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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Portugal: 30 years after the revolution30 years after the democratic revolution and almost 20 years after joining EU, Portugal still remains one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. The relative economic advantage this country had over its richer European neighbors by offering cheaper labor is about to disappear with countries from Central and Eastern Europe now joining EU. Among the chief assets Portugal can still offer is the law and order society, mild climate for yearlong retirees from Northern Europe, good tourist facilities and historic places to a certain degree. The prices levels don't offer huge potential for those seeking high profit returns. The moderate annual appreciation of the properties makes sense to buy residences with long-term intentions. In 1974 Portugal began its democratic development putting the starting point of what the international political expert Samuel Huntington will call later the "third wave" of world democratization. The country since then has become a model parliament democracy with middle size economy. It also has become a model for every country in democratic transition. Portugal together with Greece still lags behind the leading economic European nations. Compared to Spain and Ireland, the country wasn't able to catch up with the European core countries. What wasn't done during the last 20-30 years and most probably it wouldn't be accomplished in the years to come. Instead of stressing on economic factors that appreciate over the time like work force qualification (Ireland and Spain), Portugal continued for decades to rely on its cheap labor. Now when countries like Latvia, Lithuania and Poland among many others offer still lower costs for hiring workforce, Portugal will have to choose between painful readjustment and the gradual economic marginalization within the EU. The Portuguese government hoped to use the European soccer championship to boost the national economy but these hopes were dashed by poor incomes. On the other hand, the property prices in the country aren't in a position to attract huge new amount of foreign capitals in order to push ahead the stagnant national economy. Just to have a general impression of the market, in the countryside where properties are always cheaper, most houses go within the 100,000-150,000 euro range with some older constructions without modern amenities falling below 80,000-90,000 euro. The good news is that Portugal still sees its properties appreciate over time, by 5-6% annually, which is sufficient to keep interest from some investors concerned more with the security than with the high returns. Right now not all EU countries can claim any significant property appreciation, which means that Portugal is among the good market performers.
Portugal country profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Portugal.
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