Interview | Bulgaria is on the shortlist for investments by Asian car manufacturers

Architect Lyubomir Stanislavov is the Executive Director and a member of the Management Board of Automotive Cluster Bulgaria, as well as a member of the Management Board of the European Automotive Clusters Network (EACN).
He has been officially elected as a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Research and Innovation in the Automotive Sector (EURIAS). He has been nominated to participate in two subgroups – Electric-Vehicle Technologies and Digital and Connected Vehicles.

He actively works to attract leading suppliers and manufacturers, promoting investment and sustainable development in the automotive sector in Bulgaria.

He graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Geodesy in Sofia in 2001 and obtained additional qualifications at the University of Valladolid, Spain, and at the Graz University of Technology, Austria.
Architect Lyubomir Stanislavov is also the initiator of the international automotive conference Automotive Forum Bulgaria.

Mr. Stanislavov, what is the state of the automotive sector in Bulgaria? Last year, we witnessed the withdrawal of major investors from the sector. What are the main factors behind these negative trends, and can the situation be remedied?

The Bulgarian automotive industry is fully integrated into the global automotive industry, so any fluctuations in the Western European sector inevitably affect us as well. Currently, the sector is facing a global crisis related to energy, shortages of critical components and raw materials, as well as the transition to electromobility.

Despite this, the automotive industry in Bulgaria continues to follow a positive trend. The country is home to approximately 380 companies with a turnover exceeding 10 billion euros and employing roughly 85,000 people. Alongside these challenges, new opportunities are emerging for a new type of investment in the country, related to areas such as the production of LFP batteries – which are in short supply in Europe – the production and assembly of Asian vehicles in Europe, as well as R&D and their adaptation to the needs of European consumers.

One of the focal points of the upcoming Automotive Forum Bulgaria 2026 is the transformation of the automotive industry in Europe. How do you view this transformation, and what is Bulgaria’s role in this process?

Several major transformations are currently taking place simultaneously – electrification, software-defined vehicles, as well as the widespread automation and robotization of manufacturing.

In Europe, we are already seeing a process of cooperation between European and Asian manufacturers. Some of the electric vehicles from European brands are produced in China, and an increasing number of Chinese vehicles are beginning to be assembled and manufactured in Europe. In this sense, I believe that the entry of Asian manufacturers is more of an opportunity for Bulgaria. This could lead to the creation and expansion of an ecosystem of suppliers, as well as the attraction of new companies. Furthermore, I see significant potential for the development of R&D activities in Bulgaria in this direction.

In fact, do you think the time has passed when Bulgaria mainly produced parts for Western manufacturers, and where should the efforts of both business and the state be directed when we talk about a more sustainable automotive sector?

There are two possible scenarios.

The first is for Bulgaria to continue developing along the current model, in which the automotive industry will retain its significant place in the economy, but the sector will remain composed mainly of suppliers at various levels of the supply chain. The major companies will continue to be subsidiaries of international groups, and the focus will gradually shift toward the production of higher-tech components. In practice, this is exactly what has been happening in Bulgaria over the past fifteen years.

The other scenario involves a targeted government policy to develop new technologies and attract strategic investors in areas such as the production of batteries, electric and hybrid vehicles, the construction of data centers for artificial intelligence, the development of green energy, as well as the expansion and diversification of manufacturing through dual-use technologies and products. With such an approach, Bulgaria has every chance of becoming a regional manufacturing and technology hub in Europe.

How close are we to the big goal – attracting a strategic investor for full-scale automobile production in our country? In fact, is that still the big goal?

As always, we do not speculate on the names of potential investors, but we believe there is significant potential for new investments in several key areas. These include the establishment of Bulgaria’s first battery gigafactories, the production of electric and hybrid vehicles, as well as the development of R&D centers focused on software and connected vehicle technologies.

Do you have any information about such an investor who is considering Bulgaria as a potential destination for car manufacturing?

I can confirm that there is interest from Asian manufacturers who have included Bulgaria on their shortlist of potential investment destinations. We expect one or two projects to be announced by the end of the year.

How does Bulgaria currently compare to its neighboring countries (Romania, Serbia, and Turkey, where production facilities already exist) in attracting such investments?

Bulgaria does not yet have large-scale automotive production like some of its neighboring countries, but the country has advantages in engineering capacity, software, and the production of high-tech components.

Bulgaria has a strong IT and engineering sector, competitive production costs, and some of the lowest taxes in Europe, which makes it attractive to investors. Automotive software already accounts for about 50% of the profit in a car, and this is precisely where the country has a significant advantage.

With a targeted government policy for developing new technologies and attracting strategic investors, we have every chance of realizing major projects.

