Land swap deals tumble in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is facing a conflict with the European Commission over its historical practise of land swapping, carried out as standard practice during previous governments and still viewed by many as legal. The swaps involved ownership of rural parcels of land being swapped for that in prime locations.

The problem is that the valuation of the land was well below market value and the deals benefited the owners rather than the state. Typically what happened next was the mass development of real estate in Bulgaria in these rural areas. The European Commission sees the practise as a direct form of state aid and Bulgaria now has to argue the case or apply to the commission for it.

If found against, Bulgaria could face a fine of 1.5b leva & EU sanctions but Bulgaria has a tendency to hang its washing out these days and any sign of corruption or illicit dealing will be openly dealt with. Any problems will be quickly ironed out and should not affect the value of the market or anyone considering investment property in Bulgaria.