In the Financial Times' 'special report' of the first quarter of 2020 (www.fdintelligence.com) on the European cities and regions of the future 2020-2021, Bulgaria also appears with some interesting situations and placements. Bulgaria, among the eastern EU member states, is among the least intelligible, especially by those who do not live and inform themselves in the country. Therefore, when an authoritative source such as the Financial Times among its many analyses and statistics puts Sofia among the top 3 European cities for 'Cost Effectiveness' (after Tbilisi and MInsk) one feels a little less off the radar of the main stream information. Let's remember that the Financial Times is in a way one of the engines of consensus and influence in world capitalism, and it certainly orients its analyses with the interests of its stakeholders, investment funds, large consulting firms, banks, etc. in mind....
Sofia is also ranked ninth among the cities of the future in Eastern Europe, after Warsaw and Moscow, while Ruse, Burgas and Plovdiv are ranked first, third and fourth, respectively, in the ranking of small European cities for 'Cost Effectiveness'. In the future regions of Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the Sofia region is ranked sixth. In general then, the Ruse region and the Sofia region (not the city) are ranked first and ninth respectively among the small regions of Europe for 'Cost Effectiveness'.
In short, sadly not yet in the rankings for best connectivity or optimal environment for doing business, Bulgaria ranks at the top for cost-effectiveness. In a world of exploding consumption and rising costs for households but also for businesses, this is a fact not to be underestimated. Especially by Italian companies, which could benefit in no small measure from a not too pretentious and expensive environment to establish their production and business units.