INVESTMENTS IN BULGARIA GROW ONLY BY €7. 9 MLN. THE REASON ARE DISBURSEMENTS ON INTERCOMPANY LOANS.

For the January-June 2011 period, foreign direct investments in Bulgaria rose only by € 7.9 mln compared to the increase of €532.7 mln for January-June 2010. According to the preliminary data of the Bulgarian National Bank this is mainly a result from disbursement of intercompany loans in accordance with the loan repayment schedules of enterprises. Nevertheless, the figures may be revised based on the quarterly financial reports of companies with foreign participation and based on the annual data of the National Statistical Institute, specified the Central Bank.

The attracted equity capital for the period, which comprises proceeds from real estate transactions as well, stood at €296.1 mln. It was by €152.3 mln lower than the attracted amount of  €448.5 mln for the same period of 2010. Interestingly, the current level of investments of foreign entities in Bulgarian real estates is close to its level from last year - €97.7 mln and it stood at €98.7 mln for January-June 2010. However, the reinvested earnings in our domestic economy decreased by nearly €30 mln. Based on preliminary data on the financial results, they amounted to €92 mln vs. the sum of €122.8 mln for the same period of 2010

For a consecutive month, the top investors in Bulgaria are the Netherlands (€ 177.2 mln), Cyprus (€ 54.3 mln) and Russia (€ 2.3 mln). The net payments to Germany and the UK amounted respectively to €248.2 mln and €118.4 mln. The negative investment flows were due to net payments on intercompany loans in accordance with the loan repayment schedules of enterprises. In fact, the Transport, Storage and Communications sector has attracted the highest investment amount of 212.4 mln, followed by the Construction sector with €67.7 mln and the total investments of €32.8 mln infused into the Trade and the Repair and Maintenance sectors.