29.04.2025 The Executive Director of BDB Tsanko Arabadzhiev participates in a business forum of the Three Seas Initiative in Warsaw

"Bulgaria offers one of the most flexible platforms for high potential investments in Europe. We combine EU market access with low operating costs, a strategic geographic location and a new generation of entrepreneurs and infrastructure builders who are ready to scale across borders." This was stated by the Executive Director of the Bulgarian Development Bank and member of the Supervisory Board of the Three Seas Investment Fund, Tsanko Arabadzhiev, during the Connecting for Growth 2025 Business Forum taking place in Warsaw on 28 and 29 April.

The two-day conference is part of the 10th anniversary summit of the Three Seas Initiative and is one of the most significant platforms for building links between business, political and academic leaders from 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

The event is held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andzhey Duda. The Forum focuses on the most important economic, infrastructural and technological issues shaping the future of the region between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas and its key role in the development of the EU.

Tsanko Arabadzhiev participated in the panel discussion "Accelerating the development of the digital economy in Central and Eastern Europe".

He highlighted the significant changes that the Bulgarian Development Bank has undergone, whose mandate has been updated and investments in green energy, logistics, digital infrastructure and healthcare are to be expanded.

"We recognise that safe projects don't build the future - strategic partnerships do. Too much investment still stops at national borders. From Sofia to Warsaw to Tallinn, we need to stop building walls around projects and start building bridges between them," the BDB CEO said.

Opportunities move faster than traditional approval cycles, which can be a brake on investment, he said.

"We need to be ready for bigger, faster and more transformative projects," Tsanko Arabadzhiev insisted.

He recalled that the EU's InvestAI program foresees investments in artificial intelligence factories, some of which will be in Central and Eastern Europe - Bulgaria, Poland and Slovenia. This will enable the development of technological capacity, increase competitiveness and improve long-term economic growth.

The Three Seas Initiative was established in 2015 as a platform for cooperation between countries located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas, which represent 22% of the EU's population.

In 2019, the initiative's investment fund was established, which is making successful investments in transport, energy and digital infrastructure in the region. BDB joined the fund as a Class A shareholder in 2020.

29 April 2025