Vladimir Mitev
Arch. Lyubomir Stanislavov is one of the founders of Automotive Cluster Bulgaria and since 2015 he has been its Executive Director. In 2023, he was elected to the Board of the European Automotive Cluster Network – Europe’s leading network for automotive, mobility and transport clusters. Arch. Stanislavov actively works to attract foreign automotive companies to Bulgaria, as well as on various projects related to the development of the sector.
The Bridge of Friendship spoke with Lyubomir Stanislavov during the United Europe – A Path to Economic Security and Sustainable Integration Forum, which took place on 23 November 2023 in Ruse. The forum presented data on the Romanian and Bulgarian automotive industries. The Romanian automotive industry is made up of 600 companies employing 230 000 people and accounts for 30% of the country’s exports. The Bulgarian automotive industry today represents 10-11% of the country’s GDP and its turnover exceeds EUR 10 billion. There are 380 companies operating in the sector, employing over 80 000 people.
To what extent do the Bulgarian and Romanian automotive industries cooperate?
In my opinion, the truth is that the cooperation between the automotive industry in Bulgaria and the automotive industry in Romania is not enough. Much more can be done than is currently being done. The main reason is that in both Bulgaria and Romania, over 90% of the investors are international companies. They produce their components or finished products to export them to their parent companies somewhere in Western Europe. And in fact, the main Bulgarian-Romanian cooperation in the automotive industry is between local Bulgarian-owned companies working for Romanian contractors or vice versa. But certainly much more is possible.
Doesn’t the presence of car manufacturers like Renault and Ford in Romania encourage more suppliers to appear in Bulgaria?
It does, but not enough. Romanian companies had initiatives before the covid-19 crisis to look for more Bulgarian suppliers. With the onset of the sovereign crisis, these initiatives came to a standstill. At the moment, I hope they will be restored.
And what is the cooperation at the level of branch organisations?
We have communication, but here too I can say that we can do much more than what is happening at the moment.
I imagine that if Bulgaria wants to attract a big investor, there should be some partnership in the region…
It depends what type of investor we are talking about. The trend at the moment is battery manufacturers. In this case, not so much cooperation in the region is needed.
Bulgaria is a leading producer of copper and copper products in Europe. Copper is one of the two most important elements in a battery. This puts Bulgaria in a good position in the supply chain for battery components. Romania, also like Bulgaria, is looking to attract these types of investors and projects have already been officially announced. One is with Japanese and the other is with Austrian investors. Thus, with the Romanians, we are often competitors for attracting certain investors, but at the same time we should be partners when it comes to the supply chain.
Photo: Arch. Lyubomir Stanislavov (source: YouTube)
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