By George St Claire
I am an Englishman living in Northern Bulgaria and have been here for almost the last two decades. In the early 2000s, I purchased various properties (around 30) in Northern coastal Bulgaria, primarily land in villages. You may not know huge amounts about Bulgaria and, in case you don’t, it is ex-Communist and hence very suspicious of and largely opposed to Government. This explains, mainly, the low take-up of the ‘Gates procedure’ (officially 30%, but more likely around 15%). It is a very fertile country and especially in the north where I am – known as the breadbasket of Bulgaria – though also with some very good beaches. My land was bought with a view to development in the sense of smallholdings and farming and is well suited to these purposes. My plots are mainly 1,000 – 5,000 sq miles and regulated, meaning they all have houses or remains of houses on them.
Bulgaria has always been freer and less regimented than the West and certainly the UK at this time. They are trying to institute the systems that are currently overwhelming the UK, but not really having much success. If they ever manage to achieve it, they will be, in my estimation, at least 20 to 30 years behind the UK. The Bulgarians and the majority of those choosing to emigrate here are very independent minded and self-sufficient, cash usage is still around 70% and not diminishing.
I have been running a small retail British food operation here since 2004. I am now striving to get away as much as possible from highly processed foods and concentrating on organic, non-GMO, which has to be the way forward. There has been a dramatic upsurge here over the past three years in small-scale animal husbandry and vegetable/fruit growing, although that has always been a major part of life in this country. Even people in what cannot be considered strictly rural areas have turned to production of quail, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. including myself over the past two years, though I have always tried to be self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables, even more so now with the forthcoming supply chain disruption.
I am seeking like-minded people interested in self-sufficiency and getting away from control systems as much as possible to set up in this country where there is far more freedom. To this end, I have been looking at this model as a possibility: https://www.food4change.uk/
We would welcome people who are interested in an entirely different and better way of life. At the moment, many Germans are coming over and setting up smallholdings, buying plots and building or setting up pre-fabricated structures available here or simply living in caravans or wooden structures, which are not subject to regulatory procedures. Although it used to be very cheap to build here, that is no longer the case and prices are much the same as the rest of Europe. However, I believe the advantages of living here far outweigh the disadvantages, with a bright future.
The property I have is here on this link: https://bulgarianbestproperties.com/property-type/best-buys/ This is my personal property and no agencies are involved.
I would be open to straightforward selling or seeing enterprising individuals setting up and remunerating with produce and services, with a view to establishing a community based, localised food supply system. We can provide assistance with settling in here – translation of documents, assistance with officials, purchase of vehicles, building contractors, and so on.
Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this!
Many thanks.
If you are interested in this offer, please contact George via our contact form and we will forward your request.
Photos of various wooden structures built here by various carpenters (some English) that we work here with and pre-fab buildings that are available a few kilometres from us in Balchik (these are assembled and fitted out here, but the structural materials are from Germany whilst the fittings are whatever the owner desires):
