February 11 (BTA) - The French EU Presidency provides a possibility for achieving a consensus solution to the Russia-West tension, the Chairman of the French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB), Stephane Delahaye, told BTA here on Friday.

Stephane Delahaye is Chairman of the French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Director General of Havas Group Bulgaria. Established in 1835, Havas is among the largest communication groups in the world.

Foreign companies are attracted to make investments in Bulgaria not only because of its flat tax rate of 10 per cent but because of the optimized administrative process when registering an enterprise, and the functionality of the justice system, as well, Delahaye said.

The only difficulty the French industrial enterprises face when making investments in Bulgaria is to find workers, he noted, adding that the big question is how many Bulgarians will stay in Bulgaria until 2050. Despite that, Delahaye is optimistic, as the CCIFB is cooperating almost daily with the Bulgarian government in the economic field.

As a NATO member, Bulgaria will eventually be involved in the crisis between Russia and the West, CCIFB Chairman said, adding that not only Bulgaria but the whole region will lose a lot if a military conflict breaks out in Ukraine.

Commenting on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the activity of French companies in Bulgaria, Delahaye said that the enterprises are relatively safe. According to him, the coronavirus caused more difficulties with Asia. There is an increase in transportation costs and therefore, spike in the prices of raw materials.

The upcoming introduction of minimum tax rate of 15 per cent for big companies (decision of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)) will not affect the Bulgarian-French economic activity, the CCIFB Chairman argued. There are 130 countries in OECD which signed an agreement to introduce a minimum tax rate of 15 per cent only for companies with revenue of over 150 million dollars. The minimum tax rate of 15 per cent will not be imposed on the rest of the smaller enterprises and every country can have its own tax system, putting aside the companies with revenue of over 150 million dollars. This means that Bulgaria can keep its current tax system and future relations with French enterprises may remain relatively the same, Delahaye explained.

He stressed that Bulgaria's corporate tax rate of 10 per cent is very low. It is much lower than the Netherlands, Cyprus or Ireland which are considered to be tax havens within the borders of the European Union. Bulgaria is more attractive compared to Cyprus, for example, and yet is not regarded as a tax haven, which is strange, according to Delahaye. The companies are attracted by the optimized administrative process when registering an enterprise and the functionality of the justice system, combined with the low corporate tax rate of 10 per cent, he added.

There are some big French companies which have invested in Bulgaria, such as Latacoere, a manufacturer of airplane doors used by Boing and Airbus who opened a factory near Plovdiv (Central Bulgaria). There are also Schneider (near Plovdiv), Montupet (near Ruse, Northern Bulgaria) and Solvay Sodi (near Devnya, Northeastern Bulgaria), Delahaye told BTA.

In his words, all of these companies praise the quality workforce in Bulgaria. There is a huge interest among big French enterprises for nearshoring - they shift their production in Asia to somewhere nearer to the European union.

CCIFB Chairman stressed that the nearshoring is Bulgaria's true economic opportunity. However, the only setback in the near future could be the lack of workforce, he noted, adding that even now there are a lot of industrial enterprises which do not have enough factory managers or engineers and this could be a disaster for Bulgaria until 2050.

Once more, Delahaye emphasized on CCIFB's cooperation with Bulgaria's new government and especially with Innovation and Growth Minister Daniel Lorer who is a francophile. Delahaye said that he meets and discusses economic topics with Lorer almost daily. LN/KK