Bulgarian migrants before the pandemic remitted $2.4 billion to their relatives in Bulgaria in 2018, according to a World Bank report on migration and development. That’s an official balance of payments statistic from the BNB, which means the money is actually many times more. That $2.4 billion (or about $7 billion in real terms) is equal to 3.8% of GDP, according to the WB’s calculations. Foreign direct investment in the country was about 3.2% (or real about 10%) of GDP in 2018. From the beginning of 2021 until the end of November, Bulgarians working abroad have sent only 149.1 million euros to their relatives and families in Bulgaria. To understand the dependence of the Bulgarian economy on immigrant remittances, for comparison, in our country this share is 3.8% of GDP, while Romanians send home 2.2% of GDP, Lithuanians - 2.6% and Estonians - 1.8%.. source- Investor.bg

Bulgarian immigrants are part of another tremendous problem for Bulgaria as a whole- the demographic crisis.

According to official figures, over the last 30 years the population of Bulgaria has decreased by 1.65 million people. According to the National Statistical Institute, in 1992 there were 8 487 317 people living in Bulgaria, in 2001 - 7 932 984 and in 2011 - 7 364 570. As of 31 December 2021, Bulgaria’s population was 6 838 937.

According to the Ministry of Finance, in 1990 the revenue on total income was BGN 1,911 million, the expenditure on salaries and social security of budget employees was BGN 3,116 million. A ratio of 1.63. In 2021, the revenue from personal income tax was BGN 4, 808 million, the expenditure on wages and salaries and insurance of budget employees was BGN 13, 297 million. The ratio is now 2.76. So we waste BGN 3.3 billion every year from the budget in Bulgaria. However, we can see from the election programmes how most parties are presenting us with ideas related to even greater spending from the budget. We hear populist notions that if the birth rate is increased, the demographic balance will be improved. Ideas range from tax breaks for parents, an increase in maternity pay in the second year, to BGN 10 000 for every second and third child of parents who have been working and insured for the last two years. In fact, according to Eurostat, Bulgaria does not look bad on one of the most important fertility indicators - the fertility rate. This is the average number of children a woman gives birth to during her lifetime. For Bulgaria, it is 1.58, which is above the EU average. While the infant mortality rate is almost twice as high as in the EU - 5.8 per 1000.

Expert and adequate positions against populism and corruption.

And, political populism constantly raises the issue of increasing salaries and pensions, without considering that the budget of the State Social Insurance (SSI) goes for salaries, insurance and pensions, with 40% of the amount “supplementing” the budget. On whose shoulders does the replenishment of this budget lie? How many active citizens are engaged in business in Bulgaria? How many of us living abroad are ready to accept this burden by transferring or creating a new business in Bulgaria?

And with this avalanche of budget spending, Bulgaria is once again the most corrupt country in the EU, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Index 2021, which measures the perception of corruption. Bulgaria ranks alongside countries such as Benin and Burkina Faso.

Today we will talk about those Bulgarians (and foreigners) who are abroad and have the opportunity to return to Bulgaria. Unfortunately, the inadequate attitude and misunderstanding of what it means to succeed abroad and prefer to go back to Bulgaria is the reason many of them stay abroad or quickly leave when they are back.

The hundreds of thousands who returned because of KOVID - what did Bulgaria offer them? According to DW and the Border Police, 109,467 Bulgarian citizens have arrived in Bulgaria in just 10 days since the state of emergency was declared, until March 23, 2020. The initial reaction to this influx of people wanting to return was not what are their basic needs, problems, how to make them feel better where they come from, but to send them to the field.

Let’s move on to the other immigrants that we can attract. Take the example of Ukrainian immigrants and why they don’t want to stay in Bulgaria. They have nowhere to go back to, their choices are as limited as possible, and they say they prefer Russian bombs to Bulgarian reality. Isn’t that a terrible red light?

Take Israel, where agriculture is now in the hands of immigrants from Asia and the results are extremely positive.

We understand immigrants are the major investors in Bulgaria. Do we understand that ‘second homes’ are lucrative economic sectors in countries such as Portugal and Thailand, for example? The second home is an attractive location chosen by people with mobile professions or businesses allowing them to be mobile. Factors that are important are: cost of living, opportunity for mobile work, entertainment, climate, but most of all, working institutions.

Where are we? Orientation and Values. What does it mean to be part of Europe? Are we still under the Soviet(Putin) influence? Are we the Trojan Horse in EU and NATO?

Urban environment - perhaps the closest to what the West has, and what we can offer. City of Plovdiv, for example, is a wonderful example. The question is in the small cities, as Pazardzhik? Are they the Kremlin bastions?

Let’s talk about the Urban transport - criteria for civility - Headline from DW, 2018- Germany: With free public transport vs cars. - Germany is considering introducing free public transport to reduce pollution from private cars. Another headline from manigesto.bg- Tallinn - first European capital with free transport. Where are we in Bulgaria? What is the transport in the city of Pazardzhik, in the municipality of Pazardzhik, the connections with the villages? What is the native public transport?

The “Mahalata” or the Gypsy Getto? Being able to get to work, inter-village transport from nearby villages, how do people get to the city? Why do we continue to protect the ghettos?

Public attitudes and anti-European rhetoric that is allowed

Civil Society. Active Citizens. Level of Democracy.

Citizen and Society - understanding of society and public (public) resources. What are our taxes/municipal funds being spent on? In Pazardzhik? Can we influence the disposition of public resources?

The cost of social investment - How much does a child cost society / the taxpayer, up to the age of 18? How much do we actually lose with each immigrant?

Carelessness - an abstract form of state that everyone is waiting for. Post Soviet mentality?

The media - the fourth estate or extension of the corrupt and failed state. People Power, Democracy or Civil Society?

Administration and Bureaucracy - references to a different time and different values and understandings- Soviets and Russia nostalgia. To what extent the institutions are helpful to foreigners, returning Bulgarians... To what extent foreign citizens in Bulgaria can rely on the institutions. How events are organized, what events bring, sustainability. How are subsidies to NGOs accounted for?