Basic Facts
Varna region is located in the Northeast part of Bulgaria. (N43°10’ and E27°52’) It comprises 524 settlements. The seat of the regional government is Varna and it is the Bulgaria’s second city in size.
Within the region the district of Varna is the biggest one. It consists of 12 municipalities with 465 012 inhabitants. The population of Varna municipality is over 400 000 citizens which makes 79% of the population in the region. The area of Varna municipality is 205 square km.
At the last elections there was a total political stability of the local authorities, which is a firm guarantee for the support to the political reforms.

Introduction
It is the pearl of the Black Sea; it is the sea capital of Bulgaria…
Varna is the ideal place for those investors wishing to market the whole of the Balkan region where there is a total of over 100 million consumers. It is also the natural gateway to the vast and ever-expanding markets of the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.
Its geographical location provides excellent sea communications. Road links are equally good, with network of international highways crossing the country, connecting it with its neighbors and beyond to West Europe, Middle East and Russia.
All industries are open to foreign investments. Trade and investment legislation is among the most liberal in Central and Eastern Europe.

Infrastructure
The geographic location and infrastructure have led to prosperous development of Varna for centuries. The Roman routes reached Varna and it was an important fortress. The water transportation of people and cargoes ascertained the image of the city from the countries to the east and the West. The first railway in Bulgaria was Varna – Rousse and it still remains an important railway route. There are regular Ro-Ro lines to Ukraine and Georgia. The land traffic to the North is rapidly increasing. Varna International Airport has regular and charter lines to more than 35 countries and 101 cities.
Beside the port, international airport, good road and rail links Varna has probably the Bulgaria’s best telecommunication network. The project DON (Digital Over Network) is completed and varna is part of it. There are several digital telephone exchange centers and new ones are being built. There is coverage of the analogue and cellular mobile phones operators for Bulgaria (NMT and GSM). Authorized companies in Varna provide Internet DNS addresses and fast, quality services.

Education and Life Style
The people in the region are open-minded, well educated and trained. There are 5 Universities in Varna such as Economic University and the civil departments of the “N.Vaptzarov” Naval Academy which hold high national and international prestige. The tendency for creating high technology centers in the region by renowned international firms hiring mainly local experts in the sphere of sea engineering and software is steadily increasing.
The rich cultural events schedule is part of Varna citizen’s everyday life. It is the city where the oldest festival in the country “Varna Summer” – a member of the European Festival Association is held annually. Every two years Varna becomes an attractive spot for the world ballet dancers for the oldest and most prestigious international ballet competition is held here.

Foreign investments
The reform in the production is gaining speed by restructuring of the variety production and fast sales of government and municipal property. The laws concerning the foreign investments are giving possibilities for:
• Annual exemption from income tax;
• Unlimited rights for repatriation of the net profit or the capital;
• Rights to real estate ownership by foreign physical or legal bodies;

The region has a 25% share of the total investments in Bulgaria for the last few years. The Varna area is extremely attractive for foreign investments due to its highly developed industrial infrastructure, the large number of skilful human resources responding to the requirements of the modern productions, the suitable geographic location with huge port facilities relying on the well structured transportation utilities and the high level of telecommunications.
However, Varna is first and foremost resort. In the years good for tourism guests exceed a million and in high season, July and August, holiday-makers were as many as 500,000 daily.

Ancient Varna
Varna – the Ancient Odessos is a city of old cultural tradition. Th traces of ancient cultures in the area date back prior to the Greek and Roman presence. The development of unique copper and gold metallurgy in the period V – IV millennium BC pushed forward the social growth on the territory towards its climax. A significant fact for the rich historical heritage of the region is the gold treasure of the Varna Necropolis consisting of 2000 crafted objects weighting over .5 kg which makes it the oldest and the biggest gold treasure ever found in the world (4000 years BC).