Romanian Companies Mull Over Moving to Bulgaria (Bulgaria has a 10% flat tax)

http://www.novinite.com ^ | July 28, 2010 | www.novinite.com

[Maelstorm]

Romanian companies have announced their intentions of moving their businesses to Bulgaria due to the tax policies in Bucharest, the Romanian “Ziarull Financiar” reports.

“The new measures, taken on a daily basis by the government, do not surprise me. I want to move Interagro's headquarters to Bulgaria in September. We will translate all documents in Bulgarian by then and we will look for a new building. I would rather pay the 10% flat tax and all the other taxes to the Bulgarian state and pay only land and property taxes here,” said Ioan Niculae, owner of "Interagro", the third biggest Romanian corporation.

Niculae has also expressed his frustration with the approach of the Romanian secret services towards the business.

“I do not want to be under surveillance day and night only because I am a Romanian entrepreneur,' he said.

Interagro has ended 2009 with EUR 315 M in turnover, which is a drop by 70% in comparison to 2008 when the company announced EUR 538 M in turnover.

The company has also declared EUR 13,7 M losses after announcing EUR 16,7 M profit in 2008.

According to “Ziarull Financiar”, managers of local subsidiaries of foreign companies are also disappointed.

“If the government continues to act in such a chaotic and amateur manner, it will lose my trust in the Romanian economy's stability,” said Cristian Cornea, general manager of the local subsidiary of the Polish group “Can-Pack”, which owns an aluminum packaging plant in Bucharest with a EUR 40 M turnover.

Similar concerns have been expressed by Alin Ursu, director of “Angelli Spumante & Aperitive”, soft drinks producer with a EUR 14 M turnover for 2009.

“We are in the hands of the politicians. What has been done for us so far is catastrophic,” Ursu said, pointing out that the increase of the VAT has led to a 10% drop in the number of trade holdings.

He has also noted that the increase of the excise had a negative effect on the sales as well.

Florin Pogonaru, President of the Association of Businessmen in Romania (AOAR), has stated that the basic conditions for a good business field are stability and predictability.

“Our Bulgarian neighbors have reached this. Their taxes do not change and the investors can see that,” Pogonaru said.

[Maelstorm]

Russian, Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Macedonia have flat taxes? Romania's govt wants to scrap its flat tax so it can raise income taxes. Why is it that these old soviet block countries can accomplish something so simple and here in the US we are stuck with old soviet politburo control freak type tax system?

[Opinionated Blowhard]

"I do not want to be under surveillance day and night only because I am a [US] entrepreneur,"

"If the government continues to act in such a chaotic and amateur manner, it will lose my trust in the [US] economy's stability,"

"We are in the hands of the politicians. What has been done for us so far is catastrophic,"

Amazing that a country like Bulgaria now has better economic policies than the US.

[Maelstorm]

It is. The Bulgarian economy was failing before it instituted such reforms. Now it is becoming a choice place for businesses to move.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=118562

[JD_UTDallas]

Because those countries have lived through the nightmare of progressive socialism Marxism et al. they will know first hand the devastation, famine and lost generations that follies in social justice reap.

[DariusBane]

I will have to look up Bulgarian language classes. Seems like a swell place to move.

Hey this was the second tier, territory of the Byzantines, not shabby at all. Great History, a little too close to Putin and his gangsters. But I can follow the lead of Constantine. When Rome became too corrupt, to dangerous, he split to the East. I could do the same.

Sort of kidding. I bet the Bulgarian Constitution is a horror. But I wouldn’t know.

[ScottinVA]

Sort of kidding. I bet the Bulgarian Constitution is a horror. But I wouldn’t know.

It's also 12% muslim there. Just something else to consider.

[JD_UTDallas]

Romania is experiencing what is know as “Bright Flight” I am coming to the end of my undergrad college period, I will graduate with a triple undergrad & will graduate Summa Cum Laude. If this regime thinks for one second I will apply my productive efforts to only have 50+% stolen they are in for a big surprise. I hate to say it but I am looking at grad school abroad, there are plenty of nice girls who are chompin on the bit to marry a real Texian man thus securing my perm. residence in a more business and tax friendly country, Eastern European girls are very good looking I am friends with a couple of Polish beauties for which the social movements in 1960’s America has not ruined them. They clearly indicate that girls abroad are not anything like the girls here they hold Christian views of what a man’s and woman’s roles as defined by God are in a life long partnership. I know that citizens have to repatriate world wide earnings, hence my desire to marry a non-citizen it’s a tuff choice to consider bright flighting but if 50+% of my country men are actively against me is this still really me country? If Texas ever decides to go it’s own way I will glady come back and shed my blood like my ancestors did to free my homeland from the tyranny that has beset our homeland. My family has been in Texas since 1731 we were some of the first Spaniard colonists at San Antonio de Béxar Presidio almost 100 years before the first settlers from the then new United States came here. I am Texian as opposed to Texan those who are familiar with Texas history know the critical difference.

[SeeSharp]

It's also 12% muslim there. Just something else to consider.

Well.... It is 12% Turk. It's not as if you'd be living among crazy Arabs.

[Niuhuru]

I plan on getting a couple business interests going and then moving. I plan on, for now, Singapore and perhaps then I will move somewhere else. But for now, I’m sticking with countries that might have a large Western Expat population to ease my way in. The Eastern Bloc languages can be complicated, to say the least of trying to read their languages.

How about Thailand? Huge group of people from the West who are there to live and keep to their own business and likely good company. And as long as you don’t break major laws, I would likely do just fine.

[Niuhuru]

Another appealing reason.

[GOPJ]

Because those countries have lived through the nightmare of progressive socialism Marxism et al. they will know first hand the devastation, famine and lost generations that follies in social justice reap.

I hope we don't have to learn the hard way...

[JD_UTDallas]

Three of my classmates and I have been looking at Eastern Europe for flat tax, cheap labor low cost of living, and most importantly close localities to the former Russian oil republics. It is a sad but true human fact that people are not born equals some people just are born with the innate advantage in intellect and vis-à-vis superior learning abilities, as such leaders are born and then further groomed to be such. Were all in the top 5% of our class, and most decidedly Type-A overachievers. People like us naturally gravitate together and drive each other to excellence. We have little need or tolerance for nonproductive people.

Sadly we see little hope in our nation embracing sound and fair business practices. So why after spending 6+ years sacrificing in higher education & virtual slave labor in unpaid internships. Why oh why would we save every penny we own sacrifice precious time, tears and our productive efforts to open a company here in the states only to be punished for our innate abilities? We can and will be successful from anywhere with a high-speed connection the global communication age means we are no longer tied to one geographic location. One of my people speaks fluent Russian another French, with International English as our binding language since it is currently the lingua franca of the global economy.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

And these are “Muslims” like Albanians are Muslims—some of the most pro-American Muslims on the face of the Earth. They love the United States.