Legal Blog

Ship arrest in Bulgaria Varna and Burgas Black Sea ports

The ship arrests in Bulgaria can be executed in one of the two Bulgarian Black Sea ports - Varna and Burgas. The legal regime of the ship arrest is described in the following statutory regulations, effective in Bulgaria: International Convention related to Sea-going ships, Geneva 1999 [PDF] Bulgarian Merchant Shipping Code [DOC] Executing a commercial ship arrest in a Bulgarian sea port Pursuant to the International convention, the ship arrest in Bulgarian sea port can be executed against a commercial ship only, regardless the flag under which it is registered under.
The biggest mistake when dissolving Bulgarian company

There are two main reasons why foreigners dissolve their Bulgarian limited companies: They failed to re-register by end of 2012 or They want their property on their personal names Regarding the first point, we have alarmed in the past few years that all companies in Bulgaria which haven’t been re-registered or dissolved voluntarily, will be subject to compulsory liquidation by the government. According to §5а paragraph 1 of Companies Register Act, the deadline for voluntary dissolving of the non-reregistered companies is set to 31 January 2015, which is just 6 months away.
Inheriting company in Bulgaria made easy

Following the 2003-2008 property rush, many Brits and Irish have bought properties in Bulgaria through limited companies. Some investors were in their retirement age, hoping to get their last years spent in new Bulgarian home. Due to complicated parent-children relations, in case of death of the company owner (or shareholder), the lawful heirs often couldn’t find the property or even company details. Sometimes, a further problem is the complicated shares structure of the company.
Bulgaria breaches the Apostille Convention

This post is consequence of my week struggle with the Bulgarian Commercial Register’s reckless breach of the Apostille Convention. Bulgaria has signed the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (its official full name) and it is effective for Bulgaria since its adoption by the Bulgarian Pаrliament and promulgation in the state Gazette on 30.04.2001. Purpose of apostille Apostille’s purpose is to remove the bureaucracy when official document, issued in one signatory state is used in another signatory state.
Certification of documents in the Bulgarian Embassy in London

This blog post was provoked by my visit in the Bulgarian embassy in London today. An English fellow was standing in the queue in front of me waiting to certify some documents, clearly given to him by a Bulgarian solicitors firm (there was a letterhead document in his hands). These documents were prepared for registration of a new Bulgarian limited company. I was quite surprised when he asked the Bulgarian Consul to certify all documents he had.
Unpaid council and state tax and the consequences

We had few clients who have bought houses in the villages around Varna. They purchased a house as an impulsive buy and never really had the intention to live in it. After they left for UK, the house was left and never maintained. Often the holiday home buyers don’t think about the tax consequences of owning a property abroad. It’s not just having a place in the sun. Obligations of the property owner in Bulgaria Whether you buy your property in Bulgaria on personal name or through a company, you have to submit a declaration to the local town council.
Purchase of debts (factoring)

In 2008, I was talking about the development of the factoring Market in Bulgaria. The credit crisis was in its peak and the few factoring companies in Bulgaria were progressing in their business. These factoring companies were sole owned by few banks. However there were also other private limited companies which deal mostly with debt portfolio purchases and debt collection. The latter have increased their market share due to the fact that they were sub-contracted by the banks to collect bad debts and foreclosures expenses.
Company Liquidation of Your Bulgarian Company

As Bulgarian qualified solicitors, we were among the first ones in 2008 to alarm the foreign property owners of the compulsory liquidations that would follow if they had fail to re-register their holding limited companies. Now the liquidation process has been initiated and there are still property owners that have no idea of the legal process going on in Bulgaria. Therefore this blog article is to alarm all those property owners, who has limited companies and haven’t re-registered them by the end of 2012.
How to Make a Bulgarian Will

Many Britons and Irish who own properties in Bulgaria are turning to me with the question how to make a Bulgarian will. There is a huge difference between the Bulgarian Wills and Probate process and the UK one. That’s why the Bulgarian will has to be drafted as much close to the UK requirements as possible. Before we go through the details how you can make a will in Bulgaria, we have to clarify some jurisdiction specific topics.
Can I swap my Bulgarian house for another one?

Have you ever been in the situation when you buy a holiday home overseas but you haven’t been sure if you want to live in it? May be not, but may be you will some time in the future. In this short article I will explain if it is possible to swap your Bulgarian house for another one, also located in Bulgaria, but on different place. Why would you want to swap a Bulgarian house for another Bulgarian one?