4.50 Sofia 2023, Инвестиционен анализ

Sofia is not only the capital of the country, but also the largest centre for economic activity. It provides excellent conditions for economic activity, including new investments. The local executive power, the administration and the local Municipal Council have a joint contribution to this. In comparative terms, the most significant positive contribution to the creation of the economic environment is the work of the municipal administration, including the specialised investment structures. A specialised structure for attracting investments in the municipality – the Sofia Municipal Agency for Privatisation and Investments works in the Municipality of Sofia.

The municipal administration provides a wide range of complex administrative services, including electronic services, and has adequate resources to enable the performance of its functions. The administration ensures an adequate level of publicity of information about registers and documents that are subject to public discussion. A good base for the consultative process with citizens and businesses is created by the “Participate” section on the website of the Metropolitan Municipality. There, dedicated sections have been created for public discussions, public consultations, campaigns and citizen feedback surveys, allowing it to serve as a platform for dialogue and civil participation.

At the end of its mandate, the mayoral team continued its efforts to attract financial resources for the development of the municipality. In addition, it failed to implement effective mechanisms to control the spending of public funds on public procurement, as well as to ensure transparency and accountability regarding the management of municipal enterprises. The research confirms the chronic nature of the problems arising from the quality of the construction carried out by contractors under contracts with the municipality. As a positive point, the fact that the mayor’s team uses various mechanisms for communication and dialogue with citizens, including when discussing strategies and policies for the development of the municipality, should be pointed out.

The municipal council has created rules regarding the conditions for carrying out economic activity, including the attraction of investments and the launch of innovative businesses. Access to the regulations regarding the rules for economic activity in the municipality is made through the website of the Municipal Council. The municipal council has also adopted rules for the consultation process with civil organisations and businesses when discussing strategic decisions and determining the rules for economic activity. At the same time, the practice of the local parliament shows that direct dialogue with citizens, especially within the plenary sessions are difficult. There are examples of individual municipal councillors who are active in maintaining a dialogue with citizens and also seek to exercise control over the local executive. The research establishes serious deficits of the Municipal Council regarding the ability to withstand lobbying pressure when making decisions related to the management of municipal property and the awarding of public contracts.

The municipality maintains sites that present substantial volume and well-structured business information. On the main page of the website of the municipality, boxes have been created for accessing “Public registers”, “Profile of the buyer”, “Business reference” and a link to the website of a specialised structure for investments – the Agency for Privatisation and Investments – has been provided. The page of the Municipal Council provides access to the regulations of the Municipal Council regarding the rules for economic activity in the municipality.

The Privatisation and Investments Agency maintains an independent website that provides information on the conditions for investments in the municipality. The dedicated “Invest Sofia” site (InvestSofia.com) is well-structured information. The site is advertised in the capital’s public transport. It provides information about the business terms and conditions. The section for start-up businesses presents information on the incentives provided for businesses. The “Create Your Business” and “Register Your Business” sections provide guidance on the various forms for business initiatives. On the site you can find information about Accelerator Startup Sofia and the Mentoring Program at Accelerator Startup Sofia. Data useful for newly registered businesses and prospective investors are published in the sections “Property Market”, “Office and Industrial Space”, “Labour Market”, “Key Industries”. The site provides a wealth of information for prospective investors. It is structured in four dimensions: 1) a horizontal menu at the top, which contains sections: “Create your business”, “Why Sofia”, “Auctions and contests”, “About us”, “Buyer profile”; 2) boxes for the main business sectors are published in the middle of the site; 3) “Current news”; 4) connection with the metropolitan municipal agency for privatisation and investments and with Business catalogues and analyses. The subsection “Why Sofia” contains reasons and information about “Successful examples”, “Auctions and privatisation”, “Profile of the buyer”, “Team”; subscription options for the newsletter of the Agency for Privatisation and Investments. The created subsection “Sofia – Business Destination” leads to brochures, business guides and other analyses, including “Investment Profile” with data for the period 2023 to 2018, sector guides (Technology, Real Estate Market, Key Industries and etc.).

Local businesses have favourable conditions for carrying out their activities, including investments in new business initiatives. The municipal council has created ordinances that ease the administrative burden and encourage investment; there are specialised municipal structures involved in the investment process and interaction with business. A certain obstacle to fair competition is the practices of local authorities for awarding public contracts for construction. The national leadership of business organisations is located in Sofia, which is a prerequisite for their more intense participation in discussions that refer to the rules of economic activity. The research shows that some of the business organisations take advantage of the opportunity to provide opinions and positions regarding changes in the regulatory framework or are initiators of their own policies with an effect on the anti-corruption environment in the municipality. In addition, it should be emphasised that the potential of local business for participation in the local environment is not implemented to the maximum extent.

At the local level, there are many structures of civil society – civil organisations, local initiative committees, active citizens and media, which implement a wide range of initiatives for public control over the activities of local government institutions. They have established sustainable practices for seeking information and publicising deficits in municipal governance, and their initiatives often serve as the basis for corrective action by local authorities.