A person
who has been given permanent residence on the basis of investment in Bulgaria,
in the form of no less than 500 000 leva in the capital of a
Bulgarian-registered company, and has had this status for a year will be
eligible for citizenship.
The new
amendments specify investment sums much lower than those required in the
initial version of the changes, that were sent back for reconsideration by
Plevneliev.
The new
version is that an investor who has put 600 000 leva into Bulgarian property, 500
000 leva into a firm creating at least 10 jobs or 250 000 leva into a company
that creates at least five jobs in an economically underdeveloped region of
Bulgaria will be eligible to apply for permanent residence.
When he
rejected the initial version of the amendments, Plevneliev criticised them for
being more likely to serve as a disincentive to invest and for the law
containing internal contradictions.
According
to the amendments adopted on February 13, the amount on which the application
for permanent residence is based must have been paid in full to a Bulgarian
licensed bank at the time of application. If property was acquired with a loan,
the amount outstanding on the loan should exceed no more than 25 per cent of
the loan.
Economy,
Energy and Tourism Minister Delyan Dobrev told Parliament that there had been
awkwardness with visa issues, telling MPs of a case of a Class A investor who
had spent six hours stuck at Sofia Airport because of a visa query.
Opposition
socialists criticised the new amendments, saying that they would put Bulgaria’s
national security at risk and would raise a new obstacle to Bulgaria being
admitted to the EU’s Schengen visa zone.
Centre-right
minority party MPs said that the threshold for permanent residence and
citizenship for foreign investors in Bulgaria should be lowered even further,
to stimulate job creation.
(bron: sofiaglobe.com)