Foreigners are actively buying housing in Bulgaria, forming a significant share of transactions in the real estate market, according to local specialized associations and agencies.
According to the Bulgarian Real Estate Association, in 2024-2025 the greatest interest is shown by citizens of the UK, Germany, Greece, Israel, Romania and Ukraine. The most demanded objects on the Black Sea coast (Varna, Burgas, Nessebar) and in mountain regions popular for winter tourism (Bansko, Pamporovo).
Top 10 countries of real estate buyers in Bulgaria (2024-2025):
UK
Germany
Greece
Israel
Romania
Turkey
Italy
Russia
Ukraine
Poland
Experts note that the demand of foreigners stimulates the growth of prices: over the year the cost of housing in seaside resorts increased by 8-10% on average, in Sofia – by 6-7%. Apartments in new buildings in the middle segment (from €60 thousand), as well as apartments for rent to tourists remain popular.
Ukrainians are firmly entrenched in the top ten foreign buyers: their interest is due to both temporary relocation because of the war, and investment motives – the possibility of renting out housing in resort cities.
At the same time analysts predict further growth of demand from citizens of Ukraine and Israel, as well as revival of interest from EU countries, where housing prices are much higher than in Bulgaria.
Ukrainian businessmen and representatives of the diaspora will remain the main investors in the Ukrainian hotel market in 2023–2025, according to Apartel Resorts partner Yevgeny Kudryavchenko in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“We are seeing activity from local entrepreneurs who are looking for long-term investment opportunities. At the same time, Ukrainians who work abroad and want to invest in their homeland are increasingly showing interest. Foreign funds are still taking a wait-and-see approach, but interest in the segment has already emerged,” he said.
According to the expert, in the coming years, we can expect a gradual expansion of the circle of investors, including foreign development companies and real estate funds.
Apartel resorts is a development company specializing in apart-hotel and hotel real estate projects in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian baking industry operates in a highly competitive environment with low profitability, according to Oleksandr Taranenko, president of the All-Ukrainian Bakers Association.
“We bakers only know about 10% profitability from stories. Most companies operate with a margin of 5%, and sometimes even lower. At the same time, costs are constantly rising. For example, the rise in electricity prices has added 1% to the cost price, and this increase cannot be immediately passed on to the price – it takes months,” he said.
According to him, this is why forecasts of a 15-20% increase in the price of mass-market bread are not related to manufacturers’ desire to increase profits, but to the need to compensate for increased costs.
“Bakers are forced to raise prices. This is not an attempt to make a profit, but an attempt to survive. When production costs rise and prices cannot be changed quickly, companies simply go into the red,” Taranenko emphasized.
Afina Group LLC, whose beneficiaries are Ruslan Shostak and Valery Kiptik, co-owners of the EVA and Varus chains, paid UAH 608.1 million for 100% of the shares of the privatized Vinnytsia Pobythkhim PJSC, according to the press service of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU).
“Once again, we are seeing a positive outcome of large-scale privatization: a nationalized asset that previously belonged to a Russian business subject to sanctions has returned to the Ukrainian economy. This is a double victory for the state: we are eliminating the influence of the aggressor country and at the same time receiving more than UAH 600 million, which has already been transferred to the budget and will be used for the country’s recovery. Privatization shows that even in the difficult conditions of war, we can attract investment, preserve jobs, and create new opportunities for business and economic development in general,” emphasized Ivanna Smachylo, acting head of the SPFU.
The funds have already been transferred to the budget and will be directed to the Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression for the restoration of the country.
As reported, in August, AFINA Group won an online auction for the privatization of the nationalized Vinnytsia Chemical Plant, offering UAH 608.136 million against the initial price of UAH 301.406 million.
Earlier it was reported that on July 31, 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) upheld the Ministry of Justice’s claim to apply sanctions to the Russian JSC Nevskaya Kosmetika in the form of confiscating 100% of the shares of the Ukrainian PJSC Vinnytsia Pobyutkhim to the state.
In July 2022, the seized assets of Vinnytsia Pobyutkhim were transferred to the National Agency for the Detection, Investigation, and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA).
