Moving to Bulgaria: Pros and Cons

Hello everyone. If you're planning a move to Bulgaria, you need to weigh the pros and cons before making this important, life-changing decision.

Please note that we do not work in the real estate or tourism industries, so the information in the video is as is, without any distortions.

Moving to Bulgaria: Pros“ 

Bulgaria's climate is ideal for Europeans and extremely comfortable. Winters are mild and gentle, and summers are warm but not too hot. The country lies in both the continental and Mediterranean climate zones. Therefore, Bulgaria offers the opportunity to further customize its climate to your personal preferences: if you prefer warmer winters, sometimes even snow-free, then coastal cities like Varna or Burgas are ideal. If you don't particularly enjoy the humid climate, then the lowlands and mountains of Bulgaria offer a wide choice. Incidentally, mountains occupy over 401,330 square kilometers of Bulgaria's territory.

Beautiful nature

Bulgaria boasts well-preserved wildlife and natural environments. Its biodiversity is among the richest in Europe, preserved in three national parks, 11 nature parks, 10 biosphere reserves, and 565 protected areas. Ninety-three of Europe's 233 mammal species are found in Bulgaria. Fish are abundant in the sea and lakes, and the forests are home to a wide variety of animals. 

Ecology

Bulgaria's low polluting industries contribute to its good environmental conditions. Bulgaria ranks 30th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index. The interactive world map shows current air quality. The higher the number, the greater the pollution. Pollution figures in the Indian region are impressive, while Bulgaria's air quality is among the cleanest. True, Sofia's air quality isn't ideal, but it has its own unique characteristics. And this is the air quality in Varna. Regarding pollution from other substances, the situation in Bulgaria is also encouraging. 

Roads and transport

Bulgaria is conveniently located in southern Europe and borders Greece, Turkey, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Romania. For example, the closest distance from Bulgaria's border to the Mediterranean Sea is about 50 km, and to Vienna, 900 km. Airports in Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Bucharest, and Istanbul are also within easy reach.

Bulgaria has a well-developed road network of good quality. Bulgaria offers well-maintained and reasonably priced rail and road transport. Taxis in Bulgaria are also comparatively low. 

Society

A Slavic language similar in spelling and understanding, Bulgarian is the only Cyrillic language in the European Union. Many words have the same meaning. Communication in Bulgaria is easy, even for those who don't speak Bulgarian. This is because Russian was a mandatory language in the school curriculum during the Soviet era. Therefore, older people are likely to know or understand Russian. Even today, Russian-language films with Bulgarian subtitles are often broadcast on national television. Russian pop music is sometimes played on the radio. In terms of language, Bulgaria again offers a variety of options. If you don't want to completely abandon the Russian-speaking environment, Varna is also an option. Conversely, if you want to explore more of the outside world, you should choose a place to live outside the Black Sea coast. 

Bulgaria is a country with a very welcoming attitude toward foreigners, including Russian speakers. It often happens that the person you're speaking to switches to Russian on their own. We initially joked that we'd never learn Bulgarian that way. People move to Bulgaria from countries like Germany, the UK, Israel, and the US.

People in Bulgaria are similar in appearance and mentality to us, which helps, especially during the adaptation phase. But in general, people are more polite, tolerant, and friendly, and there's less aggression. You won't see drunks or so-called gopniks on the streets of Bulgaria. You're unlikely to hear swearing in public places or on the streets of Bulgaria. It's not customary to pester strangers on the street in Bulgaria, although this doesn't apply to tourist areas. Animals are also generally treated more humanely. This can be seen by the relaxed behavior of cats and dogs on the streets.

Low crime rate

Bulgaria is a safe country. Of course, there's no such thing as absolute safety anywhere in the world, but our experiences living in Bulgaria for many years, and unbiased statistics, confirm this. According to the most recent data for 2020 (Crime Index for Country) Bulgaria has a higher safety index of 38.55. And its crime rate is lower than in Belgium (45.29), the UK (44.54), Italy (44.24), Ukraine (48.84), Russia (40.60), New Zealand (42.19), Australia (41.67), Canada (40.64), Greece (41.30), the USA (47.70), France (47.37), and many other countries. 

Economy

Bulgaria has a stable currency, the lev. The lev has been pegged to the euro for 20 years! Bulgaria plans to switch to the euro soon. Also, if you live in Bulgaria and have official status, you can apply for a housing loan. Interest rates for permanent residents and citizens are currently around 31% per annum. Those with temporary residence permits are slightly higher.

Culture

Bulgaria is a country with an ancient and rich history and numerous attractions. It is home to 10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

The traditional religion is Orthodoxy

Overall, the quality of education in Bulgaria is higher than in the former CIS countries. There's a wealth of practical teaching material; for example, even schools teach the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, a diploma obtained in Bulgaria is recognized in more countries.

A more transparent health insurance system. For permanent residents of Bulgaria, insurance covers basic services, including dental care.

Availability of 5G network

There's virtually no corruption at the everyday level in Bulgaria. If you're stopped by traffic police, they're unlikely to hold you back just because you're a foreigner. If everything's in order, you'll quickly be on your way with all your money. 

It may seem trivial, but Bulgaria is the only country in the European Union where it's easiest for someone from our country to immigrate, especially if you don't have ancestors of the required nationality. Immigration to many other EU countries is more complicated, more expensive, or time-consuming. There's often no guarantee that immigration will even take place. Those who move to Bulgaria also have a clear path to immigration after living there for a certain period of time. This is called naturalization. The length of time you've lived there depends on your initial legal status. Obtain Bulgarian citizenship, and then you'll have the opportunity to live and work in any EU country.

