In the past, the main industry sectors of Bulgaria were metallurgy, machine manufacture, chemicals, and agriculture. Recently, however, the priority has shifted to sectors like energy, tourism, transportation, IT and telecommunications, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, and textile and clothing. In the last few years, the Government undertook measures to restructure the energy sector. These measures aimed to:

Bulgaria is located at the heart of the Southeastern European market, which comprises approximately 56 million people. A number of international rail and motorways cross the country, which enhance the its strategic location. The Pan-European Transport Corridors crossing Bulgaria are IV, VII, VIII, IX, and X. A network of eight motorways (E79, E83, E871, E772, E70, E773, E87, and E85) connects Bulgaria to Western Europe, Russia, Asia Minor, and the Black Sea. Bulgaria’s infrastructure needs considerable investors in new constructions and modernization. For this reason, the Ministry of Transportation adopted an ambitious Strategy for Development of the Transport Infrastructure of Bulgaria in 2006, which aims to have improved the transportation infrastructure greatly by 2015. It includes a detailed investment plan for the railway infrastructure, the road network, and the ports and airports of Bulgaria.Bulgaria has five main ports. The largest are Varna and Burgas, both located on the Black Sea. Russe, Lom, and Vidin are significant commercial ports on the Danube River.

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), established in 1879, operates as the central bank of Bulgaria. Its main objective is to maintain the stability of the national currency by implementing adequate policies and an efficient payment system. BNB regulates and supervises, controls commercial banks’ trade in and settlement of government securities, and has the exclusive right to issue banknotes and coins in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria’s banking sector journeyed far to reach the high levels of growth, expansion, and confidence evident today. Bank supervision was lax during the early 1990s; state-owned banks systematically granted large loans to state industries at a loss, which led to a pronounced deterioration of their asset quality. In the private sector, collusive relations between banks and entrepreneurs resulted in the granting of large loans with little or no collateral and only faint prospects of repayment. In 1996, a plummeting Lev, soaring interest rates, and BNB restrictions on liquidity led to severe banking crisis. Net losses to the economy were estimated at USD 1.5 billion.