Europefides 2019 – Bulgaria

‘Sofia’ – The Capital of the Balkan nation of Bulgaria was the location for the January AGM for the members of ‘Europefides’ to gather once again and consult on the agendas of Europe. A chance not only to catch up on the latest news but also on friendships that have been solidified by previous ‘EF’ meetings and a chance to connect with new ones, building bridges over the channels and further afield.

The meeting commenced with an introduction to the hosts, Stanislav and Neli Antonius and the bdp Bulgaria team from Dr Michael Bormann, followed by an interesting presentation on Bulgaria, it’s economic background and markets using financial data as well as discussing the various opportunities available for investors to take advantage of their taxation regime.

A panel discussion followed the presentation, ‘General Managers in a subsidiary abroad’ was an interactive session across all jurisdictions of the setting up, responsibilities, powers, control and termination of the General Manager in a foreign subsidiary also discussing the risks for the holding company. The panel was made up of members from: France, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain and China and from the United Kingdom. Ogynan Serafimov and Dimitar Serev of bdp Bulgaria, together with Toma Stoilov of TS Audit gave a presentation relating to buying, renting and selling properties giving the members an overview of legal requirements, local taxes and fees.

Following on from the panel discussion was a presentation from a partner of bdp Mechanical Components, Foundry VIP an automotive supplier. Ventsislav Drundev, the CEO of the automotive supplier talked about the business in Bulgaria. The company supplied aluminium casings of automotive parts and was proud to be connected to VW. Ending the day with a presentation from the host member on financing a company by issuing corporate bonds. Dr Michael Bormann captured the audience with his invaluable experience with corporate bonds as part of the audit and consulting work carried out by bdp Bulgaria.

The next day of the AGM was the Annual General Assembly which included lively exchanges between members on marketing, webinars, newsletters and improving interactions between members. The main discussions were the proposed Business Development platform to manage M & A business opportunities and the agenda for the General Meeting in Shanghai in June.

It wasn’t long before the subject that was on the forefront of everyone’s mind. BREXIT came up and then who better than our very own Simon Marsh to update the members on the most talked about topic of the year!

The final presentation was the Flat Tax regime for new residents in Italy by our member firm ATAX – Associazione Professional. Allessandro Atzeni and Stefano Meani discussed this new significant tax incentive to attract foreign workers and investors to transfer their residence to Italy. Under the flat tax regime, individuals who previously have not been tax residents of Italy and who transferred their tax residence to Italy will pay, instead of ordinary tax, a flat rate substitute tax.

The EuropeFides networking was very effective in marketing WSM as a representative in the UK for members’ clients requiring tax and business advisory services. We are looking forward to exploring more business opportunities and collaboration with our members this year both within Europe and in the Far East, the strong liaison between WSM and Morrisons is ideal for members requiring services for their clients with dealings in the UK.