BALKAN INDUSTRIAL PARK

VIDIN Why Bulgaria?

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£ Political and business stability

£ Bulgaria is a member of the , NATO and WTO

£ The stability of the currency is supported by the currency board, pegging the to the at the level of 1.96

£ Bulgaria has one of the lowest government debts in the European Union (18.5 % of GDP) and one of the lowest budget deficits (0.8%) as of 2012

Balkan Industrial Park Doing business in Bulgaria

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£ Bulgaria has the most favourable tax regime in Europe. Corporate income tax rate is 10%, the lowest in the EU together with Cyprus. Personal income tax is 10 %, flat rate. Industries in high-unemployment areas are granted 0% tax rate. £ There is a 2-year VAT exemption for imports of equipment for investment projects over €5 million, creating at least 50 jobs. £ Depreciation time for computers and new manufacturing equipment is 2 years . £ 5% withholding tax on dividends and liquidation quotas (0% for EU tax residents). £ Bulgaria has one of the most competitive costs of labor in Central and Eastern Europe. £ Favorable office rents and low cost of utilities. Bulgarian cost of electricity for industrial users is 70% of the European average.

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin BULGARIA…LOW BUSINESS COSTS

Tax rates in selected SEE and world countries

33% 30% 24% 25% 19% 15% 16% 10% 10%

Bulgaria Macedonia Czech UK USA * Germany ** France Strategic location

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£ Located at the heart of the Balkans, Bulgaria is a strategic logistics hub. Ease of transportation of cargo is provided by £ Five Pan-European corridors ( IV, VII, VII, XI, X), which pass through the country £ Transport program TRACECA, which connects Europe with Caucasian and Central Asian region £ Four major airports: , Plovdiv, Bourgas and Varna £ Two main seaports: Varna and Bourgas £ Numerous ports at the River

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin Access to markets

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£ Due to its location Bulgaria provides direct access to the following key markets: £ European Union - zero tariff market with population of 500 million £ CIS – still not well penetrated market with a high potential £ - zero tariff market of near 80 million population £ Middle East – a market with high purchasing power £ North African market

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin Human resources

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£ Work force is well educated, highly skilled and multilingual £ 62.2 % of the total population is in working age (appr. 4.6 million) £ 60 000 students annually graduate from 51 universities £ 98% of the high school students study a foreign language (usually English) and 73% study a second language (mainly German, French, Spanish, Russian) £ 94% of the schools have Internet access

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin Bulgaria: Valuable labour force

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£ Bulgaria boosts some of the best IT professionals, engineers, mechanics and scientists worldwide

£ Labor costs are 2-3 times below the average in Western Europe, the United States or Japan

£ Bulgaria has traditionally been a manufacturing and agricultural region; hence availability of workforce, both blue-collar and white-collar, is high. Workers from the steel, textile and food industries can be easily recruited

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin WHY THE BALKAN INDUSTRIAL PARK (BIP) IN VIDIN…? VIDIN IS LOCATED ON MAJOR EUROPEAN AND TRANSCONTINENTAL ROUTES AND CORRIDORS Vidin is located in the center of the Balkans region

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Vidin-Sofia 260 Km Vidin-Belgrado 290 Km

Vidin- 330 Km

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin THE LATEST STATE OF THE ART HIGHWAY AND RAILWAY NEW EUROPE BETWEEN BULGARIA AND ROMANIA IS A MAJOR BOOST TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE. THE BRIDGE, INAUGURATED ON 14/6/2013, WAS BUILT BY THE SPANISH COMPANY FCC The Vidin- …

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…is of key significance not only for the development of the Pan- European Transport Corridor ІV but also for the entire South- East European Transport Axis and the Trans-European Transport network. It gives opportunities for combined transport and for transferring certain volumes of traffic from road to rail.

With the construction of the new infrastructure a substantial opening of the Bulgarian transport network will be achieved through its integration with the European transport network, along with the improvement of the transport service quality as a whole. This will increase the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy .

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin LOCATED ALONGSIDE THE TRANS - EUROPEAN INFRASTRUCTURE, JUST MINUTES AWAY FROM THE DANUBE BRIDGE AND THREE NATIONAL BORDERS, THE BIP IN VIDIN IS YOUR IDEAL GATEWAY LOCATION The Project on the Bulgarian side includes:

15 Contract 1 – Design and construction of a combined (road and railway) bridge with four road lanes, one single railway track, a bicycle lane and two pavements for pedestrians and services. Contract 2 – Construction of the adjoining road and railway infrastructure which covers: new railway freight station and 7 km of new railway line, reconstruction of the existing passenger station and construction of 7 new two-level road junctions

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin A HIGHWAY, LINKING THE CROSS BOARDER BRIDGE AND COMPLEMENTING THE TRANS -EUROPEAN CORRIDOR CUTS THROUGH THE HEART OF THE BIP, MAKING IT VERY ACCESSIBLE BIP plot area is almost 1,000,000m2 (100 Ha)

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BIP faces both sides of the new constructed road

The plot could be divided into smaller fully individual and tailor-made subzones. Neighbours important logistics and transnatio_ nal establishments .

* real picture of the plots ( january 2014 )

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin Unique location for logistic purposes

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Balkan Industrial Park Vidin BIP is just 3 Km away from the new brigde

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Balkan Industrial Park Vidin Most of the new infraestructures are already completed 20

Balkan Industrial Park Vidin The new railway will ease the transportation of goods throughout the region

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Balkan Industrial Park Vidin BIP is just located between the new railway and highway. * ( real picture january 2014 )

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Balkan Industrial Park Vidin A WELL ESTABLISHED INTERNATIONAL CARGO AND PASSENGER RIVER PORT AND A FREE TRADING ZONE ARE LOCATED NEARBY, THUS ENHANCING BIP’S OVERALL INTERNATIONAL LOGISTIC VALUE THE FORMERLY BUSY VIDIN AIRPORT IS CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO LOW TRAFFIC. HOWEVER, IT MAY RE-OPEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE, MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR THE BIP TO BE ACCESSED VIA AIR AS WELL