Bulgaria's Pulev in Sliven: country must not stay on EU periphery, Washington trip next
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Pulev met businesses in Sliven. He announced a trip to Washington focused on the defence industry and new Development Bank instruments for small firms.
Archive image · Photo: Georgi Angelov / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Alexander Pulev met business and local government representatives in Sliven on Saturday. "We are not afraid to look businesspeople in the eye and gather feedback," he said. The government is pursuing accelerated economic development and needs ongoing dialogue with industry, he added.
Pulev said he had led business delegations to China and Indonesia and would next travel to Washington, with a focus on the defence industry. With Prime Minister Rumen Radev he has visited Poland, Belgium, Germany and France. Bulgaria should help shape EU policy rather than remain on the bloc's periphery, he said.
Because of the war in Ukraine, freight is being rerouted via the Trans-Caspian (Middle) Corridor, putting pressure on the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing, where traffic at times exceeds that at the Tijuana-U.S. crossing, Pulev said. Sliven lies about 100 km from the crossing and roughly the same distance from the port of Burgas. The Bulgarian Development Bank is preparing new instruments for small and medium-sized firms, including agricultural cooperatives, and the Fund of Funds has a regional fund for southern Bulgaria.