The Association of the Organization of Bulgarian Employers (AOBE) has announced its main priorities for 2024. This happened at an official press conference on 17 January 2024, in which the heads of the four nationally representative employer organizations, members of AOBE, took part: Vasil Velev - Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA), Dobri Mitrev - President of Board of Management of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), Tsvetan Simeonov - Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Kiril Domuschiev - Chairman of the Board of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIB) and rotating chairman of the AOBE for 2024 .
In 2024, AOBE will work on 31 measures in five key areas for the Bulgarian economy, including business environment and economy, energy and green transition, education and labour market, social policy.
In the introductory speech at the opening of the press conference, the chairman of CEIB and rotating chairman of AOBE Kiril Domuschiev pointed out that AOBE member enterprises produce 86% of the country's gross added value and employ 82% of all employed. "And not only that - I can confidently state that we are a real factor in the social dialogue and that we defend the interests of Bulgarian business, which is among the largest taxpayers in the country."
The formulated priorities for 2024 aim to focus the attention of the institutions on the implementation of policies of key importance to Bulgarian business. "Formulated in three words, AOBE's national priorities are: full membership in Schengen '24, Eurozone '25 and OECD '26," said Kiril Domuschiev, who presented AOBR's national priorities. "For Schengen, the most topical issue at the moment, we think this is a successful first step, which we welcome. This success, which was achieved with the admission of Bulgaria to Schengen by air and water, must be followed at all costs as soon as possible by the opening of land borders, which is the most serious problem facing Bulgarian business. We know that there are risks and that the process is influenced by the elections in Austria, so we expect and insist that everything possible be done this year to finalise the process of Bulgaria's entry into the land Schengen area. For the Eurozone, it is now important to stress that having a regular government gives us hope that this strategic goal for business has a chance and should be achieved in 2025. However, this depends on the policies that are implemented - fiscal, a flexible and developed labour market, transformation of the economy towards higher value-added industries, digitalisation and digital transformation, higher educational standards, etc. As for the OECD, I would like to remind you that it was we, the employers' organisations united in the AOBE, which more than six years ago raised Bulgaria's membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a unifying national goal and since then this priority has been of constant importance to us. The initiative for Bulgaria's admission to the OECD is the AOBE's and dates back to March 2017 and since 1 January 2018 the AOBE has been an observer member of the OECD Business Council. We have succeeded in getting this goal on the agenda of governments, of society, and we continue to work very hard in this direction. That is why we will continue to insist to the government and all state institutions to work very hard in order to realize our country's membership in the OECD by the end of 2026," said the chairman of CEIB.
The President of BCCI Tsvetan Simeonov presented the priorities of AOBE in terms of business environment and economic development. "The significant successes achieved by BCCI as the rotating chairman of the AOBE for 2023 were related to electricity prices, compensation for non-household consumers, natural gas prices, etc. We achieved partial success in relation to the burden on Bulgarian employers of the first three days of sick leave for their employees, and we were able to relieve businesses of one day of it. AOBE's priorities did not change significantly this year because many of our proposals were not heard. First and foremost remains the need to reduce the administrative burden, which is a big issue for everyone but a bigger problem for small and medium-sized businesses. We want to maintain the current tax model, because it works well to meet the costs of Bulgarian enterprises and also to attract foreign investors. The 'polluter pays' model for setting municipal waste charges is still on hold. E-government clearly remains a non-priority for the government for another year," BCCI chairman Tsvetan Simeonov added.
Kiril Domuschiev, Chairman of CEIB, presented the priorities of the AOBE in the field of energy and green transition. "The continuation and successful completion of the liberalisation process will bring about a level playing field for market participants, eliminate cross-subsidisation between different market segments and allow the development of different products and supply profiles. It is high time to stop pursuing social policy through the energy sector and the energy poor should be adequately protected through the country's social system," said CEIB’s chairman. Other priorities of the AOBE in the energy sector are: resumption of the compensation mechanism for high electricity prices; adoption of a mechanism and procedures for signing long-term contracts for energy-intensive enterprises; formation of a national market for greenhouse gas emissions, for trading of saved emissions and direct purchase by the Bulgarian industry; intensification of the operational work of the Advisory Council for the European Green Deal in order to achieve a structured and balanced approach in the formation of national pol Completion of the work on the elaboration of the National Strategy for Sustainable Energy Development of the Republic of Bulgaria until 2030 with a horizon up to 2050, the update of the Integrated Energy and Climate Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria 2021-2030 with a horizon up to 2050, as well as the preparation of annual plans for the development of the electricity transmission and distribution networks, the gas transmission infrastructure taking into account national priorities and the guarantee of energy supply at minimum prices are also among the priorities of AOBE in the energy sector.
