The nationality distribution of applicants gives us an interesting picture of where the program has achieved its strongest market acceptance.

According to the latest figures available to us, 42 applicants have passed the pre-approval stage:

Bulgaria gained another 12 applicants in 2026 (as of June 2026). At the minimum qualifying investment this represents another €6 million of capital entering the Bulgarian economy.

You may ask: what difference can €6 million really make to a country’s capital market?

In a highly liquid market, probably not much. But the Bulgarian capital market is still relatively illiquid, and in an illiquid market even relatively small amounts of new capital can make a difference. We should also not forget Bulgaria’s multi-billion-euro pension fund industry, which is already an important institutional investor in Bulgarian securities.

Why Should I Invest Through the Bulgaria Golden Visa?

As I have said many times, one of the ideas behind the investment route is not simply to bring investors to Bulgaria. It is also to help develop the local capital market and Bulgaria’s fund ecosystem.

To understand the opportunity, I like to look at Portugal.

Portugal’s listed equity market is concentrated in a relatively small number of companies. Euronext Lisbon has only 34 listed companies, yet its total market capitalization exceeds €97 billion. By comparison, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange has a market capitalization of only around €10 billion, despite having a much larger number of listed companies across the BSE Main Market and the BEAM growth market. This creates an interesting contrast: Bulgaria has many more listed companies, but a market that is only a fraction of the size of Portugal’s in terms of capitalization.

What do these numbers mean?

They show how much room the Bulgarian capital market still has to develop. If the Bulgaria Golden Visa program remains stable, attracts more investors and part of this new capital is invested through Bulgarian funds into companies traded on the BSE and BEAM, this can create a very interesting dynamic. More capital means more demand, potentially better liquidity and, if the underlying companies continue to perform, the possibility of capital appreciation for investors.

Of course, this does not mean that prices will automatically go up simply because Golden Visa investors arrive. Investment decisions still have to make sense on their own. But in a relatively small and illiquid market, the impact of new long-term capital can be much more visible than it would be in Frankfurt, London or New York.

Understanding this opportunity, Bulgaria AIF Fund intends to gradually diversify part of its portfolio into shares of selected Bulgarian listed companies.

Among the companies we are looking at are Bulgarian Stock Exchange AD (BSE) itself; Advance Terrafund REIT (ATER), one of Bulgaria’s established agricultural-land REITs; Eurohold Bulgaria (EUBG), a Bulgarian holding group with significant operations in the energy and financial sectors; and Sopharma (SFA), one of Bulgaria’s best-known pharmaceutical groups, with a long history in pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution. This does not mean that all of these companies will necessarily become investments of the Fund.

There are also other instruments available on the Bulgarian market, including warrants, which can provide exposure to the future development of an underlying company under predefined conditions. These instruments carry different and generally higher risks, so they need to be assessed separately rather than treated as ordinary shares.

The Bigger Picture

Our team’s efforts are mainly focused on keeping the Bulgaria Golden Visa stable, attracting more applicants to the program and ensuring a smooth process for our investors from pre-approval through permanent residence and, for those who eventually qualify and choose to apply, towards Bulgarian citizenship.

But there is another part of the story.

The investment should not exist only because it provides a route to permanent residence. If we can successfully invest this capital in Bulgaria, generate income for our investors and return their capital after the required investment period, then the financial return becomes an additional benefit for choosing the Bulgaria Golden Visa program.

I sometimes describe it more simply:

The capital return, together with the income generated during the investment period, should be our thank-you to investors for choosing Bulgaria.

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