Business leaders from Bulgaria and Poland gathered this week to map out a new phase of cooperation, underscoring the momentum created by Bulgaria’s fresh integration milestones within the European Union. At the forefront was the message that recent geopolitical and economic shifts—most notably Bulgaria’s Schengen accession earlier this year—are unlocking unprecedented opportunities in trade, finance, and investment. The business forum, held on October 2, 2025, was as much a celebration of progress as it was a blueprint for deepening ties across multiple sectors, signaling that Central and Eastern Europe’s economic landscape is entering a dynamic new era.

Schengen Membership Removes Old Barriers

The central theme at the Bulgarian-Polish Business Forum was the transformative effect of Bulgaria’s Schengen membership, officially secured on January 1, 2025. By eliminating the long-standing frictions in cross-border movement, Poland’s enterprises now have a far smoother route into Bulgaria’s markets.

“Bulgaria made very serious steps to deepen cooperation with the European Union. We are a Schengen member now, which is a great success, because Polish companies can arrive without obstacles by land, air, or water transport,” noted Tsvetan Simeonov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), addressing participants.

Before Schengen entry, delays at border crossings were not only frequent but costly. Freight movement between Romania and Hungary often meant waits of 8 to 16 hours, while at the Romanian-Bulgarian border, queues sometimes stretched into five days. For haulers, every 24-hour delay tacked on losses between €800 and €2,300. Bulgaria’s entry into Europe’s passport-free zone, therefore, is more than an administrative achievement—it is a fiscal relief and logistical game-changer, allowing goods to flow more efficiently and competitively.

Eurozone Move to Enhance Credit and Growth

If 2025 is the year of borderless trade, 2026 promises to be the year of financial integration. Bulgaria is set to become the 21st member of the eurozone on January 1, 2026, a transition widely expected to unlock cheaper credit and strengthen the investment climate.

For Bulgarian companies, the benefits are clear: commercial banks will be able to free up large shares of their mandatory currency reserves, enabling more accessible and competitively priced lending. This liquidity adjustment is anticipated to inject confidence across industries ranging from manufacturing to agriculture, giving entrepreneurs better financing routes to scale their ambitions.

Simeonov emphasized that euro adoption will not only cement Bulgaria’s place within the European monetary framework but also improve trust among foreign investors, who will no longer factor in currency volatility when considering projects in the Bulgarian market.

Sectoral Opportunities: Industry, Agriculture, and Technology

Beyond the macroeconomic advantages, the Sofia forum revealed a sharper focus on sectoral cooperation. Agriculture and industry surfaced as the twin pillars of Polish-Bulgarian business expansion.

Witold Karczewski, former head of the Bialystok Chamber of Commerce, underscored the complementarities in expertise that can fuel long-term collaboration. “Poland and Bulgaria are friendly countries with enormous potential for business cooperation,” he remarked, pointing to areas such as machinery, furniture production, IT services, and tourism.

Poland’s Podlaskie voivodeship, often branded as the nation’s “green lands,” is especially strong in electronics and new technologies, bringing capabilities that mesh well with Bulgaria’s growing base in industrial processing and agri-food production. For investors, this alignment highlights an ecosystem ripe for shared ventures, particularly in fields that require sustainable practices and digital innovation.

Growing Trade and Tourism Links

The current trade trajectory further validates the case for deepening ties. Polish goods—meat, sugar, tomatoes and others—are already staples in Bulgarian markets. At the same time, Bulgaria enjoys traction as a leisure and lifestyle hub, drawing a steadily increasing number of Polish tourists not only to Black Sea resorts but also into property investment along the coast and in urban areas.

Connectivity has been a crucial enabler. Today, direct air routes link 13 Polish cities to Bulgaria, an infrastructure leap that has facilitated both commercial exchanges and people-to-people ties. This air bridge is reducing logistical bottlenecks in the travel and business sectors, allowing an accelerated speed of deal-making and cultural engagement.

Strategic Partnerships Beyond Bilateral Trade

Diplomatic voices also played a role at the forum. Anna Janiszewska-Fraczek, Deputy Head of Mission at the Polish Embassy in Sofia, lauded the event as an important step forward in knitting a more resilient economic partnership. The discussions, she suggested, were more than bilateral—they are extensions of wider regional projects.

Both Bulgaria and Poland are central participants in the Three Seas Initiative, a platform focused on enhancing energy connectivity, transport infrastructure, and digital integration across 12 EU member states spanning Central and Eastern Europe. By harnessing such regional networks, both countries aim to position themselves as strategic nodes in Europe’s ongoing economic rebalancing effort.