"It is clear to everyone that without education we cannot be competitive, introduce new technologies, increase added value. For us this issue is crucial", said Dobri Mitrev, President of the Board of BIA, who presented the priorities of AOBE in the field of education and the labour market. Here is what Dobri Mitrev said:
Without an educated nation we cannot be a prosperous country. First of all, it is important to orient education towards the needs of the labour market. Current education is extremely poorly suited to the requirements of the labour market. It is extremely important to synchronise adult education policies between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour. It is time to look at what Europe sees as an approach to training people of non-learning age.
Next, there is a need for a serious easing of procedures for importing labour from third countries. Our talented and educated children seek their happiness in more developed countries. Children from Western Europe, on the other hand, are jumping across the ocean to seek fulfilment. Against the backdrop of poor demographics, we must be prepared to replace this resource, and the opportunity is in the so-called third countries. Unfortunately, however, bureaucracy is an extremely serious obstacle to employers' willingness to provide labour. There are companies that are reducing their production volumes, not taking orders, because there are not enough people taking those orders. There is interest in our country, but if we do not ease the procedures, reduce the timescales and make this process cheaper, we will fall very far behind. Last year, Romania and Greece announced their own programmes to actively attract people from third countries. In our case, this delay and neglect of this extremely important issue could seriously affect our competitiveness.
It is also imperative for us to create a programme for the inclusion of the long-term unemployed in the learning and working processes. It is good that we are also a welfare state under the Constitution, which must take care of people in need. No one disputes that, but there are people who are fit and well, and we need to find the mechanisms for those individuals to contribute to society.
Last but not least, we will encourage efforts to create affordable childcare services. It is unacceptable that, due to the lack of nurseries and kindergartens, people of working age are in their homes (I am talking especially about mothers) because they have nowhere to give their child to be brought up and educated. These are serious obstacles and we are committed to this topic, even though at first glance it does not seem to be closely linked to employer problems.
I want to say very clearly that our partial admission to Schengen is a breakthrough. However, we have to be aware of the environment in which this decision was taken - an environment of increased migrant pressure throughout Europe, especially in Austria, an environment in which elections for the European Parliament and parliamentary elections are coming up in Austria. The fact that we have had a partial success gives us every reason to push much harder for full membership by the end of this year. As for the calls for boycotts and sanctions, we must distinguish between politics and economics. If this breakthrough has been made, rest assured that it has also been made in large part thanks to Austrian companies actively lobbying for Bulgaria's admission to Schengen. There was a state visit to Austria just a few months ago, and one of the most important meetings was at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, where Austrian business gave strong support. Who are we actually going to punish? Our supporters? This battle must be fought on the political and diplomatic fronts. We, with our capabilities through our memberships of European business organisations, will insist at the highest level that the approach be changed. The replacement of the Dublin Agreement by the Migration Pact is due this spring and this may be our opportunity to gain full membership.
In terms of opportunities for influence, in addition to political diplomacy, there is also business diplomacy. We are working very actively in this direction. It would be good if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to turn more actively to the embassies and consulates abroad, which would economise processes and be much more active. With regard to the predictions of speculation and price rises for goods on admission to the euro area, Bulgaria has been in a currency board for a very long time and we have a real euro in our pockets even now because we have a fixed exchange rate of the lev against the euro. So we have no expectation of price increases on entry into the euro area. If there is any marginal increase, it will only be in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Let us look at all the countries that have recently joined the euro area - we will see that the euro is having an extremely positive impact on the economies and the well-being of the citizens of these countries. 2.9% is the average inflation in the euro area and in Bulgaria it is 4.7%, according to NSI data.
The priorities of AOBE in the field of social policy were presented by the President of BICA Vasil Velev. "AOBE's priorities in the social sphere are four. The first one is the finalization of the negotiations on the elaboration and adoption of a transparent mechanism for the determination of the minimum wage for the country. Of the four largest economies in the world, nowhere, except in Bulgaria and the EU, is the minimum wage sought to be half the average - not in China, not in the US, not in India. And these three in particular are developing much more dynamically than the EU and Bulgaria. The second priority is to strengthen and develop the capital pillars of the pension model and the link between contributions and pensions. It is high time to stop the practice of extracting short-term dividends and destroying the pension model rather than developing it and aiming for long-term effects. The third is to improve the adequacy of the support provided by the social assistance system, linking it to participation in basic literacy programmes, education, training, work, etc. Last but not least, health reform with a focus on prevention and screening is a priority. The average ratio in Europe of hospital care to outpatient care and screening is 1:1; in this country, the ratio is 3:1. AOBE insists on the introduction of standards similar to the European ones, which should be respected", added the Chairman of the Board of BICA Vasil Velev.
The chairmen of the nationally representative employers' organizations united in AOBE received from the Director General of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Kiril Valchev a medal "125 years of BTA".
***
The AOBE was established in 1995 as an association of nationally representative employers' organizations with the aim of unified representation of Bulgarian employers before national and international institutions.
According to the statutes of the AOBE, the Association is chaired on a rotating basis - in 2024 the rotating chair of the AOBE is the CEIB.
