In centuries past, Vienna was the key for conquerors looking to invade Western Europe. Times have changed – investors have replaced invaders and the flow has been reversed to the east, but the importance of Vienna and Austria remains unchanged.

Austrian companies were among the first to venture into Bulgaria after the country started opening up its economy. From Mobilkom’s acquisition of Bulgaria’s first mobile phone operator MobilTel to Billa pioneering retail trade through hypermarkets, from OMV’s challenge to the monopoly of fuel retailer Petrol to Soravia building Bulgaria’s first modern office building years before the real estate boom, Austrian firms were always at the forefront.

Even during economic recession, the Austrian presence in Bulgaria is not diminishing. In 2008, the number of Austrian companies with operations in Bulgaria was 360; a year later it is 400.

"Since the companies are doing business, Bulgaria is clearly attractive," the head of the commercial section of the Austrian embassy, Michael Angerer, told The Sofia Echo. The key is the long-term prospects, which are better than average, he said.

The global downturn hit Bulgaria later than other markets, but it has affected the Bulgarian economy, and more than one Austrian subsidiary in the country will miss budgeted targets because of the recession.

Nevertheless, Angerer said, Buglaria remains an attractive destination. "It is a good place for investment and we can see a good future here," he said.
In the beginning, service sectors like banking, telecoms and energy attracted the attention of Austrian businesses as state assets were sold off. Nowadays, the key areas are building new infrastructure, the environment and renewable energy.

"In terms of infrastructure, we are talking about traffic definitely, with companies interested in providing work or technology. But also the environmental business – waste water, waste removal and treatment," Angerer said.

Renewable energy is another area where Austrian firms have shown interest, including wind generators, solar power and hydro-power stations. Biomass was one renewable energy source that was getting fewer looks in Bulgaria, according to Angerer.

Government support in the form of a generous tariff for renewable energy has drawn investors to the country, to the extent that Bulgaria’s power grid operator ESO recently said that it could not accommodate even half of the 11 000MW of renewable power that would require connections to the grid if all projects that have been announced, were implemented.

That is not to say that the Austrian march has been without hitches along the way. Having negotiated the acquisition of the stake that Turkey’s Ceylan Group owns in the proposed Gorna Arda hydro-power array, the consortium of Austria’s EVN and Alpine Bau is yet to finalise the deal and move forward with the project, which will cost an estimated 500 million euro.

Alpine Bau is also involved in another project that has hit delays along the way – the 80MW Tsankov Kamuk hydro-power plant. Technical problems have pushed the completion date behind the original schedule. Those problems have now been resolved and the power station is scheduled to be ready in 2010, Angerer said.