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The Chairman of the MB of BASEL, Dimitar Beleliev, PhD, told for BTA.

The Bulgarian Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics (BASEL) reports a decline in the amount of selected data for the first time in a year. This was announced in an interview for BTA - Dimitar Beleliev, PhD, Chairman of the MB of BASEL, who commented on the situation in the industry.

According to him, the electrical industry for another year has the largest contribution to Bulgaria's total with a share of just over 11 percent (about 4 billion euros) of the country's total exports according to Eurostat data as of the end of October 2024. However, compared to the same period in 2023 (January - October), a slight decline of 3.2 percent is reported, which, according to him, is a cause for concern.

In general, the amount of goods from Bulgaria is observed and the reason is the situation in Europe, which is on the verge of a crisis. Our main export is to the low-income union, with Germany having the largest share. For the first time in 25 years, since we have been monitoring this indicator as a branch organization, we have productive data on a decline in the amount, excluding the year of Covid. This year, when the final data comes out, we may have a slight decline or at least no growth, he says.

Dr. Eng. Beleliev reveals that the crisis is starting to be felt and companies are worried because there is a decline in orders.

"We are not helping the weakest link for international companies due to the high cost of labor and the lack of people who want to work," he said.

The expert highlighted as an exceptional problem for the sector that in a large part of public procurement - over 60 percent according to the association's data, they are supplied by third countries such as Turkey and China, that is, they profit from such companies.

"It turns out that they accept us well in Europe, but they do not accept us in Bulgaria. In addition, it turns out that we are feeding foreign economies that are not market-based with European and budget money," he pointed out.

According to him, energy, transport and large industry are strategic sectors in which the state must have its own policy.

He pointed out that the law allows countries with proven non-market economies to be excluded from public procurement with European funds.

"We appeal to the Bulgarian state to introduce the practice of excluding countries that have not signed the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) from participation in the trade network, as is the practice, for example, in Germany, Romania and France. This will stimulate Bulgarian production and competitiveness," emphasizes the chairman of BASEL.

As another problem, he pointed out the lack of state policy to support the development of the industry and the complex procedures under European programs.

In addition, the electrical industry suffers from a lack of personnel, and this sector, which is key to the economy, is not only in terms of export potential, but also in terms of its contribution to technological progress.

Among the reasons for this, Dr. Eng. Dimitar Beleliev pointed out the bloated staff and high salaries in the state administration and in particular in energy enterprises, as well as the long deadlines and the difficult procedure for hiring labor from third countries. According to him, the industry already has employees from Uzbekistan, Nepal and the Philippines, but the procedures take several months and need to be accelerated.

About 1,250 companies, employing about 57,000 people, are currently working in the production and repair of electronic devices and electrical equipment. BASEL is a national representative organization of the "Electrical Engineering and Electronics" industry, which includes 115 Bulgarian and foreign companies - manufacturers of electrical and electronic products, service companies for the repair and construction of electrical installations and the supply of components, with a total annual turnover of about 1 billion euros.

According to the association, the largest share in the amount is made up of parts for devices with voltages above 1000V, electronic integrated circuits, electrical devices with voltages up to 1000V, cable forms for cars, transformers, electrical panels, batteries, refrigerators and boilers. For the past year from October to November, Eurostat shows that about 70 percent of the amount of the Bulgarian electrical industry is for the EU, especially for January (23.2 percent), Italy (6.4 percent) and the Czech Republic (6.4 percent).

Source of photo design: BASEL

Source of article: BTA.bg