The leadership of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) has predicted GDP growth of at least 1 per cent in 2010.

A Eurochambers survey involving Bulgaria showed that 80 per cent of the interviewed Bulgarian companies expect conditions for doing business to improve in 2010, BCCI President Tsvetan Simeonov told a news conference, presenting the BCCI Top 100 of Bulgarian companies for 2008.

Some 470 large corporate taxpayers, which form the backbone of the economy, do not expect to see a drop in sales and job cuts next year. These companies are about 50 per cent of those ranked in the Top 100. More than 40 per cent are engaged in the manufacturing industry, 32.7 per cent in trade and 13.7 per cent in services.

This year's BCCI ranking involved 3,880 companies which generate 76.36 per cent of GDP. The key selection criterion is that the company must have turned a profit and its sales in 2007 must be at least 100,000 leva.

Source: BTA