business in Bulgaria

Office market highlights for the first half of 2024

When Francesco Frattini visited Bulgaria for the first time, in 1990, the country was in turmoil – the Communist regime had collapsed and the free market was being established. With time and more visits, Mr Frattini began to see a pattern – the country presented many opportunities for businesses, but potential Italian investors were in the dark of how the local law, administration and economy worked. In 2005, after helping an Italian client to invest in real estate in Bulgaria, Mr Frattini decided it was the right time to found his own consultancy, Alias Group.

In the modern world, thousands of companies can reach new markets thanks to the advantages and popularity of e-commerce. However, the timely and reliable logistics and transportation of goods across towns and countries are crucial for their success – and their clients' satisfaction. DHL Express Bulgaria is a company that holds the key towards successful business expansion to new markets and clients and now its services have become better tuned to the needs of an important group of partners – small and mid-size companies.

The adequate digital presence is a must for every business today, regardless of its size, field of activity, ambitions. This simple truth seems self-evident, but it was not always like that. Alen Popović knows this very well. When he founded his company for digital marketing 15 years ago, neither the market, nor the clients understood how important it was to partner with true professionals in this field.

Billboards of all sizes, souvenirs, branded scaffolding mesh, cars and trucks, digitally printed materials of the highest quality – literally at each step of our everyday lives we are surrounded by items and advertisements made by Fresh Print. The company for digital and large format printing was established in 2003 and has gained the deserved reputation of a reliable partner that works with the most advanced technologies and achieves outstanding results.

LIREX is a Bulgarian IT Solution company that strives to help businesses grow and prosper securely, efficiently and reliably. Innovative thinking, part of LIREX's DNA, is embedded in the ability to identify opportunities to optimize work processes and develop innovative customized solutions that make it easier for companies and help them focus on their core business. LIREX specialists therefore have extensive experience in developing bespoke solutions that are tailored to the specific requirements of each business from different industry sectors.

To decipher what the numbers generated by the activities of a company are telling you and to make the best decision stepping on this foundation is a skill that requires talent and experience, and should be perfected for many years. Mariela Spiridonova knows this well. As a registered auditor and certified expert accountant, and professional who has taught for years at Varna's University of Economy, she can understand the secret language of numbers and to find their beauty and importance for every business.

The company has a clear vision for the future and integrates new technologies and AI in different aspects of its activities to provide an even more precise management of projects and financial flows.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step – this old wisdom describes well the evolution and ambition of Benefit Account. The company for accounting and financial services appeared on the Bulgarian market in 2012. Today, it helps companies located not only in Bulgaria and Europe, but also the USA. The founder of Benefit Account, Tanya Staneva, is an expert accountant and a certified auditor with intuition for the needs of the modern local and global businesses and the skill to provide everything needed for their smooth operations.

The professionals at Pro-Fit Business Consult accountancy firm are known for their fluency in the matter and constant improving and updating of their knowledge and skills. Rosica Yordanova, managing partner at the firm, is aware how important this combination is. She is a chief accountant and financial department manager with years of experience, and is in the process of becoming a member of the Certified Public Accountants Association in the UK. She also has rich experience as lecturer in a number of universities, schools and online courses.

In today's global human resources market, where competition for talent is fierce and candidate expectations are constantly evolving, companies face real challenges in finding suitable employees. This demands continuous adaptation and the introduction of new approaches, as well as a re-evaluation of traditional practices for attracting, retaining, and developing talent.

Her HR professional career has taken her to diverse managerial and key positions in some of Bulgaria's leading companies specialising in IT, telecommunication and BPO processes. A driven and visionary professional, she also has a successful HR consultancy practice. Dobromira has an MBA in International Management from the London University, Royal Holloway College and is the member of the Managerial Board of the Bulgarian Association for People Management.

Liliana Vardi, General Manager, tells more.

Which are the "hottest" work positions today, according to the experience of М&L Team?

The "hottest" work positions today include HR analysts, and specialists and experts in the field of healthcare and finance.

What is the greatest challenge for your company on the international market?

Before becoming the HR Manager in BOpartners, Realto Group, in 2022, Yulia Ushovska gathered invaluable experience in a number of fields – from the state administration and the NGO sector to the business. Her successful projects are connected to corporate identity building; preparation of human resources management policies; structural and organisational changes along with mergers and business restructuring; change management; wages and benefits; employees training and development; improvement of corporate work environment and corporate social responsibility.

Vayde Barganova is the deputy manager of Bulmint Recruitment – a leading staff recruitment company. She has a BA in human resources management and an MBA after the model HR Strategic Business Partner Academy with international recognition. Her career in the field of human resources started in 2015. Since then, she has managed a number of projects, both internal for the company and international ones. 

Bulmint Recruitment has been around since 2019. How did the labour market in Bulgaria change in the past five years? 

Managing people and teams to outperform on a regular basis in a fast developing and challenging field such as IT is a hard task that requires the right combination of professionalism, strive for constant learning and perfection, and genuine care for the wellbeing of the employees. Natalia Petkova knows this well. As the HR Director of Eviden Bulgaria, a part of the Atos Group and a leader in technology transformation, she is responsible for the effectiveness and satisfaction of the largest team of such professionals in the field.

The company selects candidates for available positions with attention and professional approach, and effectively supports its corporate clients in their efforts to have motivated and engaged teams. Petar Prodanov, manager of HR-Consultant, tells more. 

Which are the core qualities that you pay attention to when psychologically profiling job candidates? 

Thanks to this innovative approach and young, motivated team, Center Stars has found scores of top candidates for respected BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and SSC (Shared Service Center) companies. We talked to the founder of the agency, Emanuil Manasiev, to learn more.

What are the most sought-after languages and specialists in BPO and SSC companies today?

For both employers and talents, the challenges of the current labor market are many and often – completely new, born by our unique historical situation. Manpower Bulgaria is an HR consultancy that has proven through the years as a smart, adaptable and value-driven partner capable of introducing the right companies to the right people for the available positions. How is this possible? Manpower Bulgaria's General Manager

A family business that starts small but with its striving for perfection and innovation gradually grows into a company that embodies ambition, innovation and expansion to foreign markets: the story of Profilink is an example that with the right mindset Bulgarian industry has potential to change the market. The company was founded in 1992, in Plovdiv, as a producer of PVC rolling shutters. Today, it has a modern, fully automated facility for production of PVC profiles, aluminium extrusion, a facility for recycling of PVC profiles and its own photovoltaic electricity installations.