Yearly Archives: 2011

The offices in the Sofia business centers offer stable rental levels. The prices of the office premises of the prestigious class “A” cost about 12 euros per square meter for rent, while those of class “B” cost approximately 8 Euros per square meter. There are many companies that are trying to renegotiate and thus to reduce the level of their rent. There are also companies that benefit from lower prices and move from lower to higher class offices, mainly in the offices of the class “A” type. The available offices in the capital are about 25%.

The demand for offices along the major boulevards in the capital, as well as in the center has slightly decreased. The same applies to the demand for office space in the business centers of Sofia, which are in placed in other parts of the capital. At the same time, there is interest in the virtual offices, which provide flexible solutions for companies with specific needs.
 

For some time now, the offices in Sofia are in the focus of interest of the major outsourcing companies. These companies provide many new jobs in Bulgaria, and are renting a great part of the office space in the capital. The large companies usually register companies according to the requirements of the local laws, and thus step on the local market. They often create new job positions by taking advantage of the difference in the levels of wages in Sofia and those in the more developed economies. This, of course, is very good for the office market in Sofia at a time when most Bulgarian companies are shrinking their consumption and staff and transfer to smaller offices in less prestigious areas. Of course, there are small foreign companies in the IT outsourcing sector, which closed their offices in Sofia and opened virtual offices or moved to other countries where their costs will be even lower.

Most of the outsourcing companies in Sofia, however, have concentrated their activities in Bulgaria and occupy less than 40 percent or approximately 30,000 sq.m of office space from the beginning of this year until now. In other words, these big companies have very good influence on the labor market and the office market. Currently, large office projects such as the European Trade Center to “Tsarigradsko shosse” Blvd. is three quarters full and all of its five buildings are open. This is just one example of the many available commercial buildings in Sofia city.

According to the market research, Bulgaria ranks fourth in this part of Europe as a good place for investment and outsourcing. Aside from the financial side of things, the low taxes and the stable economy, Bulgaria attracts with its well-organized and stable business environment. In the offices of the outsourcing companies in Bulgaria work employees with good education and high work culture that are paid reasonably.