Among the highlights of the Automotive Forum Bulgaria 2026 program will be the role of robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence in industrial transformation, electric mobility, and sustainable energy solutions. Is there a place for Bulgaria as a provider of such solutions, and do subcontracting firms have the expertise and capacity for such developments?

The answer is a resounding yes. And not just as a subcontractor, but as an innovator.

Let me start with the most important point: we are living in perhaps the most interesting period in the development of the automotive industry, because three or four major revolutions are happening simultaneously. Electrification is emerging as the leading technology, but the most fundamental innovations stem from vehicles built around software rather than mechanics. Added to this is the widespread automation and robotization of production.

Companies are already working on automated and software-assisted management systems for manufacturing, on integrating robotic systems with artificial intelligence, and on robotics and process automation. This is not the future – it is the present for our companies.

In short – we are entering a new era of industrial transformation, in which Bulgarian companies must be not merely contractors, but innovators and strategic partners in the global automotive ecosystem.

The topic of interaction between the automotive industry, defense, and the space sector will also be addressed. In your opinion, are we returning to the time when military competition created technologies that were later used in the civilian sector, or is the process now rather the reverse and driven by innovative startups?

The automotive industry is the only sector in our country that has managed to build a significant pool of highly qualified engineering talent. In Sofia alone, there are between 6,000 and 7,000 engineers, and a large portion of them are not just software specialists, but embedded software engineers and engineers working simultaneously in both software and hardware.

Since Bulgaria does not yet have a similar talent pool in the defense and aerospace industries, I believe that this very engineering potential, built up in the automotive sector, will form the foundation of future projects in these industries and will provide a significant boost to their development.

A good example of this is EnduroSat, where a large part of the team consists of former automotive engineers.

Until recently, many of these companies were effectively restricted from working on dual-use products. However, the change in the European Commission’s position now makes it possible and permissible for them to seek clients in this area as well.

This is not just about the crisis in the automotive industry, but also about expanding the portfolio of clients and markets. That is why I believe that not only Bulgarian companies, but automotive companies across Europe will gradually begin to take on orders in this sector.

Over the next five to six years, we will likely see an increasingly strong convergence between the automotive, defense, and aerospace industries.

Software and new technologies go hand in hand with electrification. What is your opinion on its current level in Bulgaria? What are the challenges facing the wider adoption of electric vehicles in our country, and what are the solutions?

As the share of electric vehicles grows, so does the load on the power grid, the need for charging stations, and the demand for batteries with longer lifespans. Europe is lagging significantly behind, and by 2030, 76 new battery factories and gigafactories will be needed.

Bulgaria has the opportunity to build one of the first factories in Europe for LFP batteries.

“Range anxiety” is no longer a major issue, as electric vehicles with over 900 km of range already exist, and models with around 1,000 km will soon be entering the market en masse.

For a decade now, we’ve been discussing connectivity capacity issues, which is a problem for the mass construction of charging stations, for example at gas stations. What is the situation at this point – are we still short on cables?

The power grid will require massive investments—perhaps the largest investments that countries around the world will have to make.

As electric mobility expands, the load on the grid will grow, and significant investments in energy infrastructure and connectivity will be necessary.

Currently in Bulgaria, however, there are approximately ten electric vehicles per public charging station, which indicates an exceptionally high density of the charging network relative to the number of electric vehicles in the country – a situation unmatched anywhere else in Europe. In this sense, the infrastructure is relatively well-developed given the current demand.

Do you think the global fuel crisis will help electric mobility, and should we expect rapid growth, including in Bulgaria?

Yes, in my opinion, the global fuel crisis is further accelerating the transition to electric mobility. Europe is investing heavily in batteries, electric vehicles, and energy systems, and the demand for such technologies will be enormous in the coming years.
Advances in battery technology now allow electric vehicles to have a range fully comparable to that of conventional cars. At the same time, there are a number of specific factors in Bulgaria that make the adoption of electric vehicles particularly promising.

Currently, Bulgaria has a very well-developed public charging infrastructure relative to the number of electric vehicles in the country. Added to this is the fact that the price of electricity for residential consumers remains fixed and relatively low. This makes the use of electric vehicles particularly cost-effective for both households and small and medium-sized businesses. When using off-peak rates, the cost of electricity can be about 10% of the equivalent fuel cost for a conventional car.

An additional incentive is the nearly zero tax on electric vehicles. Furthermore, in Sofia and other major cities, electric vehicles can park for free in central urban areas.

At the same time, new car brands, mainly from China, are entering the market, leading to the emergence of new electric vehicles priced under 20,000 euros. This makes them significantly more affordable for a wider range of consumers.

All these factors indicate that Bulgaria has real potential for accelerated development of electric mobility in the coming years.

Translated with DeepL.