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Archived Articles
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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Slovenia: At the frontline of post-communism transitionNo big news is good news and if we look for news from Slovenia we'll be pleasantly surprised by the shortage of scandals, tensions of any sort, and bad economic reports. As if after the brief 10-day war of secession in 1991 it was doomed to produce only good news, to be at the top of any ranking in Central and Eastern Europe. Surprisingly enough, this precious stone of the former communist world is little known in the West outside its neighbors Italy and Austria. As if the lack of dramatic developments made a country trivial in the eyes of the specialists of different fields. If the West was looking more closely at the Slovenian experience from the very beginning of its democratic and market reforms in early 1990's perhaps it could have been more useful in giving good advices to the countries that went behind the same way. Instead of applying abstract economic principles existing only in the heads of their authors, many smaller nations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union would have benefited from the real experience of the country that was once part of the flock. Slovenia briefly went through the international news exchange this spring, only to be included in the list of countries joining NATO and EU. Not so loudly announced was the fact that it was first among the so-called transitional countries to shift from borrower to donor status within the World Bank. Which means that it's already accepted among the club of the rich nations. To illustrate just how far Slovenia has gone in the past 15 years, its GDP per capita has already exceeded those of Greece and Portugal and it's ahead of competition coming from any former communist country. Given the current economic trends, it won't be surprising to see within 10 years Slovenia ahead of other European countries like Spain. The recipe for this phenomenal progress isn't only linked to Slovenian excellent geographic location, being at the doorsteps of the West and at the same time at the crossroad between the European core and its new post-communist periphery. The very low level of corruption in any field is also a condition for excellent economic performances. According to World Bank analysis, a country with low or almost inexistent corruption can have its per capita GDP multiplied by 4 in the long run. This almost exactly matches the economic distance between Slovenia and the least developed post-communist countries from the same region. Not surprisingly, some of these least developed countries in South-East Europe have corruption levels above the average. As far as the real estate market is concerned, it shows signs of strength across the board compared to our last visit in 2000. The average residential properties in the capital city Ljubljana from $1,300-1,600/sq.m depending on the size and the number of bedrooms have gone to $1,500-2,000/sq.m. The commercial properties that saw depreciation in the late 1990's are again good for investors. The dark side of the story, if this term is appropriate at all for county like Slovenia, is the environment situation, the still high levels of industrial pollution, the heavy metals and toxic chemicals that decrease the tourist attractiveness of the coastal areas. Another disappointment for those, especially from EU, who would run working and living in Slovenia, is the 7-year transitional period. During this period the national government may decide not to issue work permits in order to protect the local employees. Those wishing to retire in the country must show sufficient monthly incomes, $2,000 or more, a proof of health insurance and to have a permanent address, which can be also a rental.
Slovenia country profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Slovenia.
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