Bulgaria Lags in Absorbing EU Funds, Risking Losses and Growing Debt
Bulgaria is falling behind in its utilization of European Union funds
A total of 3.6% of enterprises in Bulgaria use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, according to data from a study by the National Statistical Institute.
More often this happens in large companies with more than 250 employees (13.8%). The share of medium-sized enterprises (with between 50 and 249 employees) that work with artificial intelligence is 5.5 percent, and among smaller ones only 3% use this technology.
In 2023, 96.3% of non-financial enterprises with 10 or more employees have access to the Internet. 89.2% of enterprises have a fixed Internet connection, and in 46.6% the maximum data download speed is higher than 100 Mbps, statistics show.
The relative share of workers to whom the employer has provided access to the Internet is 39.7%. The global network is most widely used in companies from the "Creation and dissemination of information and creative products; telecommunications" sector (92.2%), and the least - in the manufacturing industry (25.5%).
Every second company (50.4%) has its own website, which is most often used to describe the offered goods and services and price information (37.9%).
In 2023, 38.0% of businesses use various types of social media to grow their business and expand their web presence. The most popular are social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Yammer, Viadeo, etc.), in which 37.2% of enterprises maintain their profile, followed by websites and multimedia sharing applications such as YouTube and Instagram - 13.2%.
In 2023, 21.7% of enterprises use ERP software. The share of companies that have a customer relationship management (CRM) application is smaller - 10.5%, as well as those using business intelligence (BI) software - 4.2%.
The practice of hiring workers without formal employment contracts remains a widespread violation of labor and social security laws in Bulgaria
Preparations for Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone are well underway, despite the exact timeline remaining uncertain
Bulgaria is on the verge of meeting the inflation criterion
The Ukrainian parliament has approved the purchase of two Russian nuclear reactors that were originally intended for the Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Bulgaria
Wizz Air has resumed its flights from Sofia to Tel Aviv
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has significantly increased its investments in Bulgaria for 2024
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