you're a foreigner doing business here you have to understand that cultural differences can lead to frustration and unnecessary conflict, its much better to try to be tolerant. Speaking good Bulgarian helps in my case. Otherwise, I think the most important thing is to be able to spot the right staff and to treat them properly so they stay with you and don't take everything you've taught them to another employer. Your employees are the ones that make or break your business, and there are some excellent young people out there. What they often lack is the practical knowledge of how to behave in an office environment and how to interact with their colleagues and clients.

Q: Do you think an English-language daily newspaper could gain a stable position in Bulgaria?

A: No not now, and maybe never. If you look at Prague or Warsaw, where there are far more expats, the English-language newspapers are weekly too. The expat community here is too small to justify the expenses a daily newspaper entails, and there's not enough advertising spend around to support it. You have to write your articles in a different way for an expat audience and that means having a large staff. You can't just translate the Bulgarian news. There are several daily email bulletins now, including your own novinite.com and our The Sofia Independent, which are sufficient for a foreign business person's daily needs. I'm not even sure a lot of the foreigners working here would have the time to bother reading a daily newspaper. It's an awful lot easier to go to a website and scan through the headlines to see what interests you than to have to leaf through an inky broadsheet. That's why The Sofia Echo is a weekend newspaper and also why our latest publication, In Business, is monthly.

Q: What media phenomena of the West are yet to come to Bulgaria?

A: The only thing that springs to mind is that there are no electronic newspaper kiosks in Bulgaria yet.

Q: Do you think the business climate in the country is going to change soon?

A: The business climate is in a constant state of flux. It has changed a lot over the 10 years I've been here and will carry on doing so. If you mean do I think we're suddenly going to become very rich, then I guess not. But it gets easier to do business here all the time and that can only be a good thing. I think that if someone has managed to hang on in there so far, then they can expect to start reaping the rewards in the years to come.

Q: What policies do you think are likely to attract foreign investment?

A: I would say the most important policy is a consistent one. I also think the government doesn't pay enough attention to encouraging a lively SME sector. It's still not a very attractive market for SMEs and the government seems to concentrate mostly on attracting the big multinationals.

Q: What kind of international image should Bulgaria aim at?

A: Bulgaria has to show that it's a modern European country, not just a cheap tourist destination. If people have heard about it at all, then it is for cheap package tours, wine and folk songs, which really makes it sound as if everyone is either always lounging around on the beach or drunk. And that's definitely not the case. It may seem like an impossible task but Bulgaria needs to style itself as a flexible business partner with a solid work ethic.

Q: What is the attitude of resident English-speakers to Bulgaria?

A: Most expats really enjoy their time in Bulgaria, and many of them apply for extensions to their contracts so they can stay longer. They can enjoy a good standard of living here, and it's really quite a safe country. Little things are important, like being able to drive to work in 10 minutes instead of one or two hours, or having help around the home. And of course, Bulgarians are very open to foreigners and that's what makes you love a country. Almost everyone we profile in our ‘Expat of the Week' column is positive about the country and the Bulgarian people.

Q: What do you think is the best about Bulgaria and what is the worst?

A: For me Bulgarian people are the best and the worst thing. I love my Bulgarian friends, they're so down to earth, frank and funny and they deal with all the problems that life here offers up marvelously. And yet compare that with the stony-faced bureaucrats in the municipal tax authority or the drivers who try to run you down on the pedestrian crossing. The ironic thing is that these are one and the same person in two different guises. Reconciling these two extremes is probably the most difficult thing for a foreigner living here.

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