Doing Business in Pleven

The Pleven Economy

Pleven is the seventh-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of Pleven Province and Pleven Municipality. Manufacturing is the largest sector of the local economy, followed by trade, healthcare and agriculture.^8,3

Source: Institute for Market Economics: Pleven economic centre³

The Institute for Market Economics groups Pleven with six neighbouring municipalities in the Pleven economic centre. It produced BGN 2.61 billion of output in 2021, and its value added grew by 62% in ten years. Pleven Municipality generates 80% of the centre’s value added, and its own value added grew by 75%.³

Manufacturing and the Industrial Park

In 2025 the Rubin glassworks opened its third furnace, an investment of more than BGN 140 million by German companies that Pleven Municipality describes as the largest industrial investment in north-western Bulgaria in 20 years. The furnace created 150 jobs and took Rubin’s workforce above 600, and the company’s three certified investment projects total more than BGN 250 million.⁵

Industrial Park Pleven, in the Telish area in the west of the city, was created by Tavistock Group Bulgaria and FairPlay International and is described as Bulgaria’s first certified green industrial park. It covers 193,495 m², with plots from 3,000 to 18,000 m², its own substation and 2 MW of free power that can be raised to 12 MW. Glass Contribution, the owner of Rubin, is its largest investor.^4,6

Source: Pleven Municipality: The glassworks opens furnace No. 3; Just Auto: German parts maker eyes Bulgaria; InvestBulgaria Agency: Certified investment projects^5,7,11

Healthcare and the Medical University

Healthcare generates 15% of the value added in the Pleven economic centre, almost all of it in the city, and the University Hospital is the largest employer with more than 1,700 staff. Pleven Province has the highest number of general practitioners and specialist doctors in Bulgaria.^3,8

The Medical University of Pleven was the first Bulgarian medical school to teach medicine in English to international students. It has 1,563 international students from 53 countries, admits close to 300 a year, and enrolled more than 600 first-year students in 2026.^9,10

Workforce and Salaries

• 46,000 people were in work in Pleven Municipality, and 66% of residents aged 15–64 were employed.
• 29% of the municipality’s residents aged 7 and over have a university degree.
• About 4,000 people commute to work in Pleven every day from the surrounding municipalities.
• In Pleven Province, unemployment averaged 7.69% in 2025, and 33.1% of residents aged 25–64 have a university degree.
• The average gross salary in Pleven Province was €1,096 a month in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Source: Institute for Market Economics: Pleven economic centre; Institute for Market Economics: Regional Profiles, Pleven Province; Ministry of Labour and Social Policy: Labour market bulletin, fourth quarter of 2025^3,17,2

Pleven Municipality issues Class B investment certificates under its Ordinance No. 30. Certified investors get administrative services in deadlines one-third shorter than the standard ones and individual support from the municipality.¹²

Roads, Rail and River

The E83 Sofia–Varna road and the Sofia–Varna railway pass through Pleven. The extension of the Hemus motorway is planned to pass south of the city, and Industrial Park Pleven is 18 km from the motorway, 160 km from Sofia and 150 km from Ruse.^8,4

Pleven has no active civil airport; a project aims to restore one at Dolna Mitropolia, about 10 km away. The province has river ports on the Danube near Nikopol and Somovit.⁸

Foreign Investment and Large Employers

Foreign direct investment in the Pleven economic centre reached €156 million by the end of 2021, €151 million of it in Pleven Municipality. Industry attracted the most, followed by real estate and by trade, transport and tourism. The chemicals trader EuroChem Agro is the largest company by revenue.³

Source: Institute for Market Economics: Pleven economic centre; Pleven Municipality: The glassworks opens furnace No. 3^3,5

Registering a Company in Pleven

Bulgaria has one national Commercial Register, so a company based in Pleven can be filed online from anywhere with a qualified electronic signature, or on paper at the Registry Agency’s Pleven office. After registration, the company deals with the Pleven office of the National Revenue Agency for tax and VAT, and with Pleven Municipality for local taxes and fees.^13,14

Source: Registry Agency: Commercial Register contacts; Council of Ministers IISDA: National Revenue Agency offices; Pleven Municipality: Contacts; Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Regional chambers^13,14,15,16

The full steps, documents, fees and timings are in the guide to registering a company in Bulgaria.