Bulgaria’s score has dropped from 45 points in the previous survey to 43 points this year remaining among the countries with high levels of corruption in the public sector. This is the result of years of façade efforts and legislative changes in favor of kleptocratic elites—masquerading as efforts to align with European norms.
The index, which also measures the levels of political corruption, shows that it remains a barrier to good
governance, incompatible with the functioning of democratic institutions and sustainable economic development.
Foreign investment has plummeted at a historic low. Serious businesses that make long-term investments have the responsibility and strength to drive the development of public environment in the regions in which they operate, leave the country or are considering doing so. The reason for this is the hostile environment of increasingly self-serving regulations and arbitrariness of the administration, complemented by the destructive effect of legal uncertainty. This uncertainty prevents businesses from making long-term, sustainable investments.
An environment in which the tax burden and the planning of labor costs are unpredictable even within the current year, and depend on behind-the-scenes political agreements to satisfy visible and invisible clientelist interests, makes the business environment poisonous.
Read the full analysis in the document attached below.
