According to preliminary data, the Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria for January – April 2008 amounted to EUR 1228.2 million (3.7% of GDP) compared to EUR 1437.6 million (5% of GDP) attracted in January – April 2007, 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 – April 2008 amounted to EUR 709.9 million, which was 57.8% of the foreign direct investment.

It decreased by EUR 95.2 million compared to that attracted in the same period of 2007 (EUR 805.1 million). The receipts from real estate investments of non-residents amounted to EUR 471.2 million compared to EUR 507.3 million for January – April 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 – April 2008 did not increase, compared to an increase of EUR 1.4 million in January – April 2007. The attracted equity capital on non-privatisation deals totalled EUR 709.9 million in the reporting period, compared to EUR 803.8 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 361.9 million in January – April 2008, compared to a net other capital, amounting to EUR 522.7 million in the same period of 2007.

The reinvested earnings (the share of non-residents in the undistributed earnings/ loss of the enterprise) in January – April 2008 are estimated at EUR 156.5 million compared to EUR 109.7 million in the same period of the previous year, preliminary data show.

By country, the largest investments in Bulgaria for the reporting period were those of Greece (12.7% of the total foreign direct investment), Luxembourg (12%) and the Netherlands (10.2%).

Direct investment abroad increased by EUR 407.6 million in the period January – April 2008 compared to an increase of EUR 34.7 million in January – April 2007, preliminary data show. The invested equity capital abroad in 2008 amounted to EUR 404.4 million, compared to EUR 56.4 million in January – April 2007.