site.bta60 Years On, Coca-Cola Generates BGN 1.15 Bln in Annual Added Value for Bulgarian Economy

Sixty years after Bulgaria produced its first bottle of Coca-Cola, an event all the more remarkable in a communist country, the Coca-Cola System reported that in 2024 it contributed BGN 1.15 billion in added value to the Bulgarian economy. It paid BGN 502 million in taxes along the whole value chain, accounting for about 1% of all taxes collected by the national authorities last year, the company said.

Coca-Cola Bulgaria Executive Director Boshko Popeskov said that five companies of the System operate in the country. In 2024, the System had over 17,300 employees in Bulgaria, including 3,336 people working directly for it. This means that it provided 0.5% of jobs in the country. The data show the high degree of integration of the Coca-Cola System in the Bulgarian economy, Popeskov said.

The Coca-Cola System generated 0.6% of Bulgaria’s GDP in 2024, said Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria Director-General Yavor Stefanov. According to him, the company is the largest producer of non-alcoholic beverages in the country, with two bottling facilities, in Kostinbrod and Bankya, both of them near the capital Sofia.