Financial Times; Jan 15, 2002
By THEODOR TROEV
A touch of royalty and the institution of a new government dominated by young, western-educated technocrats have put Bulgaria on the business map and are drawing European, American and Middle East executives to this Balkan country. Radisson and Hilton have recently opened new hotels in Sofia, the capital.
The former king, Simeon II, recently became the world's first dethroned monarch to win back power through the ballot box to become prime minister. While living in exile in Madrid for several decades, Simeon Saxe-Coburg made a living as a businessman who sat on the boards of companies with interests in agriculture, industrial products, hotels and banking. He speaks eight languages and his government officials are recognised internationally as experts who can speak the language of business.
Mr Saxe-Coburg has attracted back to Bulgaria a number of successful, business-oriented expatriates. They include Nikolay Vassilev, 32, the economy minister, who worked in London as an emerging markets analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, and Milen Velchev, 35, the finance minister, who was vice-president of Merrill Lynch's emerging markets unit in London.
"It is much easier to communicate with these guys and to get no-nonsense answers," says a Greek investor who has settled in Sofia. He has been pleased by the new government's plans, such as to privatise remaining state assets quickly and to fight corruption.
"Until recently, most clerks would find a way to show you how they could 'personally' ease your way around the labyrinths of bureaucracy or help you to win a contract," says the investor. Such "personal offers" have diminished, he says.
The promise to root out corruption helped the former king to win the election in June last year. Mr Saxe-Coburg said his administration would bring in strict procedures and "one-stop shops" for processing new investment. These procedures have already been visible at the customs, where a new chief has cracked down on organised smuggling. He also plans that only one state agency - compared with the current seven - should check imports and exports at the border, to cut corruption and bureaucracy.
While driving into the country still takes longer at the borders compared with western Europe, arriving at Sofia airport is no longer a painful experience. The airport was recently modernised along European Union lines. No visa is required for EU citizens.
Many big European and Middle East airlines fly to Bulgaria. The country's own carrier, Balkan Airlines, ran into financial trouble and stopped operating for a few months last year but has now recovered some of its scheduled flights.
On arrival, buy supplies of duty-free drinks. Whisky is the business drink and you may find that getting closer to local partners requires some drinking sessions.
Sofia's newest hotels, the Radisson and the Hilton, both offer transport from the airport. They compete with the Sheraton Sofia for business travellers.
The newly built Hilton - with well equipped meeting halls, up-to-date business facilities and panoramic views - was where Mr Saxe-Coburg announced his policies during the election campaign. Last week he opened the country's first international tourism conference there.
The Radisson SAS, the refurbished former Grand Hotel Sofia, stands in the city centre, opposite the parliament and the Alexander Nevsky cathedral. It has its own touch of royalty: Jesper Larsen, the executive chef of its Alexander's Place restaurant, has been a cook to the Queen of Denmark. His European, South American and Asian dishes, combined with the best Bulgarian wines and served with style, make the restaurant a useful venue for formal business lunches and other events.
Other convenient features make the Radisson one of the favoured meeting places for the country's new administration and businesspeople. The less formal Flannagan's, an "Irish pub" next to the hotel's lobby and all government organisations are within five minutes' walk; the opera, theatres, museums and coffee shops are also within walking distance.
"In Sofia I feel (as if I'm) in a little Vienna - but with a Mediterranean touch of warmth, hospitality and joy of life," says a British businessman who has settled in Bulgaria. "I have managed to make real friendships with the local people and I do not feel a stranger here at all."
He, like most foreign residents, feels as secure as local businessmen do, as long as common sense is used - such as omitting to drive luxury cars along minor roads late at night. Driving carefully is essential at any time of day, as the number of road fatalities is high.
One of the foreign visitor's favourite places for short breaks with colleagues is Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second city, the Roman capital of Thrace under the name Trimontium. Some 120km by road from Sofia, it has an old quarter with picturesque houses from the 18th and 19th centuries and restaurants with local specialities.
Many business travellers visit Plovdiv for the twice-yearly week-long international trade fairs. One of the biggest events in Bulgaria's business calendar, it celebrates its 110th anniversary next year.
The autumn fair focuses on technical exhibitions in sectors such as electronics, information technology, electrical engineering, chemistry and medical equipment; the spring fair exhibits consumer goods.
The Novotel-Plovdiv is currently the only hotel in Plovdiv with both indoor and outdoor swimming-pools and has convenient conference facilities. Novotel-Plovdiv is the only 5-star hotel in the city. It is a franchisee of Accor Group and is the only hotel in the city with a central air-conditioning system and internet access in the rooms. Its conference halls are suitable for organising conferences, business meetings and presentations. The Novotel's Business Centre is equipped with facilities for word processing and sending and receiving faxes and has direct internet access.
For an authentic old town experience, the Hebros hotel is almost 200 years old, with appropriate furniture and atmosphere and a restaurant with a pleasant garden.
The recently privatised and refurbished Trimontium Princess hotel and casino is another choice for travellers seeking style. The Turkish investor, Sudi Ozkan, owner of the Princess hotel chain, has mixed Monte Carlo grandeur with the Oriental warmth of Plovdiv at the 45-year-old hotel.
*Title, abridged by the Editorial Staff of novinite.com and The News
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