A car on EU registration plates can enter another EU country on any number of occasions, and stay for any length of time, independent of the status of the owner. This means that a tourist can leave his EU-registered car in Bulgaria when his tourist stay is up and come back for another tourist stay, using his car, without delivering the registration plates to the police, as was previously required.

However, a foreign-registered car can only be used by the owner or someone he gives a written permit for limited purposes (a car repair shop).

If a foreigner becomes resident in Bulgaria, he can in principle only drive a car with Bulgarian registration numbers.

Importing you car

To import a foreign registered car to Bulgaria and get Bulgarian plates, you must within 14 days of entering the country go to the nearest KAT office (Bulgarian traffic police) with the car and all documents pertaining to yourself and the vehicle (including logbook and valid insurance). As a citizen from an EU or EEA country, you will not pay any import duties, only excise taxes for cars with more than 160 hp.

Since the process of importation is complicated, it can be recommendable to use a company specialising in such transactions.

Buying or selling a car in Bulgaria

A foreign resident can buy a car in Bulgaria on Bulgarian plates. The prices for cars within the EU are quite similar. You should check carefully the ownership before buying a second hand car.

In all bigger cities you will find importers of cars, showrooms and second hand car dealers.

You can sell your foreign registered car to a Bulgarian or a foreign resident in a private contract. The buyer has the obligation to go to the local traffic police and apply for new registration. The two parties agree who pays the excise tax mentioned, the 2% local tax on the agreed price and any other costs connected with the sale.

We would recommend the vendor to accompany the buyer to the traffic police and make sure that a new registration is made. Otherwise a crooked buyer may continue to drive on your registration – and your insurance.

Driving licences

An EU driving licence is valid in Bulgaria, also if you change to a Bulgarian car registration.

Insurance, Green card

You should look carefully at your motor insurance documents before setting out on a journey to the Balkans. Some insurance companies exclude certain countries where they do not have representatives to deal with an accident.

There are at the moment conflicting reports on the need to have a Green card in Bulgaria. What seems sure is that Bulgarian-registered vehicles do not need a Green card any more (from 1st of August 2007) when being driven to another EU country. It would be logical that cars registered in other EU countries are liberated from the obligation to have a Green card for driving in Bulgaria. But we miss a firm confirmation and warn you that you may still be asked to buy such a card on Bulgarian border crossing points.

Vignette

There is no toll to pay on Bulgarian motorways. Instead it is required for all cars using the roads outside the city street to have a vignette pasted to their front window. There are vignettes for 3 types of car, here we are only interested in type K3 – passenger vehicles with up to 8 seats.

Prices for the vignettes change. But in 2007 the vignette for a car with foreign registration costs 34 Euro for the year, 13 for a month and 5 for a week. The vignettes for a car with Bulgarian registration are slightly cheaper. The vignettes can be bought at the border crossing points, but also at some petrol stations.

Driving regulations

Road signs and driving regulations in Bulgaria are in principle the same as in Northern Europe. But some times the signs are placed in a different manner, or lacking in the countryside. We recommend attentive, careful and defensive driving.

• Speed limit in populated areas is 50 km/h.
• Outside populated areas the limit is 90 km/h.
• On motorways the limit is 130 km/h

Police controls are frequent, and you can be fined 20 Euro for driving without the seat belt fastened or using a mobile phone while driving. Speeding will cost you 35 Euro.

The permissible amount of alcohol in the blood when driving is 0.5 ‰. The sanction for driving intoxicated is from 50 to 150 Euro and suspension of licence.