Bulgaria, which joined the European Union on January 1, 2007, will need at least 100 years to catch up with the living standards of the Western European members of the bloc, according to a new survey. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)
Bulgaria will need at least 100 years to catch up with the living standards of the Western European members of EU, according to a new survey.
Researchers from the University of California, LA (UCLA) believe Bulgaria will be the slowest of all Eastern European EU members to bridge this gap, the survey shows, as cited by bbj.hu.
The survey forecasts that it will take Hungary 30-35 years, the Czech Republic 25 years, Romania 45-50 years and Slovenia only 5 years to reach Western Europe's levels.
The UCLA research shows that there has been USD 240 B worth capital coming to the CEE countries since 1989.