As a result of a competitive selection process held in July 2023, the right to resume operations and become the asset manager was granted to Kraytex-Service LLC, part of the Afina Group. Kraytex-Service later announced that it would invest UAH 400 million in launching production at Vinnytsia Pobyutkhim.
ARMA ceased management of the asset in April 2025 and transferred it to the State Property Fund of Ukraine for further sale. According to the National Agency, during the period of management of the seized asset, almost UAH 100 million was transferred to the state budget.
While managing the plant, Afina Group launched production of its own brands, Vuhastyk and Sarmix, at its facilities. As previously commented to Interfax-Ukraine, the company plans to continue production of these brands after completing all the stages of ownership registration required by law: settlement of accounts and signing of a purchase and sale agreement with the State Property Fund, passing a comprehensive check on the participant’s compliance with the requirements of the law, confirmation of the absence of prohibitions and sanctions, as well as the official transfer of the object to the new owner.
According to data from YouControl, in the first half of 2025, Afina Group LLC increased its revenue by 10.8% to UAH 1 billion 517.25 million, with a net loss of UAH 156.09 million compared to a net profit of UAH 44.01 million in the first half of 2024.
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The majority of Ukrainians express a positive attitude towards Switzerland, although a significant number of respondents remain neutral. This is evidenced by the results of an all-Ukrainian sociological survey conducted by Active Group in cooperation with the Experts Club information and analytical center in August 2025.
According to the data, 60.3% of Ukrainians have a positive attitude towards Switzerland (42.0% – mostly positive, 18.3% – completely positive). Only 1.7% of respondents expressed a negative attitude (1.3% – mostly negative, 0.3% – completely negative). At the same time , 36.7% remain neutral, and 1.7% said they did not have enough information about the country.
“For Ukrainians, Switzerland is associated with reliability, stability and humanitarian support that the country provides in difficult times. The high level of trust reflects the positive image of Switzerland, despite its certain detachment from global politics,” commented Alexander Poznyi, co-founder of Active Group.
In his turn, Maxim Urakin, founder of Experts Club, focused on economic ties:
“In the first half of 2025, trade between Ukraine and Switzerland exceeded $928 million. At the same time, Ukrainian exports amounted to only $44 million, while imports from Switzerland reached almost $884 million. The negative balance of more than $839 million is significant, indicating Ukraine’s significant dependence on imports from this country,” he emphasized.
The survey was part of a broader program of research on international sympathies and antipathies of Ukrainians in the current geopolitical context.
The full video is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgC9TPnMoMI&t
You can subscribe to the Experts Club YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Poznyi, SOCIOLOGY, SWITZERLAND, TRADE, URAKIN
Ukrainians are mostly neutral about the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but among those who have a definite opinion, positive assessments significantly outweigh negative ones. This is evidenced by the results of a sociological study conducted by Active Group in collaboration with the analytical center Experts Club.
According to the survey, 53.7% of respondents took a neutral position on the UAE. At the same time, 38.3% of Ukrainians expressed a positive attitude (7.3% — completely positive, 31.0% — mostly positive). Only 6.3% of respondents had a negative opinion of the country (1.7% — completely negative, 4.7% — mostly negative). Another 1.7% responded that they were not familiar with this country.
“Ukrainians perceive the UAE as a modern country with a developed economy that attracts tourists and business. Despite the remoteness of the region, the country’s image remains consistently positive,” said Alexander Pozniy, head of Active Group.
In turn, Maksim Urakin, co-founder of Experts Club, emphasized the stability of trade and economic relations between Ukraine and the UAE:
“In January-August 2025, the total trade turnover between the countries amounted to $234.1 million. At the same time, exports from Ukraine to the UAE amounted to $173.2 million, while imports amounted to only $60.9 million. The positive balance for Ukraine reached $112.4 million, which makes cooperation with the Emirates beneficial for our economy.”
Thus, the United Arab Emirates remains a country with a moderately positive image among Ukrainians and demonstrates a stable surplus in trade relations with Ukraine.
The full video can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgC9TPnMoMI&t
You can subscribe to the Experts Club YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, TRADE, UAE, UKRAINE, URAKIN
