The parliament has adopted at first reading amendments to the Investment Encouragement Act. The changes have been proposed by the Council of Ministers with the purpose to stimulate the investments, to create employment and to open more high productivity jobs.

The bill introduces a new stimulus aimed at investors, which consists at paying back the employer's part of the social security contributions paid by him to newly hired workers for a period of up to 24 months after the job opening. Priority will have investments in the high-tech industries made in economically disadvantaged regions. 

The draft legislation envisages additional stimuli for investors, such as providing permanent resident status or Bulgarian citizenship to foreigners from third countries willing to invest in the country. Among the different categories of investors envisaged by the law are owners of the capital of Bulgarian enterprises, executives or procurators, persons of key importance for the successful business and running of the enterprise.

The amendments authorize the mayor of the municipality where the investment project will be put in place to issue a municipal certificate for class C investment, which is in the category bellow the minimum for class B. The draft bill proposes the creation of additional financial incentives for investors who open more than 50 new jobs.