site.btaForeign Direct Investment Screening Council to Be Set Up

A Foreign Direct Investment Inter-Agency Screening Council (FDI Council) will be set up under the Council of Ministers following amendments to the Investment Promotion Act approved on second reading on Thursday.

The FDI Council will be in charge of granting permission for FDIs to foreign applicants who meet at least two of the following requirements: their line of business falls within the domains specified in Regulation (EU) 2019/452 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union; the investment involves the acquisition of an at least 10% stake in an enterprise operating in Bulgaria, or the investment surpasses EUR 2 million, two years into the investment project; the investor's capital or management includes a public shareholding from a non-EU country; the investor acquires a company which is not a micro-enterprise, a newly established company with fewer than 10 employees or with less than EUR 2 million in annual turnover in the previous year; or the investor acquires a high-tech company regardless of its annual turnover, staff size or investment threshold.

"Screening" is defined as a procedure allowing to assess, investigate, authorize, condition, prohibit or unwind FDIs. Under this law, screening will be conducted on any FDIs coming from persons who are engaged in activities regulated by the Act on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Associated with Oil and Petroleum Products, as well as any FDIs from sources in Russia or Belarus.

The Council of Ministers is tasked with adopting rules of organization and procedure for the FDI Council within six months of the adoption of the amendments.