Roberto Santorelli is the president of Confindustria Bulgaria, which unites Italian entrepreneurs in Bulgaria. He is a member of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria and the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB) and the University of Food Technology.
He received his education at the Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome. His professional qualifications have grown over the years through training on the London Stock Exchange Group’s ELITE training programme.
In 2009, his life’s journey brought him to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where his family business is engaged in fruit growing and has processing activities and significant production for export to 35 countries.
In mid-April, Confindustria Bulgaria organized an international conference on “ESG and the Global Goals: practical guidelines for companies”.
Mr. Santoleri, according to your observations, how does the Italian business in Bulgaria accept the ESG concept and what steps is it taking in this direction?
Italian business in Bulgaria easily accepts the ESG concept because it is quite developed in Italy. For years, large enterprises have been preparing sustainability reports and demanding this from their suppliers, who are mainly small and medium-sized companies. Italian companies in Bulgaria are already ready for these requirements, because they do it there and are starting to build it here as well.
What investments are Italian companies making in Bulgaria?
A lot of companies are investing in solar parks that they build in businesses, and what they’re doing is investing in a circular economy. They are also very interested in internal staff training. Confindustria Bulgaria is currently participating in an international project for artificial intelligence, which will monitor the competencies in companies and develop them. This project will be used by companies for additional training of their employees.
The introduction of the so-called ESG reporting in Bulgaria, the transposition of the CSRD, with the changes in the Accounting Law is pending. What challenges do businesses face in this regard?
Whenever there is something new, companies worry. But in reality this is not something new, because it has been reported in Italy for a long time. That’s why we’re organizing this conference – to prove to companies that tracking ESG metrics is important to the company itself. The point is not to report just because the law requires it. What is important is that when a company starts an initiative, it should think about how it affects the environment, employees, society and the company itself. This is most important because it is the only way you can be sustainable as a business. We see this very clearly with the complaints about the shortage of some specialists – they are not built from today to tomorrow. They should be invested in training. Innovations enter very quickly and if we are not close to universities, schools, we cannot have ready personnel.
Do you have any comments on the Accounting Act Amendment Bill?
Not for now. We are waiting for the new government to see if they will make some changes or decide to accept it as it is.
It seems that the Italian presence in Bulgaria has been growing in recent years. Is there interest from potential new Italian investors in Bulgaria and from what fields are they?
What we have noticed in the last two years is that the very companies that invested years ago are expanding. In this way, Italian investments are increasing.
And are there new investors who are studying Bulgaria?
There is a study, we will see if it will be realized as an investment. A major investment that will be put into operation is the photovoltaic panel plant near Yambol.
What are the biggest concerns of potential investors?
The biggest concern of potential investors and of us already here is political instability. If there is a stable government, one can talk, discuss plans for the future. If not, the modus operandi is constantly changing and companies cannot plan for these things. This is a serious problem and I don’t know if it will be removed in any way with the next election.
Half of Bulgaria is already in Schengen. This seems to be a great advantage for Italy, since a third of Bulgarian exports to Italy are by water.
Yes, the current trade exchange between Bulgaria and Italy is about 3.5 billion euros. Indeed, the fact that you are already in Schengen makes transport a lot easier, even though Bulgaria is not fully in Schengen. This greatly facilitates the transport and movement of goods. This also has a good effect on tourism.
Could this albeit half-hearted Schengen be an incentive for potential investors?
This is probably a facilitation, but the biggest incentive is political stability, which is also related to full entry into Schengen. Investors want to invest in a stable country. On the other hand, the fact that goods can move faster is very important. Years ago, we had an Italian company in Ruse that wanted to expand its production, but because of the too busy bridge between Bulgaria and Romania, they preferred to go to Romania. That is why we often talk to the Ministry of Regional Development to push for a second bridge near Ruse, because this is important for investments.
We are also working on an intermodal terminal project. The idea is to connect Northern Italy with Bulgaria and from Bulgaria to reach Eastern Europe. This project includes rail, sea and land transport and requires investments from Italy, Bulgaria and private investors. We want this to be a public-private partnership.
How much would this project cost?
According to rough calculations, about 2 billion euros.
