Some of the best programmers in Google and Facebook are actually Bulgarians and this is so because this country has long traditions in the sector. Bulgaria used to be called the “socialist silicone valley” in the past and now the IT business in the country is booming. Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 and is a country with one of the fastest growing IT sectors in Europe, while the big number of qualified programmers and low taxes have attracted a number of international software companies, The New York Times once wrote. But why is the IT sector so well developed in a country like Bulgaria. Here is what the chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies Georgi Brashnarov told us.
“First of all sales of software products are growing despite the ongoing crisis,” Mr. Brashnarov says. Sales went 12% up in 2010 and 6% more in 2011. Experts expect that this growth will be preserved in 2012. Companies in the sector have also managed to achieve good exports. 60% of the sales are made on the EU market. 30% of the Bulgarian software is sold to the US. So, it is a fact that Bulgarian software companies have managed to find markets for their products. Salaries in the sector also continue to grow.” Georgi Brashnarov also points out the high level of qualification of Bulgarian workers in the IT sphere. Our organisation works in more than 15 countries and I can tell you that Bulgaria continues to be the most developed country in this sphere on the Balkans and will continue to attract international investments.
What will happen in the future?
“Bulgarian companies have success all over the world. There are many foreign software giants that use Bulgarian companies for developing some of their projects. However, the focus will shift from services to products. Bulgarian companies want to sell their own products all over the world. There is a Bulgarian company called Telerik that has more than 100,000 clients in more than 94 countries. This shows us a way for development and we want more Bulgarian companies to follow that path.”
Why is the IT sector developing so fast in Bulgaria?
“Bulgarian companies developed in a healthy environment, meaning that they did not count on subsidies and help from the state. That is how they became very competitive. In Romania the state provided additional financing to the sector and when the money stopped they started to have problems. Bulgarian experts are also very good in their work.”
The average salary in the sector is about 1200 euro a month but why do companies experience shortage of experts?
“The answer to this question is simple. The business is developing 3 times faster than the speed universities are able to train experts. It can be said that we are victims of our success. Salaries in the sector are high and close to the EU average but we still lack enough experts.”
English version: Alexander Markov
