Deputy Prime Minister Marianna Nikolova and more than 400 representatives of diplomatic missions, the executive and legislative branches, business, trade unions and non-governmental organizations were part of the official celebration of the 23rd birthday of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA).

“I would like to thank all of you who are here, as well as those who were not able to come but took the time to congratulate BICA on its 23rd birthday. For us, this is a recognition of the constructive and objective position of the Association. We send a successful year for both BICA and Bulgaria. GDP growth will exceed 3.5%, unemployment is below the sanitary minimum, we have income growth over 10% and productivity growth of about 3-3.5%. This places us 5th in the EU in GDP growth. Such are the forecasts for the next 2 years, during which we expect Bulgaria to be in the top five again. But things can get better and BICA will do its best to carry out all the necessary reforms”, said BICA’s Chairman Vassil Velev.

The employers’ organization will continue to work in order to boost the economic growth of the country, whose main “hindrances” remain the increasing shortage of labor resources and insufficient liberalization of labor immigration. Fighting the gray economy that BICA has been committed to over the past 10 years will once again be a key priority. In 2020, BICA will continue to work on a number of reforms in sectors such as energy, education, labor law.

The Association calls for more consistency and sustainability in defining state policies for the development of the electricity sector, while respecting the principles of competitiveness, transparency and equal treatment. BICA expects that good cooperation with the Ministry of Education will lead to the finalization of the reform of vocational and higher education, which will in the coming years prepare the necessary business personnel for key sectors of the economy. In addition, the expectations of the Bulgarian business are to work for the elimination of the minimum social security thresholds, the administrative determination of the minimum wage and the improvement and development of the second and third pension pillars through the introduction of multifunds, the determination of a fair rate of reduction of the first pension, and better regulations.

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The event was sponsored by:

On 18 November 2019, the European Commission (EC) announced the composition of the High Level Forum of the Capital Markets Union (CMU). 28 experts from the business and finance sector, non-governmental organizations and other institutions will contribute, share their ideas and experiences for the next stage of the development and finalization of the Capital Markets Union project. The Forum is made up of three subgroups focused on:

• Creating an ecosystem that allows for easy capital raising, with particular attention to innovative SMEs;
• developing the structure of the European capital market, paying particular attention to how new financial technologies can support this process;
• choice of investments and accessibility to services in the capital markets to encourage greater participation of individual and small investors.

The Chairwoman of the Association of Investor Relations Directors in Bulgaria and a member of the Capital Markets Council of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, who is also (as of October 2019) presiding the National Corporate Governance Committee, Ms. Daniela Peeva, was elected to represent the interests of the small markets in the first subgroup: creating an ecosystem that allows for easy capital raising, with particular attention to innovative SMEs.

The Forum started its work on November 26, 2019 and aims to present a set of recommendations on Union capital market policy by the end of May 2020.

“I hope that with my professional expertise I will contribute to discussing the future of the European Capital Markets Union, but the most important task I set for myself is to be the voice in small markets that have specific needs and which mostly suffer from over-regulation, lack of investor interest and liquidity”, said Daniela Peeva.

The decision of the employers to leave the Tripartite Council was also supported due to the lack of an adequate solution to the problem of hospitalization.

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The Action Plan for Financing EU Sustainable Growth was presented and discussed during the meeting of the National Council of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) on Friday. Its aim is to refocus capital flows towards sustainable investment, improve the management of financial risks arising from climate change and aggravate social problems. The European Commission has already submitted a package of three legislative proposals – a disclosure regulation, a benchmarking regulation and a taxonomy regulation, with the first two already adopted. The taxonomy regulation is expected to be adopted by the end of 2019.

“We work with BICA very actively in Expert Group 26 and we seek to consult all regulations concerning business. This is also the reason why I urge you to look at the report of the technical expert group on taxonomy and the real sector. It includes 67 economic activities to reduce climate change in 7 sectors, including energy, transport, agriculture, manufacturing and buildings. I expect you to point out other sustainable activities that have not been included, but you think it is important for us to submit them for consideration”, said Christina Pendicheva – a representative of the Ministry of Finance, Financial Markets Regulation Directorate.

