According to preliminary data, foreign direct investment in Bulgaria for the period January – December 2007 amounted to EUR 5,687.1 million (19.9% of GDP) compared to EUR 4,364 million (17.4% of GDP) attracted in January – December 2006, the Bulgarian National Bank announced.

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 – December 2007 amounted to EUR3,374.1 million and its relative share in the foreign direct investment stood at 59.3%. This is EUR 1,202.5 million up from the same period of 2006 (EUR 2,171.7 million). Receipts from real estate sales to nonresidents came to EUR 1,681.2 million compared to EUR 1149.4 million for January – December 2006.

Attracted equity capital on privatization deals with non-residents, reported for the period January – December 2007 stands at EUR 86.5 million. Attracted equity capital on non-privatization deals totaled EUR 3,287.7 million, compared to EUR 1,959.4 million a year ago.

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 2,011.3 million (net) for the period January – December 2007, against EUR 1,875.8 million in 2006.

According to preliminary data, reinvested earnings (the share of non-residents in the undistributed earnings/ loss of the enterprise) between January – December 2007 stand at EUR 301.7 million compared to EUR 316.5 million for the same period of 2006.

By country, the largest investments in Bulgaria for the reported period came from the United Kingdom (15.9% of the total foreign direct investment), the Netherlands (9.5%) and Austria (8.4%).

By branch, the largest investments were made in Real estate, renting and business activities (EUR 2150.8 million), Financial intermediation (EUR 1741.3 million) and Construction (EUR 704.2 million).

According to preliminary data direct investment abroad stood at EUR 187.8 million compared to EUR136.8 million for the same period in 2006.