Litigation

Dimitrova, Cholakov and partners’ practice is acknowledged for representing international clients conducting business in Bulgaria or involved in civil and administrative litigation proceedings, before courts at all levels of jurisdiction.

Our team holds an excellent record in successfully representing clients in all sorts of complex cases such as breach of contract, termination of agency and distribution agreements, employment, real estate, commercial leases and other. We help clients from the pre-litigation negotiations to final resolution before the Supreme Court, we provide expert advice during every step of the process. 

Our team handles on a regular basis complex and multi-party claims with local and/or international elements. We have a legal network of attorneys all over Europe and when we have a cross-border litigation we often use their support in the execution of the court decision in their jurisdiction. We have broad and deep understanding of civil and commercial law and regularly represent clients in contractual claims before courts of all levels. Our experience allows us to effectively navigate difficult civil law issues related to the interpretation of contractual clauses and claims for damages.  

Another area of our litigation practice includes the handling of debt recovery cases, where such debt may be related to compensatory claims, outstanding payments and other. Before initiating action we carefully assess the most efficient means to collect depending on the claim’s nature, the debtor’s credit worthiness and the available assets. We understand that under the economic environment, it is important to initiate actions and manage to have an enforceable title before other creditors, and we strive to get results quickly. We also use the seizure of assets as a preliminary measure to secure the collection of receivables. 

Each year, we are entrusted with advising and representing a renewed array of international clients who are involved in litigation and arbitration proceedings in Bulgaria. The favourable outcomes achieved for our clients, as well as our experience in handling significant cases before courts of all levels, distinguish our firm.  

Our specialized attorneys have a broad range of experience in corporate, employment, public procurement, insolvency, administrative law and commercial litigation. We have represented large and small companies, their officers, directors and management, as well as private individuals, in a diversity of dispute resolution proceedings, on legal aspects including: 

  1. commercial litigation
  2. employment disputes
  3. public procurement various complaints
  4. insolvency procedures
  5. debt recovery
  6. agreement enforcement
  7. real estate

Some of our recent cases include:

  1. Representing an international hotel chain in shareholder dispute
  2. Issuing an European payment order inferable in Greece
  3. Representing a private university in compensatory claim 
  4. Real estate dispute for 2M EUR

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25 Vitosha blvd. fl. 2, Sofia, Bulgaria

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Why Bulgaria

Bulgaria real estate market is pointed as highly dynamic. With an average of 41% growth in sales and 18% rental growth, the luxury property market is dynamically marking the first half of 2017, according to latest statistics. Up to November 2017, the increase in the prices of the properties in the capital – Sofia from the beginning of the year is approximately 14%. Another 10% is expected in 2018.
European Union citizens can now purchase properties in Bulgaria, including land. The 5-year moratorium on land purchases, set as a condition in the Accession Treaty between Republic of Bulgaria and The European Union, was lifted on January 1, 2014. EU citizens and legal person are allowed to buy houses with gardens and regulated plots of land in Bulgaria on their own names. What about non-eu citizens? Foreign individuals from other that EU or EEA countries nationalities, cannot own land (this is a Constitutional prohibition). However, the Foreign Investment Law removed the restrictions on the acquisition of land by locally-registered companies with foreign participation. By setting up or joining a company incorporated under the Bulgarian legislation foreign persons can acquire full land ownership rights including ownership rights on agricultural land. Learn more here.
Bulgaria’s economy expanded by 2.9% in 2017, an improvement from annual growth rates in 2016 and 2015, mainly due to higher net exports and public investment, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The economy is expected to expand by another 3% in 2018, according to the IMF. Bulgaria is in top 3 countries in EU when it comes to economy increase.
Interest rates in Bulgaria continue to decline. The average mortgage interest rate for BGN-denominate loans fell to a record low of 4.3% in 2017, from 6.34% in November 2014, according to the Bulgarian National Bank.
Sofia has moderate to good gross rental yields – i.e., the rental return on a property if fully rented out, before all expenses. Yields in the center were around 6.76% in 2017, up from about 4.7% to 5.7% in the same period last year, based on recent Global Property Guide research. Yields in the suburbs are also moderately good, ranging between 5% and 6.5% over the same period.
Bulgaria has one of the lowest tax burdens in the whole EU and this applies also when it comes to real estate. Real estate annual tax – 0.01%- 0.45% Transfer tax – 0.1%- 3.0% The rate is set by each municipality according to the location of the real estate. The taxable base can be the market price, specifically determined tax value or the gross book value. Keep in mind that there is no tax for agricultural land and forests.