According to her, the new regulations will promote sustainable activities carried out by asset managers and institutional investors, at this stage mainly environmental activities. Subsequently, social and management activities will be included.

Members of BICA’s National Council also endorsed the decision of the Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers (AOBE) to suspend participation in the National Tripartite Cooperation Council pending the submission of adequate proposals to curb hospital abuse. BICA strongly rejects the continuation of the corporate crisis-imposed measure in 2010 to pay the first three days of sick leave. By virtue of this lucrative additional commitment, they are actually taxed three times – through the insurance contributions they pay, through the benefits for the first three days of temporary disability, which they pay, and by the payment of additional wages for replacement workers.

This was also the next meeting of the National Council, where the employers’ organization accepted new members and further increased its representativeness in the country. The large BICA family was joined by the Elevator Manufacturers Association, the Free Energy Market Association, the Chamber of Professional Appraisers and more.

The Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have renewed their cooperation agreement and extended it. The document was signed by UNIDO Director General Li Yong and BICA’s Secretary General Dr. Milena Angelova at the headquarters of the international organization in Vienna. The agreement enables the most representative employer organization in Bulgaria to receive and exchange knowledge, experience, information and technologies that will contribute to improving the productivity of the Bulgarian economy.

At the end of 2016, BICA became the first employer organization in Bulgaria to start a partnership with UNIDO. Co-operation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization is an important element in achieving BICA’s Sustainable Development Goals and in assisting members of the Organization in accessing information and good practices in this area.

The Partnership Memorandum empowers both organizations to develop projects and policies to increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises to tackle key global challenges such as digitalization and cybersecurity, to balance knowledge and skills of the future workforce and the use of new technologies.

“It is an honor for BICA to extend its cooperation with UNIDO. We are also determined to explore further opportunities to deepen our partnership, including by supporting UNIDO’s technical cooperation activities, launching joint capacity building initiatives, and sharing experience and good practices with other Member States of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization”, said BICA’s Secretary General Dr. Milena Angelova at the signing.

Dr. Angelova welcomed the idea of ​​BICA’s involvement in capacity building for UNIDO Member States that were candidates for EU membership, with regard to the preparation of project applications for Union Structural Funds. She expressed confidence that the Bulgarian government would be interested in supporting such actions.

UNIDO was established in 1966 with the primary objective of promoting industrial development and productivity gains, leading to poverty reduction in developing countries. In 1985, UNIDO was transformed and is now a specialized agency of the United Nations with the mandate to promote and assist in accelerating sustainable industrial development in developing countries and transition economies. Bulgaria has been a full member of UNIDO since 1985.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) presented the “Business to the Rules” awards for the sixth consecutive year. The awards were presented at an official ceremony in Sofia Hotel Balkan, and guests of the event were Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria Tomislav Donchev, Mayor of Sofia Municipality Yordanka Fandakova, Chairmen of the Committees to the 44th National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria – Committee on European Affairs and control of European funds Christian Vigenin and Legal Affairs Committee Anna Alexandrova, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Biser Petkov, Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova, ambassadors and more than 100 presentations and the government Sofia municipality, businesses, NGOs and social partners.

General Labor Inspectorate Executive Agency took the prize in the category “For a person or organization that contributed to the restriction and prevention of the informal economy through an active position”. The distinction was awarded for efforts to update the system for online submission, registration and reporting of templates for short-term seasonal farm work in a timely manner. The Director of the Risk Management Directorate at the NRA Nikolai Petkov, the Director of the Copyright and Related Rights Directorate at the Ministry of Culture Mehti Melikov and the Institute for Market Economics also received certificates in the category.

The Member of Parliament Hristian Mitev won the award for “For a legislative act or administrative practice that results in limiting the informal economy and improving the business environment”. The bill submitted by him for amendment of Art. 37, para. 2 of the Accounting Act, which reduced administrative and financial burdens for small businesses in the light, beat the competition of the National Revenue Agency, the Ministry of Tourism and the Legal Affairs Committee of the 44th National Assembly, which were honored with diplomas.

