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General Secr COUNCIL OF Brussels, 11 November 2004 THE EUROPEAN UNION 14546/04 PECOS 79 COVER NOTE from : General Secretariat of the Council date of receipt : 8 November 2004 to : Central and Southeast Europe Working Party Subject: BULGARIA - Agreed minutes of the EU-Bulgaria Sub-Committee No 3 on Trade, Industry and ECSC Products Sofia, 11 May 2004 Delegations will find attached the above mentioned document, as received from the Commission services. ________________________ 14546/04 1 DG E I EN AGREED MINUTES ON 9TH MEETING OF SUB-COMMITTEE 3 BULGARIA-EU “TRADE, INDUSTRY AND ECSC PRODUCTS” MAY 11-TH 2004, SOFIA The 9th meeting of the Sub-Committee 3 Bulgaria-EU “Trade, Industry and ECSC” was held on May 11th 2004 in Sofia. The meeting was co-chaired by the Deputy Minister of Economy Mr. Dimiter Ivanovski on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and by Ms. Bridget Czarnota on behalf of the European Commission – DG Enlargement. 1. Opening and adoption of the Agenda Both sides agreed on the agenda without any remarks (annexed). 2. Enterprise and SME policy1 2.1. General policy 2.1.1. Latest development of Industrial Policy. Measures to improve the overall business environment and stimulate investments. The Bulgarian delegation presented the latest developments in the Bulgarian industrial policy. The Bulgarian economy ranks among the fastest developing economies for 2003. The real growth of GDP is 4.3 % (according to preliminary data from National Statistical Institute). The significant reduction of unemployment in the country is another major achievement for the Bulgarian economy during the last year. The average unemployment percentage in 2003 is 13.5% compared to 17.8% in 2002. The inflation rate in Bulgaria is one of the lowest compared to all other EU acceding countries. The average inflation rate for 2003 is 2.3%. The stable prices decrease the risk for businesses and provide opportunities for long term planning and completion of huge capital projects with prolonged life cycle where higher value added is applied and thus contribute for acceleration of the economic growth. The positive signals for development of the Bulgarian economy have led to an increase of FDI flow in the country. The FDI in 2003 account for USD 1.4 billion compared to USD 812 million in 2002. These investments represent a direct foreign contribution for the growth of GDP. The Bulgarian government continues to apply measures for improvement of the business climate and investment promotion. The Government has taken proactive measures for involving the business in the process of economic policy development and decision-making. A Council for Economic Growth was created in order to involve closely the representatives of the Government and Business in cooperative and continuous efforts to promote the long-term, sustainable economic growth of the country. The Council is formally an advisory body to the Council of Ministers, and as such it establishes private- 1 All competition/state aid issues were dealt with at the sub-committee 2 meeting ‘Internal Market’ on 5 May 2004 in Brussels and therefore not covered in this meeting. 1 2 public dialogue on the national economic policy. The exchange of opinions and recommendations in the Council ensures that a wide scope of views will be taken into account with best solutions for the main economic issues, which will provide sustainable economic growth. The Council discusses the concepts of the proposed legislative changes and presents opinion on a wide range of issues that have been raised. At the beginning of 2004 the Ministry of Economy adopted an Action plan for informing the business entities about the commitments undertaken in the process of negotiation for accession of Bulgaria to the European Union as well as preparation of the entrepreneurship for implementation of the EC requirements. The privatization in the major sectors of the Bulgarian economy is almost completed. As of March 31, 2004 stakes and shares of 5030 state owned enterprises have been sold: - 2779 entire enterprises and 2251 self-contained facilities. The privatized assets of the state-owned enterprises represent 56.47 % and respectively 85.52 % of the sum of assets due to be privatized in the medium term. As of March 31, 2004, the State still keeps shares and stocks in 1089 companies, including ‘majority packages’ (over 50 %) in 207 companies (mainly doing specific services or production) and ‘minority’ or ‘residual packages’ in about 882 companies. Out of which 337 minority packages are taken apart for satisfying restitution claims’. The privatization of majority packages’ is being done through offering them in public auctions or open public tenders for cash payments or on the BSE. Currently the Privatization Agency is working on the sale of 174 ‘majority packages’. The government continues its efforts to privatized the remaining big structures. In December 2003, the National Assembly adopted a new Strategy for privatization of Bulgartabac Holding which envisages an internal restructuring of the holding during the privatization process by establishing separate commercial