Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traicho Traikov has said that the country will not emerge unscathed from the economic downturn.

"Bulgaria is not an island, but a ship, which depends on sea conditions for sailing. Therefore the country will be affected, if a new wave of economic deterioration strikes", Traikov said in a Thursday interview for state-owned TV channel BNT.

He stressed, however, that the global economic situation had registered a slight improvement in the past few weeks.

Traikov argued that the sectors generating a high added value and deploying innovations and intellectual labor fared well in times of crisis, adding that these spheres were of key importance for Bulgaria's economy.  

The minister emphasized that Bulgaria was a very open economy, with export accounting for 45% of the gross domestic product (GDP), compared to India, for instance, where export represented less than 20% of the GDP.

He also said that the legal proceedings between Bulgaria's state-owned power utility NEK and Atomstroyexport amplified the risk for the Belene NPP project, making the search for investors increasingly difficult.

Regarding the Lukoil license saga and the pending results of the probe of Bulgaria's anti-trust watchdog, he stated that "if the commission's track record is anything to go by, a year is a timeframe which sound realistic".

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