Deutsche Welle’s Bulgarian edition is this year’s winner in the category “Journalist or media contributing to changing public attitudes towards intolerance to the informal economy”. The other nominees and recipients of the award were Nova TV journalist Georgi Georgiev, presenters of Bloomberg TV Bulgaria’s Business Start on Zivka Popatanasova and Hristo Nikolov, and bTV reporter Nelly Todorova.

The nominations for the awards were made through a broad public consultation among the members of Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, all social partners, members of the Public Council for Restriction and Prevention of the Informal Economy, comprising representatives of a number of state institutions, and the media. The winners were cast by secret ballot from a large expert jury consisting of over 100 distinguished personalities: prominent economists, public figures, media representatives, members of the BICA’s National and Control Councils, the Public Council for the Restriction and Prevention of the Informal Economy, etc.

The competition aims to highlight and reward leading institutions and individuals with an active position and contribution to limiting gray practices. Thus, for a consecutive year, the BICA encourages active action in the fight against the informal economy and promotes the constructive role of business in society for improving the socio-economic environment.

For the past year, the Composite Index on Light Economy, by which BICA measures the bright part of the Bulgarian economy, rose by a record 4.55 points to 79.10. The Association has seen a clear trend of accelerating the shrinking dynamics of the “gray” economy over the past four years, falling to 21% in 2018.

French Federation of Local Public Enterprises (FedEpl) got acquainted with the best practices of municipal companies in the two largest Bulgarian municipalities – the Metropolitan Municipality and the Municipality of Plovdiv. The visit of the French delegation for the exchange of experience was organized with the assistance of Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA).

The Bulgarian Employers’ Organization is a member of the European Center for Employers and Enterprises with Public Participation and Enterprises providing Services of General Interest (CEEP). Through its membership, BICA draws experience and brings to the Bulgarian socio-economic environment the best models and practices of the European economic model.

“The development of services of general interest play an extremely important role in ensuring the social, economic and territorial cohesion of EU countries. They are vital for sustainable development in terms of employment, economic growth, social integration and the environment, both individually and in Europe as a whole. I am delighted that we have the opportunity to create partnerships between Bulgarian and French companies providing services of general interest, “said Assoc. Prof. Borislav Velikov, Member of the BICA’s National Council and Vice Chairman of the SEER Water Working Group.

During the meeting in Sofia, public enterprises such as Sofia Municipal Investment Agency, Sofia Real Estate, and the Center for Urban Mobility were presented. The French delegation also visited the third ray of the subway, as well as bio-waste treatment facilities.

Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, Honorary President of the FedEPl European Committee Jean-Leons DuPont, Secretary-General of BICA and Vice-President of the European Economic and Social Committee in charge of Budget Dr. Milena Angelova, members of the National Council participated in the meeting of BICA, as well as over 20 representatives of public companies in France.

The French Federation of Local Public Enterprises (FedEpl) was established in 1956. It has a membership of 1 300 local public enterprises employing 65,300 people. The total annual turnover of the companies is nearly EUR 14 billion.

Each year, the French Federation organizes exploratory visits for its members to different European countries in order to obtain more information on the work of local authorities there and how they develop services of general interest. In the last five years, the French Federation of Local Public Enterprises has become familiar with the experience in Hamburg, Seville, Bologna, Vienna and Stockholm.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association and the Ambassador of Guatemala in Israel Mario Bukaro discussed possibilities for enhancing business cooperation between the two countries. It is expected that by the end of July the most representative employer organization in Guatemala and the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce will sign a cooperation agreement. This was made clear after a meeting between representatives of BICA’s Board of Directors and the Guatemalan ambassador, who is in Bulgaria to hand over his credentials.

The purpose of the agreement is to contribute to better interaction between companies from both countries. During the meeting, the Chairman of BICA Vasil Velev and Ambassador Mario Bucaro stated their readiness to organize a special video seminar, during which Bulgarian and Guatemalan companies will get acquainted with the conditions for doing business and investment opportunities in the countries. A special business delegation from the Central American country is also expected to visit the second half of 2019.

“I believe that together we can contribute to increasing trade relations between Bulgaria and Guatemala. I believe that we can work to increase trade, and we see enormous potential in areas such as the chemical and food industries, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, as well as in tourism”, said Vasil Velev.

