site.btaUPDATED Prime Minister: Bulgaria Has Several Successful Models to Be Used for Regional Cooperation Process

In recent years Bulgaria has shown several extremely successful models which can be developed and included in the process of regional cooperation, said Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov here Tuesday at the Fourth Sofia Economic Forum. He mentioned as an example the Trakia Economic Zone. "An achievement of the private initiative in Bulgaria, which has shown that under the right conditions, with the right management, we can attract leading European and world companies and build a synergy between them that will be an example for the whole region," Denkov explained.

The Sofia Economic Forum is a high-level meeting of influential Bulgarian and international political, corporate, and intellectual leaders aiming to address pressing challenges currently facing Bulgaria, Europe and the world.

The participants are discussing the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Bulgaria’s geopolitical standing (with the participation of former President Rosen Plevneliev, US Ambassador Kenneth Merten, German Ambassador Irene Plank, Austrian Ambassador Andrea Ikic-Böhm, Ukrainian Ambassador Olesya Ilashchuk, Solomon Passy, Founding President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria); the EU enlargement of the Western Balkans (with EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who addressed the meeting via video message, Greek Ambassador Alexios Marios Lyberopoulos, Sofia Security Forum President Yordan Bozhilov, etc.; Economic cooperation and prospects for Southeast Europe (with Lazar Comanescu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and Elena Poptodorova, Vice President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria; The banking sector and green financing (with Lilyana Pavlova, Vice President of the European Investment Bank and Latchezar Bogdanov of the Institute of Market Economics); Bulgaria's entry in Schengen (with Meglena Kuneva, Ambassador of the European Union to the Council of Europe (2018-2022) and Elena Poptodorova); and energy transition and carbon neutrality in the region (with Bulgarian Deputy Energy Minister Iva Petrova and Vladimir Malinov, Executive Director of Bulgartransgaz, among others).

Denkov expressed his expectation that in the coming years the traditions of the nuclear power industry will be built upon with two new reactors in Kozloduy, "which are of great importance to stabilize the energy system when there is a need for such stabilization in Bulgaria's energy transition," the Prime Minister further commented. Plans to change the Stara Zagora valley and turn it from a valley of coal into a valley of new energy sources are sensitive topics in Bulgarian society, but have no alternative, he added.

Denkov noted that Bulgaria is one of the leading producers of high-end electric bicycles.

According to him, all this is a foundation on which Bulgaria can build, but, in his words, "the lessons of globalization have taught us that each country of our size is too small to be competitive with the large regions that have developed as a common complex and that is why it is very important to look for our common development in the future [on regional level]".

Denkov said that in Bulgaria, there are three very serious obstacles to this development being fully implemented - the rule of law, the insufficiently secure economic environment and the insufficiently clearly demonstrated, substantiated position for Bulgaria's full integration into the EU and NATO structures.

Denkov's words made it clear that Tuesday's forum is seen in the context of the possibility for Bulgaria to find its place on the map of Europe and on the border between the European and Asian continents so that it has its own independent place and weight with which to join the world processes.