The Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria amounted to EUR 2,847 million (8.7% of GDP) in the period January – July 2008, compared to EUR 3,325 million (11.5% of GDP) for the corresponding period of 2007, preliminary data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) show.

The attracted Equity Capital (acquisition/disposal of shares and equities in cash and contributions in kind by non-residents in/from the capital and reserves of Bulgarian enterprises and receipts/payments from/for real estate deals in the country) for January – July 2008 amounted to EUR 2,029 million, which was 71.3% of the foreign direct investment.

It increased by EUR 237.3 million compared to that attracted in the same period of 2007 (EUR 1792.1 million). The receipts from real estate investments of non-residents amounted to EUR 874.3 million compared to EUR 1,079.5 million for January – July 2007.

The attracted equity capital on privatization deals with non-residents (that have acquired over 10% of the equity in a Bulgarian enterprise) reported in January – July 2008 did not increase, compared to an increase of EUR 1.4 million in January – July 2007. The attracted equity capital on non-privatization deals totaled EUR 2,029.4 million in the reporting period, compared to EUR 1,790.7 million for the same period in 2007.

The other capital, net (the change in the net liabilities of the direct investment enterprise to the direct investor on financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities) was positive, amounting to EUR 562.7 million in January – July 2008, compared to a net other capital amounting to EUR 1,324.3 million in the same period of 2007. It decreased by EUR 761.6 million compared to that attracted in the same period of 2007.

According to preliminary data, the Reinvested Earnings2 (the share of non-residents in the undistributed earnings/ loss of the enterprise) in January – July 2008 are estimated at EUR 255.2 million compared to EUR 209.6 million in the same period of the previous year. They increased by EUR 45.6 million in comparison with the same period in the previous year.

By country, the largest investments in Bulgaria for the reporting period were those of Austria (16.9% of the total foreign direct investment), the Netherlands (11.5%) and Germany (10.6%).

Direct investment abroad increased by EUR 460 million in the period January – July 2008, compared to an increase of EUR 109.7 million in January – July 2007, preliminary data show. The equity capital invested abroad in 2008 amounted to EUR 443 million, compared to EUR 128.8 million in January – July 2007.