entities out of the subsidiary companies and organizing international auctions for each one of them. Companies that are not viable will be sold last or liquidated. The privatization procedure in accordance with the new Strategy has already started. The sale contract for 65 % of the Bulgarian Telecommunication Company (BTC EAD) between the Privatization agency and Viva Ventures holding, Austria was signed on February 20, 2004. BNP Paribas was appointed as a project’s development consultant for the sale of seven electricity distribution companies. The Council of Ministers and the National Assembly approved the sale strategy for these companies. Three bids have been announced for the sale of the seven companies grouped in three packages on territory basis. Up to 67 % of the companies’ assets are offered for sale. Five offers were submitted by leading companies in this field. Finalisation of the deals is expected by the end of September 2004. The strategy for the sale of the Bulgarian River Shipping Company and Navigation Maritime Bulgaria (BMF) as well as evaluations and memorandums of the companies were presented to the selected consultancy firm - Price Waterhouse Coopers. Currently the strategy is in process of coordination among responsible institutions. Conditions and methodologies for the sale of the Bulgarian River Shipping Company and Navigation Maritime Bulgaria are to be decided in the last quarter of 2004. The sale of the Navigation Maritime Bulgaria depends on the development of the sales procedure of the Varna shipyard, which is part of the Navigation Maritime Bulgaria assets. In case of successful privatization, the assets of the Shipyard are to be excluded from the balance sheets of the Commercial Fleet and the respective information memorandum. The transaction was concluded on March 31, 2004, but one of the auction participants has logged a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court and the respective payment was not remitted. The Privatization Agency has granted permission for the transfer of the Varna Shipyard assets to a new company. 3 Out of the 35 water power plants slated for privatization, 20 have been sold. Terrain - concessions are expected for two of the plants, which can only be sold afterwards. Update of terrain documents or clarification of restitution claims are in progress, as regards the remaining projects. Another 5 hydroelectric power plants, not included in the initial list, have been sold as well. Another 20 more hydroelectric power plants are undergoing sale procedure. The Privatization Agency is working on 14 projects for privatization of central heating companies. Three central heating companies were sold at centralized public auctions in the first quarter of 2004. The implementation of a successful tax policy is the main instrument for improvement of the overall business environment and investment promotion under the conditions of macroeconomic stability. The downward trend in the burdens of taxation and social security, as well as the simplification of the tax system and its effective administration will continue within the framework of a low budget deficit. The following legal amendments have been effected: changes in the tax levy on incomes of physical persons, changes in the corporate tax levy, introducing a single tax levy on corporate profits, changes in excise duty, amendments to the VAT Act, enhancement of the state tax control and check-ups as well as implementation of new measures towards defaulting tax payers. The attraction of enlarged volume of investments – domestic and foreign - is of great importance for the Bulgarian economy’s competitiveness and economic growth. Companies, which are traditionally present in the country, continue to be the most significant source of FDI in Bulgaria – a positive sign of increased investors’ confidence in the business environment in the country. Privatization revenues in 2003 are only USD 360 mln, which includes the purchase of DSK Bank from OTP, Hungary. In 2003 and 2004 the Bulgarian Government undertook legal initiatives for promotion of investments. On April 23, 2004 the Bulgarian Parliament adopted the Investment Promotion Act (in the form of Draft Amendments to the to Law on Foreign Investments). The comments and the proposals of the European Commission have been taken into consideration and are incorporated in the Draft Law. The scope of the law has been expanded, so that the investment conditions in the country are made uniform in respect of local and foreign persons. The amendments to the law eliminate the division of investments into “foreign” and “local”, where investment promotion measures are applied. The Foreign Investment Agency shall be transformed into an executive Agency subordinated to the Minister of Economy and responsible only for implementation of the investment policy. All its current responsibilities, related to policy-making will be clearly mandated to the Minister of Economy. The investment incentives provided for under the Investment Promotion Act will depend on the category of the investor, defined according to the size of the project.
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