The Bulgarian electrical industry is one of the sectors with the greatest contribution to our country’s exports. Tomorrow, a business forum “Electrical Industry 2025” will be held in Sofia.
The main topics will be the circular economy, the green transition, cybersecurity and the entry of artificial intelligence into the industry. One of the biggest threats to the electrical industry are the new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
“The Chinese and Asian electrical industry has long been preparing for these tariffs, because they are not something unusual, but rather unexpected. And they began a few months ago, even more than half a year, a rather aggressive policy of entering markets in which they have not been present until now. Naturally, since the Bulgarian electrical industry is very well connected with the Western European one, we are their subcontractors, they are reducing their exports to the US, and accordingly we are losing, ” said the chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics , Dr. Eng. Dimitar Beleliev in the studio of “Bulgaria Morning”.
Another serious problem facing the Bulgarian electrical industry is the lack of qualified personnel. Beleliev stressed that the labor shortage is worsening, and the reasons are diverse – from insufficient salaries to a lack of interest in heavy industrial work.
According to him, due to outdated state labor market policy, many young people are orienting themselves towards easier and well-paid positions in the public sector.
” The deficits are huge and actually the biggest problem is that there are people, but they don’t want to work. They simply don’t want to do this kind of work,” Dr. Beleliev commented to Bulgaria ON AIR.
Despite global challenges, the Bulgarian electrical industry continues to play an important role on the international stage. According to Dr. Beleliev, electrical engineering and electronics are Bulgaria’s leading export products. The largest exports are observed for transformers, motors, generators and other electrical components.
Artificial intelligence and new technologies are also causing serious transformations in the industrial sector. Although this will bring both challenges and opportunities, Dr. Beliliev does not see major disruptions for Bulgarian industry.
He pointed out that if the state and the European Union make the right decisions, the industry will be able to adapt to the new conditions.
