26.03.2025

The Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova held a meeting with the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye Ömer Bolat.

 They discussed customs and economic cooperation between the two countries, as well as the promotion of investments. It became clear during the meeting that Türkiye is among the top three partner countries of Bulgaria in terms of trade turnover which exceeded EUR 7 billion in 2024. The trade between the two countries is expected to exceed EUR 10 billion in 2-3 years. The exceptional importance of the good interaction between the two customs administrations at the border check points of Kapitan Andreevo and Lesovo was therefore highlighted as a factor for the development of the commercial and economic relations between the two countries.

 Minister Temenuzhka Petkova was grateful for the good cooperation and stressed that the established mechanism for collaboration of the specialised customs units was effective, well-functioning, with a high level of trust and honesty. The Bulgarian Finance Minister said that the Customs Agency had taken actions to increase the throughput and modernisation of the Bulgarian border check points and to improve their staffing.

Issues of mutual interest in the field of rail and maritime transport, construction, migration and defence were also discussed during the meeting with the Turkish delegation.