{"id":13592,"date":"2016-12-21T10:14:31","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T10:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sr-management.bg\/will-brexit-affect-bulgaria-uk-relations\/"},"modified":"2016-12-21T10:14:31","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T10:14:31","slug":"will-brexit-affect-bulgaria-uk-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sr-management.bg\/nl\/will-brexit-affect-bulgaria-uk-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Brexit Affect UK-Bulgaria Business Ties?"},"content":{"rendered":"
UK-Bulgaria relations will not be much affected by\u00a0Brexit. T<\/strong>he two countries having extensive bilateral work on border protection, security, education, culture and people-to-people links, said\u00a0Tom Hines<\/strong>, Head of Political Section at the British Embassy in Sofia.<\/h5>\n

Haines made the comment during the first part of a\u00a0discussion titled\u00a0BREXIT<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the British and Bulgarian Business Perspective<\/em>\u00a0organized by the\u00a0British Bulgarian Business Association<\/strong>\u00a0(BBBA<\/strong>) and held on Thursday.<\/p>\n

He underlined\u00a0Britain\u2019s commitment to improving the business climate in the southeastern European nation,\u00a0<\/em>citing his country\u2019s assistance to Bulgaria, by providing expertise and training, on regulatory impact assessments for legislation – a requirement recently passed by the Parliament in Sofia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0is leaving the EU, we are not leaving Europe\u2026 We will remain strong partners with Bulgaria,\u201d Haines added, pointing to the doubling of UK-Bulgaria trade in the past ten years and to his country\u2019s position as the fifth-largest investor in Bulgaria.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0will seek a deal with a maximum freedom on the single market which will be based on \u201ca unique model, not that of Canada or Norway,\u201d he has made It clear.<\/p>\n

“Uncertainty is already affecting the business in Bulgaria,\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

BBBA<\/strong>\u00a0Chairman\u00a0John Munnery<\/strong>\u00a0noted.\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0outsourcing is to some extent on hold until tariff issues are solved and this is \u201ca good reason for Bulgaria to support a soft\u00a0Brexit<\/strong>,” he argued.<\/p>\n

Businesses also want a soft\u00a0Brexit<\/strong>\u00a0as the\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0imports GBP 60 B in goods from the EU, much more than what it exports, he emphasized.<\/p>\n

Britain will seek to have its own laws on migration and insist the access to free market should not be tied to free movement for EU nationals, but will continue to look for seasonal workers and foreign labour. \u201cWe don’t want to see the door shut to foreign workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eighty-five percent of bank managers expect no consequences of\u00a0Brexit\u00a0for the Bulgarian economy,\u00a0said\u00a0Julian Mihov, Director of Market, Industries and Business Development at EY.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Citing the recently published\u00a0EY<\/strong>\u00a0annual banking barometer, he noted\u00a0that, by contrast, around 70% of bankers from European countries believe their businesses will be affected.<\/p>\n

Trade, migration and regulation will be the three critical areas affected by\u00a0Brexit<\/strong>, outlining the possible tax implications for Bulgarian businesses.<\/p>\n

From a Bulgarian business perspective\u00a0Brexit\u00a0may offer lots of trade opportunities, but one has to keep in mind that many\u00a0agreements will stop being active once the\u00a0UK\u00a0leaves the EU, he added.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

While businesses doing cross-border production<\/strong> are currently enjoying the status quo, the change will possibly lead to the introduction of customs duties, administrative complications relating to VAT and change in the place of supply of services, alterations in excise duties and other issues. Withholding taxes will also be affective as EU directives on taxation will not be implemented anymore, and this could create complications e.g. with the payment or royalties, even though Sofia and London already have a separate double tax treaty.<\/p>\n

Problems may arise as regards regulations of the financial sector, personal data protection and telecommunications. For example, EU data protection laws require for user data to be stored on EU-based servers, which may cause a \u201chuge problem for the\u00a0UK<\/strong>,\u201d in the way the United States is experiencing it now.<\/p>\n

Non-applicability of EU legislation might hamper access to the\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0market of Bulgarian companies (those operating in the\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0are primarily from the IT sector\u201d.<\/p>\n

Immigration issues, on the other hand, will trigger the need for work permits and visas<\/strong> \u2013 a problem, considering the limited number of\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0visa centers, he noted. Sectors such as gambling (with a vast\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0business interest in the industry in Bulgaria) and football (with Bulgarian and other EU countries’ players finding more difficulties playing in Britain) may see some repercussions.<\/p>\n

As regards foreign direct investment, however, “[EY<\/strong>] does expect that\u00a0Brexit<\/strong>\u00a0potentially may increase the interest of\u00a0UK<\/strong>\u00a0businesses coming to Bulgaria.”<\/p>\n

Outsourcing activities in Bulgaria will be particularly affected\u00a0<\/strong>by\u00a0Brexit\u00a0as these cover many industries, including manufacturing, and a range of services, warned\u00a0Katerina Kraeva, Partner at law firm Wolf Theiss.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Expectations based on her firm’s analysis are that business process outsourcing will account for around 6% of Bulgaria\u2019s national output by 2024. Apart from the possible increases in customs duties and data transfer issues, uncertainty will loom as to intellectual property, a possible trend for companies to renegotiate their contracts citing\u00a0Brexit<\/strong>, and the need for parties to make a choice of law.<\/p>\n

More than 50 representatives of British, Bulgarian and international companies attended the event, the\u00a0BBBA<\/strong>\u00a0estimates.<\/p>\n

It has also said it intends on organizing more discussions in the months to come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.novinite.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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