Go East advises UKTI

NORTH West businesses are being encouraged to seek new markets in Bulgaria.

UK investment into the east European country – driven by property and construction – has halved in the past year as the recession has started to bite.

But the government’s foreign trade body UKTI is promoting the country as a source of lucrative infrastructure contracts.

Speaking at the Manchester office of law firm Eversheds, Britain’s ambassador to Bulgaria Steve Williams, pictured below, said the country was in line for £12.6bn euros from EU structural and cohesion funds to help it integrate into the European community.

This means significant energy, infrastructure and utility contracts will be up for grabs in the coming years.

Bulgaria is looking to the engineering expertise of the UK but also wants its administrative skills to help run extensive public private partnership schemes.

Warrington-based United Utilities is already running a 25-year water and waste water contract in the country.

Mr Williams said the country had enjoyed a stable economy for the past decade and had become a “beacon of economic growth and stability” with 6% growth. This has since faltered but the country is not in recession.

The country’s main weakness is its high current account deficit, running at 24% of GDP. Inflation is also high at 10% and Bulgaria has problems with organised crime and corruption.

Mr Williams said: “There is a problem with crime and the weak judiciary and these are important ambient risks that companies need to be aware of when they’re doing business in Bulgaria.

“Part of our job is to help companies to better assess these risks and work out the best way of managing them.”