Bulgarians Too Faithless for Business Start-Ups - Trade Union

Banks in Bulgaria continue to record steady growth in savings, because Bulgarians believe in nothing anymore and steer clear from investments, a trade unionist has said.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises are going through very difficult times. People prefer to stash their money in banks rather than invest them in starting new businesses and developing SMEs," Konstantin Trenchev, leader of Podkrepa trade union, told Nova TV.

"It is true that our taxes are low, but it is also true that investors stay away from Bulgaria, to the contrary of what Finance Minister Djankov claims. We should strive to create permanent jobs. This can happen when the economy develops in a sustainable way and there are friendly conditions for doing business. But I do not see that," said Trenchev.

After five years of EU membership the majority of Bulgarians feel as miserable as during the banking crisis in 1996-1997 when many lost their savings, according to opposition parties.

Meanwhile analysts forecast that Bulgaria's economy will stagnate this year before returning to 2%-3% expansion.

To boost growth rates to 3% to 4% during the next decade, the government must attract investment by cutting bureaucracy and corruption, they say.

Bulgaria's gross domestic product marked an anemic growth of 0,4% (2010), 1,7% (2011) and 0,5% (2012) in the wake of the slump in the euro zone, but growth below 3% does not sustain the employment rate and is practically stagnation, according to experts' estimates.