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© Nadezhda Chipeva
Employers, members of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, make an extremely critical assessment of the government’s anti-crisis measures in support of companies, a large part of the promised funds never reach companies and BIA President Radosvet Radev predicts that money will flow in the middle. February due to the upcoming elections. “But it will not be a question of support, but an attempt to bribe the business,” he said.
At the “Bulgarian Economic Forum 2020: Economic Recovery of the Horizon” organized on December 1-2, the president of the oldest and largest active business association presented preliminary data from the annual BIA survey. The questionnaire for him is open to complete until December 9 and the official presentation will be on December 14, but according to him, these conclusions are based on a sufficiently solid basis:
– 72% say the company’s condition has deteriorated (after 91% said last year that the business climate was deteriorating)
– 68% does not approve anti-crisis measures
– 58% does not approve measures against the epidemic
– 51% approve the introduction of differentiated VAT (but the group of dissenters is also strong – 38%)
Bulgaria has so far given more than 2 billion BGN to cope with the pandemic, Health Minister Prof. Kostadin Angelov said today. But according to the BIA survey, measures “in support of companies” have so far had a negligible effect:
– 66% They are outside the “60/40” program (“the government’s flag that this measure will be almost the tiger that will overcome the crisis,” commented Radosvet Radev)
– 78% have not benefited from the moratorium on loan payments
– 85% have not used the monthly allocation of BGN 290 to maintain jobs in transport and tourism
– 89% have not applied for financial aid (10% of their turnover in 2019) for tour operators and travel agencies
– 98% do not use the grant (BGN 3-450,000) for small and medium-sized transport companies
– Sixty-five% I have never applied for one of the first grants (between 3 and 10 thousand BGN) for micro and small businesses
– 89% they have not used subsidies (30-150 thousand BGN) for medium-sized companies (enters a new phase as of December 1)
The widely proclaimed support measures through the Bulgarian Development Bank are in complete collapse, Radev added. The data you cite shows:
– 90% of respondents did not seek out BDB working capital loans for small and medium-sized businesses up to BGN 300,000, but used them at 1% (“this is just a joke,” Radev commented)
– 96% did not use the guarantees of the Loan Fund for loans of up to 3 million (“this measure does not work in practice,” said Radev)
– 91-98% They have not taken advantage of the microcredit, working capital financing and other aid announced by the authorities.
“With such data, we can apply for Guinness World Records,” said the BIA president ironically.
The following is an explanation from the company why 49% overall did not seek help:
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- – 41% say the process is too slow
- – 35% indicates bureaucracy and heavy documentation
- -12% have not encountered any obstacles so far
- – 5% indicates corruption
There are also problems with the inability to pay off debts to the state during a crisis, complex and unworkable criteria or grants are too small to compensate for the collapse in turnover and losses.
Radosvet Radev’s assessment is that “We have not received such results for the 15 year history of this survey. The data shows that we are on the eve of times of extreme anxiety. Such a survey marks an imminent economic catastrophe due to the total inactivity of the Bulgarian state.
It is an insult to treat the business “that will always be fine” with malice, contempt, and it is believed that in some spartan way we have the code of survival. The unprecedented nature of this epidemic required at least a little more respect for Bulgarian companies. The honest statement from someone in the state leadership was to say “There is nothing to expect from the state.”
What does the company expect
The survey shows that companies have concrete ideas about the most urgent, quick and definitive measures:
1. Assumption of part of the compensation of employees (59% of respondents)
2. Zero income tax rate for the next two years (53%)
3. Donation in the form of liquidity support 53%)
4. Reduce or postpone municipal rents, taxes and fees (37%)
5. Low interest loans with state guarantee (34%)
Modernizing technical equipment and deferring loan payments offer another 28%.
Naturally, all of this falls on the employees as well. – Almost half (48%) of employers say they have to increase the workload of those who have managed to support themselves so far. But 30 “also says it’s no different than another year.
Compared to 2019, demand is decreasing across all categories of staff, from seasoned managers to general workers.
In relation to coronary crisis 56% of those surveyed have given up planned investments, 45% have initiated staff reductions, 39% have introduced partial or total teleworking, 38% have made investments to comply with anti-epidemic regulations, 35% have put some or all of their staff on leave without pay Over a certain period of time, 21% have focused on developing online sales and 18% have transformed their production in the direction of changing products and / or markets.
“In 1996, at least there were people who wanted a modern Bulgaria.”
“In 1996 there was a crisis of mistrust within Bulgaria in a relatively active business. Then there was hyperinflation, but there were also super motivated people who wanted to modernize their country. Then there were businessmen,” Radosvet Radev commented.
“Today, being an entrepreneur is no longer one of people’s great dreams. On the contrary, there are entrepreneurs who want to sell their assets and businesses and become well-paid government officials or settle in a place where corruption is high. The entrepreneur is the freest person, that is. The renunciation of entrepreneurship begins to put you in the hypothesis of non-freedom, of the conformist, of the subordinate. The battle for Bulgarian entrepreneurship is a battle for free Bulgarians. “
According to Radev, it is too late for many things and the later the money gets to the business, the more it will have to be. “It was supposed to start in August or September.”
