Bulgaria and Hungary, both leading destinations for foreign direct investment in central and eastern Europe, have been through a tough period. Both countries were hit hard by the economic recession and are now trying to establish stability on an economic as well as on a political level.
Bulgaria — a sluggish economic recovery
The pearl of the Black Sea, Bulgaria is Europe’s 14th largest country, with a population of 7.3 million inhabitants. 2013 was another year in which Bulgaria continued to face the consequences of the Europe-wide recession and the euro zone sovereign debt crisis. Political and economic instability and bureaucracy remain the main obstacles to further development of the country.
One of the reasons for the prolonged crisis in the Bulgarian economy is the long-lasting unfavourable economic situation in the European Union as a whole. The country joined the EU in 2007, and since then GDP has stopped growing, wages have remained