My five cents to Bulgarian Dreams..

Orchard Development - is it ready for habitation?

Today I was passing through Bansko and decided to take some pictures of the Orchard Development. This is to show to the public what they should expect out of their investment: This is the mandatory sign for each construction work in progress. Circled in red, is the deadline for finishing the development: Building of the Orchard (probably only phase I). This is the scenery around the developments. Note that there is no suitable road.

Financial status of a Bulgarian company

Recently I’ve been asked about how can one obtain details on the financial status of a Bulgarian company. This is not an easy task to do because of the following: Companies don’t give away details on their financial status willingly Banks don’t reveal details neither if certain company possesses bank accounts, nor the status of these bank accounts. Bank secret can be revealed only by court order Police will present information on whether there are any vehicles registered to a company only upon presenting a court order for that Due to decentralization of the Land Registry in Bulgaria, if you want to check whether a company owns properties, you have to check in each local Land Registry office (more than 40 offices) Of course you can check the annual financial statement of the company in the Commercial Register, but usually you will not find any details there, just numbers.

Claims are being filed against 'Bulgarian Dreams' contractors

If you are reading this, you are probably one of the many English people who think that they’ve lost their life savings in off-plan properties, offered by “Bulgarian Dreams” in the UK. I guess it will be interesting for you to know some facts and tips about the “Bulgarian Dreams” saga in Bulgaria. I’ve acquired all that information during the preparation of several claims against Bulgarian developers. Here are some legal remarks on Bulgarian Dreams’ commercial strategy:

Factoring market in Bulgaria

During the past few years, construction development boosted the economy of Bulgaria. Many companies were registered and trading not only in Bulgaria but within the EU too. Factor financing began to make its niche in Bulgaria. Several banks opened their factoring subsidiary companies, and taking their share of this undeveloped marked. UniCredit Group (Italy) shows: The factoring market in Central and Eastern Europe is growing in annual increments ranging between 20% to 40% from country to country and should maintain this pace over the next couple of years.

About preliminary purchase agreements

As from my practice I see several common MISTAKES, made by property buyers: Not reading your preliminary purchase agreement at all That’s absolute nonsense, but believe me, some people buy without reading the clauses of their preliminary agreements. There are"traps" set buy the property developer which entitles him either to delay without paying a penalty or to decrease your chance of terminating the agreement. Signing without being sure want you sign

Company setup now takes one day!

There are improvements in the Registry Agency at last. The company registration takes now up to one day! This is a huge improvement in the paper processing since the beginning of 2008. The Ministry of Justice seems to have understood that Bulgarian business needs faster Commercial Register. Nevertheless, you have to submit the registration documents online, in order to benefit the shorter registration term. If you submit the company registration documents by hand to the office of the Commercial Register, it will take about several days to have your company set up and running.

Buying off-plan in Bulgaria Act 14, 15 and 16!

When buying second home in Bulgaria, be extremely careful when signing any preliminary agreements. Be sure to check when the property ownership will be transferred, at what moment exactly. The builders usually prefer that they get rid of the apartment/house at the moment of obtaining Act 15. Act 14 This protocol (minutes) is to be drafted by the builder when the construction works of the building reach the so called “rough construction” or shell construction.

Bulgarian lawsuit procedure what to expect

If you happen to be a party in a lawsuit in Bulgaria, you should be aware of the following: Don’t be impatient. Bulgarian Civil Proceedings Code regulates certain terms that have to be taken into consideration The weakest part in a lawsuit is the delivery of subpoenas. All the papers which have to be delivered to the parties, are carried by employees of the court called “призовкари” (subpoena carriers) . The delivery employees are not limited to delivery terms, as the law assumes that there may be troubles finding the parties.

Due diligence report of a company

Why should you bother ordering a due diligence report? Let’s say you want to buy a whole business (part of your M&A strategy to acquire a competitive company). You would not want to buy a business with debts, would you? The due diligence report is the legal service you need. It clears the “big picture” about what you are actually buying. The due diligence report, as you can see from it’s name, is a detailed report about the good standing of the company, in terms of company status, contractual relations, lawsuit status etc.