During the meeting, the Chairman of BICA presented the activities of an employer organization in Bulgaria and the branch chambers that are members of it.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) and  Health Prevention Center gather over 100 international and Bulgarian health prevention experts on June 13 and 14 in Plovdiv. Specialists from Germany, Austria, Macedonia and Bulgaria will participate in a conference and seminar on “Health prevention – European policies and practices”. The forum will be held under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Demographic Policy Mariana Nikolova.

For the first time on June 13, our country will host an international conference on prevention of occupational safety and health, which will bring together representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Ministry of Health, higher education institutions, employers and trade unions, non-governmental organizations, enterprises.

The event will address and discuss the challenges to the field of health prevention both in our country and in Europe, the introduction of European practices to improve the health and productivity of society. The selected topics of the conference are particularly important and relevant, given the forthcoming health care reform, in which health prevention, according to the National Health Strategy 2020, should be prioritized by the state and business.

The media are invited to attend the conference on June 13 (Thursday), which will start at 10:00 (with registration at 9:30) and will be held in the Imperial Hall of the Imperial Hotel in Plovdiv. You will find a conference program in the app.

Following the international conference, on June 14th, at a special seminar, Bulgarian specialists in this field will have the opportunity to learn about the German and Austrian experience in the prevention of occupational safety and health, as well as the tools for maintaining and strengthening employees.

For the seminar, it is extremely important to note that a presentation by the General Labor Inspectorate under the Disabled Persons Act will be presented.

Apart from her leadership, clarifications will be given on the implementation of the Internal Rules for Verification under the Disabled Persons Act, the criteria for exemption from mandatory quotas of 2% for hiring persons with permanent disability (50% or more), as well as the possibilities for use of alternative employment.

The Internal Rules are expected to be approved by the date of the seminar.

As the response time from employers is limited, this will be of the utmost importance for all Human Resources and OSH Departments of enterprises with more than 50 staff.

Preferential price for the seminar for the members of the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria, the Association for Occupational Medicine and the National Association for Health and Safety at Work – 110 BGN.

24Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) and MEP’s Maria Gabriel discussed the “10-point Plan for a Competitive Industry for a Sustainable Social Europe”. The document was prepared by the European sectoral employers’ organization CEEMET, which employs 49% of EU manufacturing workers. In early March, BICA General Assembly fully endorsed the Plan’s findings and proposals.

“For voters, the position of the 10-point MP candidates will certainly be a very important guide in deciding who to vote for. The European industry – metalworking, mechanical engineering, electronics, ICT and related technologies – depends on the overall presentation of the overall EU economy. We all want a significant increase in funding for education, better healthcare and higher pensions. The point is that in order to earmark these funds, we have to devise them. And that means first and foremost increasing productivity with the combined efforts of managers, employers and workers, “said BICA Chairman Vasil Velev.

Mr. Velev stressed that the European social model can only be supported by a globally competitive European industry and recalled that although 7% of the world population lives in Europe and generates 22% of world GDP, the 28 countries, member states account for 40% of the world’s social spending. He urged urgent measures to tackle the European labor force shortage by targeting young people with education and qualifications in the sciences, mathematics, engineering, digital technology and making vocational education and training the most preferred choice , including through European Mathematics Mathematics and European scholarships for scarce professions.

BICA has been alarming for years about the growing problem of human resources shortage and has been working systematically to bring the admission plan in Bulgaria in line with the labor market demand, as well as to increase the attractiveness of professions of key importance for Bulgaria’s competitiveness. and preventing the leakage of specialists abroad. However, these crucial reforms will only come to fruition in a few years. On the other hand, the demographic picture and trends make it clear that the only realistic approach to dealing with the deficit is the recruitment of third parties. For this purpose, the so-called Bulgarian card / instead of European Blue Card /, which entitles you to stay and work in the country for a period of 5 years. He also emphasized the need for specific solutions to address the shortage of staff in Bulgaria by facilitating the issuance of residence and work permits in the country through bilateral agreements with third countries and a more flexible labor market.

