Bulgaria and Hungary Negotiate Opening a Joint Fund to Support Startups

Establishment of a joint fund between the Bulgarian Development Bank and the Hungarina Eximbank for support of start-up companies was negotiated on 3^rd of November by Bulgaria’s Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó. They participated in the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation between the two countries, at which memoranda of cooperation were signed.

Karanikolov explained that the initial budget of the fund would be 200,000 euros.

At the beginning of next week, the two banks' directors will start talks on the subject, he said.

Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has explained that Eximbank Hungary opens a 510m-euro framework credit line from which start-ups in the field of agriculture and tourism in Bulgaria and Hungary can benefit.

The trade in goods between the two countries in 2016 was at te value of 1 billion and 300 million euro. In the first six months of 2017, it has already exceeded 1 billion euro.