It is much easier to establish a company in Bulgaria than in Russia
Bulgarian-Russian Business Forum in Moscow
“There is a positive tendency in the economic relations between Bulgaria and Russia.” With these words the business forum organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation was opened. The forum was held at the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow on the 7th April 2011. Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Mr. Ivo Marinov welcomed the participants and pointed out that Russia is a long-standing and very important trade partner of Bulgaria. Cooperation in the fields of energy production, tourism, construction and the food industry are only some of the opportunities for bilateral trade between the two countries.
The Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Mr. Georgii Petroff and the President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Tsvetan Simeonov outlined the possibilities for finding partners in the two countries and explained the activities of the two chambers in assistance to business. According to Mr. Simeonov, the main purpose of the chambers of commerce is to provide information, to facilitate the establishment of contacts between companies and to insist for the removal of barriers, mostly non-tariff barriers, which occur before companies.
The Russian Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises Support, which has signed a cooperation agreement with the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency, presented its services to the participants. The Executive Director of the Bulgarian Investment Agency, Mr. Borislav Stefanov provided an overview of the economic and investment climate.
Mr. Mihail Mikov, President of MKM Group which has been working on the Russian market for a long time, shared positive practices and gave very specific and useful pieces of advice to the participants in the event. A comparison between the two countries shows that it is much easier to establish a company in Bulgaria than in Russia. At the moment Russia has 18 % VAT, 20 % profit tax, 13 % income tax and 38 % social security tax. Besides, Russia has very strict licensing and certification regimes.
Representatives from various Russian regions took part in the forum and a lot of meetings on business and regional level were held.