Bulgaria's trade with Germany was EUR 5.3 B in 2013, an unprecedented amount for the last 24 years, according to data published Wednesday.

Exports to Germany have also surpassed imports to Bulgaria for the first time since the two states established bilateral relations.

Further investment into Bulgaria could however be hindered by the country's low ranking in "both professional and academic education", by the "ineffective public governance, weak legal system, opacity of public procurement and lack of reforms in education", factors which are harmful to the business environment, as Mitko Vasilev, head of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, was quoted as saying by the Bulgarian National Radio.

Vasilev argued it was German investors that mainly contributed to the positive results for 2013.

Jorg Solfelner, who presides over the Energy Council with the Chamber, also reminded Bulgaria lagged behind its European partners in terms of risks to business activity, being last despite law amedments adopted "nearly every month" which Solfelner considers "positive" developments.