Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria for the period January – June 2007 amounted to EUR 2112.7 million (7.9% of GDP) compared to EUR 2015.5 million (8% of GDP) attracted in January – June 2006, according to preliminary data released by Bulgarian National Bank.

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 the period January – June 2007 amounted to EUR 1411.5 million and its relative share in foreign direct investment amounted to 66.8%. It has increased by EUR 657.2 million compared to that attracted in the same period of 2006 (EUR 754.3 million). The receipts from real estate sales to nonresidents are included in the equity capital and they amounted to EUR 817.4 million compared to EUR 456.9 million for January – June 2006.

The attracted equity capital on privatisation deals with non-residents, reported for the period January – June 2007 amounted to EUR 1.4 million. The attracted equity capital on non-privatisation deals totalled EUR 1410.1 million in the reporting period compared to EUR 727.1 million for the same period of 2006.

The other capital (the change in the net liabilities of the direct investment enterprise to the direct investor on financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities) amounted to EUR 555.2 million (net) for the period January – June 2007, compared to EUR 1122.5 million for the same period of 2006.

According to preliminary data the reinvested earnings (the share of non-residents in the undistributed earnings/ loss of the enterprise) for the period January – June 2007 are estimated to EUR 146 million compared to EUR 138.7 million for the same period of 2006.

By country, the largest investments in Bulgaria for the period concerned came from United Kingdom (15.9% of the total foreign direct investment), Austria (13.2%) and Luxembourg (11.8%).

By branch, the largest investments for January – June 2007 were in real estate, renting and business activities (EUR 729.3 million), financial intermediation (EUR 439.3 million) and Construction (EUR 296.6 million).

According to preliminary data for the period January – June 2007, direct investment abroad stood at EUR 91.7 million, compared to EUR 29.7 million for the respective period in 2006.