The current Commissioner has expressed his full support on most of the points in the Plan. In the words of Maryia Gabriel, it is of the utmost importance that the EU restart work on re-industrializing Europe so that it can keep up and compete with the US, China, Russia and India. She also called for less regulation at EU level, saying she would work to create more regulations and fewer directives.

According to the employer organization, consultation with industry should become a natural reflex of politicians at all levels and serve to find solutions to the problems of the real economy and its companies. This will ensure that they are fit for global competition and provide quality jobs, funding social Europe. Particular attention was also given to the need to encourage SMEs and to implement specific support measures, especially with regard to access to finance and to meet the challenges of digitalisation. The AICB has requested support for changing the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises at European level to meet the new economic realities. Because of this definition, SMEs are often outside the scope of European programs, with more than 500 enterprises important to our country being harmed in Bulgaria alone.

BICA has asked future MEPs to work with social partners to better invest European funds from the next Multi Annual Financial Framework, which will focus on initiatives to acquire the right skills in new labor market conditions and business requirements. They insisted on taking into account the views of business and social partners when setting funding priorities and formulating and implementing important policies through joint actions by social partners.

During the talks, special emphasis was placed on our country’s membership of the OECD. As EC Special Representative in the G20, Maria Gabriel has committed to lobbying the representatives of the twenty most developed countries.

The meeting also discussed the possibility of setting up a European Labor Office office in Bulgaria, EU financial instruments such as InvestEU and Horizon Europe, free trade, education and digitalization.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) and the VMRO MEP candidates discussed the opportunities of Bulgarian representatives in the new European Parliament to work to improve the business climate and support Bulgarian industry and SMEs. On the eve of the election, the employer organization sought the candidates’ position on the “10-point Plan for a competitive industry for a sustainable Social Europe”. The document was prepared by the European sectoral employers’ organization CEEMET, which employs 49% of EU manufacturing workers.

B representatives asked each of the future Bulgarian MEPs to work together with the social partners to ensure better investment of European funds in the next Multi Annual Financial Framework, by revising the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises, facilitating state aid regimes and – fair agricultural policy to the new Member States. They insisted on taking into account the views of business and social partners when setting funding priorities and formulating and implementing important policies through joint actions by social partners.

“BICA has been alarming for years about the growing problem of human resources shortages and works systematically to bring the reception plan in Bulgaria in line with the demand on the labor market, and to increase the attractiveness of professions with a key to Bulgaria’s competitiveness importance and prevention of the leakage of specialists abroad. However, these crucial reforms will only come to fruition in a few years. On the other hand, the demographic picture and trends make it clear that the only realistic approach to dealing with the deficit is the recruitment of third parties. For this purpose, the so-called A Bulgarian card (not a European Blue Card) that entitles you to reside and work in the country for a period of 5 years”, said a Vice Chairman of BICA Nikola Zikatanov during the meeting. Mr. Dzhambazki agreed that the shortage of human resources is an acute problem and stressed and there is a need to actively work with the Bulgarian diaspora to provide education and work opportunities in Bulgaria.

According to employers, consultation with industry must become a natural reflex of politicians at all levels and serve to find solutions to the problems of the real economy. This will ensure that it is fit for global competition and provides quality jobs, funding social Europe. Particular attention was also paid to the need to encourage SMEs and to implement support measures, especially with regard to access to finance and to meet the challenges of digitalisation.

According to Nikola Zikatanov for the voters, the position of the candidates for the 10-point Plan will be a very important guide in deciding who to vote for. The European industry – metalworking, mechanical engineering, electronics, ICT and related technologies – depends on the overall presentation of the overall EU economy. He added that for a sharp increase in education, better health and higher pensions, there should be productivity gains that require the combined efforts of managers, employers and workers.

BICA firmly stated that the European social model can only be supported by a globally competitive European industry and recalled that, although 7% of the world population lives in Europe and generates 22% of world GDP, the 28 countries, Member States account for 40% of social spending worldwide.

Other topics discussed by the BICA and VMRO representatives were the possibilities of joining forces for an active promotional campaign to elect Bulgaria as the seat of the European Labor Authority, the termination of state aid for the so-called. US headquarters, reducing the EU’s over-regulation on business, securing our country’s membership of the OECD.