Today Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) took over from the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIB) the rotating chairmanship of the Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers (AOBE) for 2021. In accordance with the established rotation, the Executive Director and Member of the Board of CEIB Evgeniy Ivanov, authorized for this purpose by the Chairman of CEIB Kiril Domuschiev, handed over the chairmanship of AOBR for 2021 to the Chairman of BICA Vassil Velev.

Vassil Velev – Chairman of BICA, Radosvet Radev – Chairman of BIA, Tsvetan Simeonov – Chairman of BCCI, Evgeniy Ivanov – Executive Director of CEIB, as well as experts from the respective organizations took part in the first meeting of the year.

AOBE unites the nationally representative employers’ organizations BICA, BIA, BCCI and CEIB. The main goal of the organization is to consolidate, balance and represent the interests of its members. The employees in the enterprises, members of the four employers’ organizations, represent 82% of all employees in our country, and the gross value added they produce is 86%.

The CEIB Presidency of AOBE in 2020 was considered extremely successful in view of the difficult situation related to the epidemiological situation, the business challenges posed by COVID-19 and the emergence of an economic crisis as a consequence of the pandemic and isolation. The rotating presidency also coincided with the process of signing the National Tripartite Agreement between the government and the social partners, as well as with the process of counting the nationally representative organizations of employers, which created additional responsibilities for AOBE. Despite the challenges, a record number of common positions, declarations and opinions were adopted.

For the reporting period AOBE has developed and presented to the relevant competent institutions 69 positions in protecting the interests of business, focused mainly on measures to support business in the emergency situation and the epidemiological situation, Bulgaria’s accession to ERM II, preparation and signing of The national tripartite agreement between the government and the social partners, the representation of AOBE in various state and international bodies and on energy and financial issues.

More than 20 meetings were held with representatives of the government – Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers, mainly on economic and social measures to overcome the effects of the crisis with COVID-19 and protect the interests of business. The prepared opinions on energy are directly related to the need for reforms in the sector and are in line with the priorities of AOBE. On financial issues, AOBE’s positions mainly concern Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area, as well as opinions on legislation in the area. This was reported by CEIB, the current rotating chairman of AOBE.

The participants in the meeting discussed the guidelines and priorities of the organization for the current year, which after coordination and approval by members will be officially presented at the traditional press conference of AOBE at the beginning of each year, scheduled for January 25, 2021 at 12.00 in BTA Press Club .