Return of the King

Sunday, April 4, 2004

In the summer of 1937, in the Byzantine city of Sofia, the future King of Bulgaria was born. Church bells rang and gun salutes boomed across the land in celebration…amnesties were granted…and an extra mark was added to every schoolchild's exam.

Nine years later, after his father's mysterious death, the assassination of his regent uncle, and a communist coup, the boy king Simeon II was forced to flee Bulgaria with his sister, the princess, and his mother, the queen.

He wasted no time in exile but graduated from the Lycee Francaise in Madrid and the Valley Forge Military Academy in Philadelphia…read law and political science…became fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German…and grew into one of Madrid's most successful businessmen.

Fifty years after fleeing his native country, Simeon II returned to Bulgaria. His political party was elected to power, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the only monarch ever to regain political power through democratic election.

He's pro-EU; Bulgaria has been negotiating for EU ascension since 2000. Most of the conditions for entry have already been met, and the country is scheduled to join the union in 2007.

Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg is also pro-foreign investment; he's appointed a special group of businessmen to guide Bulgaria's transition from communism to capitalism.

A cool story…but what's the point for you?

This country hides early-in opportunities with big upsides…and the promise of rental return while you're waiting for the longer-term payoff from the appreciation that is sure to follow EU entry. Right now, for example, you can invest in a resort rental in this country, on the beach, for as little as $24,000. That works out to $100 per square foot. Cheap on the world market for any apartment on a coast. And in this case…there's financing.

There's also no shortage of coast. Bulgaria's Black Sea stretches along 200 kilometers of pristine gold-sand beaches with beautiful, clear seas and sunshine May through October.

Prices and inflation in this country are extremely low; labor is $1.65/hour (more than 16 times less than in the EU), and the Bulgarian lev is tied to the euro, 2 to 1.

For all these reasons, Bulgaria is one of our favorite countries in what we see as one of the world's most exciting regions. We're watching it closely, along with five other East European countries. More to follow…

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living

P.S. We're in the home stretch in our efforts to expand our International Living network with new Local Offices in Italy and Honduras. Our Italy office will be based in either Rome or Florence (as I write, we're on our way to Florence to scout). In Honduras, we're planning to base ourselves, to start, on the Bay Island of Roatan. Our (that is, your) representatives should be in place in both locations by the end of summer. Again, watch this space.

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