Moving to Bulgaria: Pros and Cons“

You've probably already heard about the arguments for moving to Bulgaria. Now I'll tell you about what's not talked about or kept quiet about—the arguments against moving to Bulgaria. And let's start with the most important argument.

Economic

If you fall into one of the following categories: a "well-off retiree" with a pension sufficient to support yourself in Bulgaria; a freelancer who works from home and isn't physically tied to an employer's office; a business owner who can manage it remotely; or a property owner who can rent it out; then moving to Bulgaria is highly desirable for you. Bulgaria is the country for you! And you don't need to read the next five paragraphs. The only thing is, you should have some cushion against possible exchange rate fluctuations.

But what if you don't fit into these ideal immigrant categories? What should you do?

Firstly, if you move to Bulgaria under the most common legal statuses, such as "wealthy pensioner" and "company representative," you won't have the right to officially work. You'll still need to provide for your living expenses. However, you'll incur new and significant administrative costs for annual residency renewals. In practice, only official statuses, such as permanent residence and citizenship, grant the right to work in Bulgaria. Today, I won't tell you about official statuses in Bulgaria and how to obtain them; that's a topic for a separate article. 

But even if you're lucky and find a job, considering the additional expenses and basic living costs (you can find out what they are in my video at the link in the description below), it's likely just a matter of making ends meet; prosperity is out of the question, unless you're hired as a CEO of a major corporation.

In practice, even an average, not minimum, salary won't cover your increased expenses, and you'll have to cut back, even on food. Are you ready for such a challenge?

There are, however, some exceptions for those with a temporary residence permit, but I'll discuss them later. Continuing with the economic arguments against it, I'll note that in Bulgaria you must pay for health insurance regardless of your status, and the difference will be in the amount paid. 

There's one option for those with a residence permit, as well as for everyone else, to earn an income in Bulgaria. It's to open your own business by registering your own company. You might say, "That's great, we'll just open our own business in a new country and see how things go." But I have to disappoint you: it's not that simple. The internet is full of stories of people coming to Bulgaria with considerable money, opening a cafe, restaurant, store, or other business, seemingly doing everything right, following the rules, but things didn't work out, wasting their money, and then returning home in disgrace. The sums lost ranged from thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands. And these aren't exceptions to the rule, but rather a trend. The reality is that the vast majority of businesses opened by migrants closed. Only a few survived. Where the business owners had exceptional talent, a ready-made business model that worked for Bulgaria, a lack of strong competitors, and luck—which is crucial.

Why did it happen that emigrants’ businesses closed?

The reasons vary from case to case, but there are common factors as well. The first is the small market. Imagine that Bulgaria's entire population is smaller than, or comparable to, one large region in your country. Moreover, the actual population is even smaller than the census figure. After all, many people work, live, and spend their money in other EU countries.

The second reason is the population's low purchasing power due to comparatively low wages and pensions. People simply don't have any extra money. All expenses are calculated in advance, and a very large percentage of the population lives in debt.

The next reason is intense competition; there are virtually no unoccupied niches. Even if you're a genius and come up with one, you'll be quickly copied. Another reason is the relatively strict tax laws, which are constantly being tightened. For example, a store can be closed and sealed simply because a few extra stotinki are found in the register. Recently, a 95-year-old man in Varna was sentenced to three years in prison, with half of his property confiscated, for tax evasion. He simply lent money to people during the turbulent 1990s and never paid his taxes.

If you open a business, keep in mind that the threshold for converting to VAT in Bulgaria is minimal: just €25,000 per year, and it's not a calendar-based threshold, but a voluntary one. To become a VAT payer, you must pay 20 stotinki per leva of turnover, and then, on any remaining income, you must pay 10%. Add to this various monthly insurances, office, space, or store rent, utilities, accounting services, and so on. Banking services for businesses are also more expensive in Bulgaria (monthly rates start at €12).

Every bank payment is subject to a fee, whether within the country or within a single bank. Incidentally, opening a company in Bulgaria is easy, quick, and inexpensive. Closing it, however, can be very time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. In Bulgaria, the tax office monitors platforms like OLX and Avito. They also monitor courier companies. If you sell something and the amount exceeds a certain amount, the tax office will call you and demand you pay taxes. Therefore, we strongly advise against starting a business in Bulgaria. It's much easier, simpler, and more profitable to start your own business at home. You'll have a perfect understanding of the native language, the mentality and preferences of your clients, the pitfalls of doing business, the laws, a much larger market, and other advantages.

And don't forget, this is a foreign country. If something goes wrong, you're unlikely to qualify for any social assistance.

To summarize the economic "cons." Bulgaria is a wonderful country where it's good to live and... spend money. But under no circumstances to earn money. 

Society

Despite the similarity of languages and spellings, in practice it turns out that in words that are spelled the same, the stress will, at best, be different. Or they may have an entirely different meaning (work Russian — work BG, monitor Russian — monitor BG, bus Russian — bus BG). For example, words like: pravova BG — straight (Russian meaning), stol BG — chair (Russian meaning), zhivot — life (Russian meaning). Despite the apparent simplicity of the Bulgarian language at first glance, learning it in practice is difficult because there are significant differences. Many Russian-speaking people living in Bulgaria, after many years, still haven't mastered Bulgarian to a passable level, and not necessarily because they didn't study, but simply couldn't. Another factor needs to be taken into account. The older a person is when they immigrate to another country, the more difficult it is for them to learn a new language. This rule also applies to the entire process of adapting to a new country. 

Oddly enough, we didn't find any other arguments against it other than "Economics" and "Society." Even if someone claims that something else was the reason for returning home, if we dig deeper, it turns out that "Economics" and/or "Society" were the primary reasons for their return.

Video version of the article:

https://youtu.be/etqFZ7441Qg