On November 18, the Russian and Bulgarian chambers of commerce and industry held a conference dedicated to the investment prospects of the Bulgarian economy, opportunities for cooperation between Russian and Bulgarian business circles. Taking into account the current pandemic situation, the event was held in online format. The status of the conference was highlighted by the participation of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to the Russian Federation Atanas Krystin, Chairman of the Bulgarian CCI Tsvetan Simeonov, Vice-President of the CCI of Russia Vladimir Padalko. The reports on the potential of the Bulgarian economy were made by Yulian Balchev, representing the Bulgarian Investment Agency, and the Chairman of the Investment Council of the Bulgarian CCI, Vladimir Tomov.
The Chairman of the IBEC Board Denis Ivanov addressed the participants with a welcoming speech. He noted the uniqueness of IBEC's mandate as an international development institution, combining investment support for promising projects with a full-fledged settlement service, including the entire range of trade finance instruments.
Bulgaria, being the IBEC member since its foundation in 1963, has become one of the centers of the Bank's business activity in recent years. Mr. Ivanov noted the diversified nature of the Bank's activities in the Bulgarian sector. Among the priority sectors of the Bulgarian economy, which IBEC actively supports, are energy and infrastructure projects, agriculture, telecommunications, electronic industry, and construction. The Bank participates in such landmark projects of the international scale as the Balkan Stream, aimed at strengthening the national gas transmission system in Bulgaria and providing the energy infrastructure for the entire south-east of Europe. The head of IBEC especially emphasized the multilateral focus of the Bank's activities, which involves not only financing projects in the participating countries, but also promoting trade and economic integration at the interregional level, including with the participation of other countries. Over the past year, the portfolio of IBEC transactions has significantly expanded due to operations in the territory of such economic associations as the CIS, EAEU, ASEAN.
As for the work on the Bulgarian market, even before the end of this year, the IBEC portfolio should be replenished with large transactions, in particular in the gas industry and in the insurance sector.
The conference participants could learn more about the possibilities and potential of IBEC from the presentation of the Bank's services.