Profit.bg talked to Prokopi Prokopiev, head of corporate policy at Enemona, about the effect of the global economic slowdown on the Bulgarian economy and about the potential scenario of a sustained slowdown of the local economy:

Mr. Prokopiev, how would the slowdown of the leading European economies affect the Bulgarian business and are the effects already in place?

If we look at the Bulgarian business as a whole we can see that the slowing growth of the major European economies limits the chances of Bulgarian exporters to expand on the stagnating European market.

When the economy of the countries is slowing down it reduces their purchasing power, which has a negative effect on Bulgarian raw material exports. The lower income in these countries affects the demand for Bulgarian exported consumer goods as well.

The stagnation of the European economies does not affect directly Enemona's operations and financial results as the business of the company is not export oriented.

Is there a possibility for a sustained slowdown in the growth of the Bulgarian economy? Are there any grounds for a similar scenario?

The Bulgarian economy will continue to expand but it is inevitable for the growth to slow down in the future.

The energy sector, however, will continue to grow at a steady pace in Bulgaria and in Europe for many years. The environmental challenges and the related investments exist regardless of the growth rate of an economy at a certain period of time. We have no worries as far as the demand in our sector is concerned.

Does the indebtedness of the public companies pose a risk?

The indebtedness always increases the risk for the business, but at the same time I don't think that the public companies have assumed too much debt.

Photo: Prokopi Prokopiev, head of corporate policy, Enemona (Profit.TV)