🇧🇬How to verify a supplier in Bulgaria
To verify a supplier in Bulgaria, look the company up for free in the official Commercial Register (Registry Agency) and confirm it is registered and currently active. The registry returns registered name, EIK, legal form (EOOD, OOD, AD, ET), registered seat, managers and owners, share capital, and status. The register also holds each company's filed annual financial statements (GFO), which is the free way to see whether it actually trades.
The official registry
- Registry
- Commercial Register (Registry Agency)
- Company ID
- EIK / BULSTAT (9 digits) and the VAT number (BG + EIK)
- Cost
- Free basic lookup
- Active status
- The company must be active, not V likvidatsiya (in liquidation) or in insolvency. Then read the GFO: a claimed high-volume distributor with 0 BGN revenue, or with no GFO filed for consecutive years, is a dormant shell, not an operating supplier.
- Bulgaria is in the EU, so validate a BG VAT number for free on VIES. If the invoice shows BG+digits but the tax authority (nra.bg) marks the VAT registration as terminated (Prekratena registratsiya), transacting with it blocks your VAT credit, a direct 20% loss.
- EIK mimicry is the local trap: a shell is set up with a name almost identical to a real maker (KCM Bulgaria EOOD next to the genuine KCM AD), betting you check the NAME and not the EIK. Always match the EIK, not the spelling.
- The Sofia apartment test: Bulgaria's low 10% corporate tax draws paper-only EOOD companies registered at mass-registration addresses in Sofia residential districts (Mladost, Lyulin). A firm that claims a factory but shows only an apartment seat and no registered secondary workplace (filial / rabotno myasto) is a broker or a shell.
- A payment tell: a legitimate Bulgarian company banks locally (UniCredit Bulbank, DSK, UBB) in its exact registered name. A request to wire abroad, or to a natural person, is a stop signal.
- Bulk open data: the state open-data portal (data.egov.bg) and the Registry Agency publish company datasets keyed by NACE / KID-2008 codes (manufacturing 10-33, wholesale 46), but these government files rarely carry a company WEBSITE, so they verify structure, not reachability.
Before you sign: five asks no registry can answer
The register proves the company exists and who signs. It says nothing about whether the supplier survives a bad quarter, a fire or a key person leaving. Serious suppliers answer these five asks without friction; hesitation on any of them is information too.
- Business continuity: what happens to your order if their plant loses power, a strike hits or their systems go down? Ask for the plan, not a reassurance.
- Liability insurance: is product or professional liability insured, with which insurer and to what ceiling? A certificate of insurance is a one-page email for a real firm.
- Exit terms: how do you terminate if it goes wrong, what notice and fees apply, and how do you get your tooling, molds or data back?
- Support in numbers: ask for response and resolution times as figures, not adjectives. A supplier who commits to hours in writing has a support process; one who writes fast support does not.
- Named people: who exactly runs production and who owns your account? Continuity of a named team matters more than a polished sales deck, and employee-review sites often show whether that team stays.
General commercial hygiene, not legal advice.
Verify it in four steps
- 1
Open the Commercial Register (Registry Agency)
Commercial Register (Registry Agency) is the official government record of companies in Bulgaria. Basic name or number search is free.
- 2
Search the exact legal name or ID
Search the supplier's registered name or its EIK / BULSTAT (9 digits) and the VAT number (BG + EIK). If the name does not match cleanly, treat it as a red flag, it may be a trade name, a different entity, or wrong.
- 3
Confirm it is active, not struck off
The company must be active, not V likvidatsiya (in liquidation) or in insolvency. Then read the GFO: a claimed high-volume distributor with 0 BGN revenue, or with no GFO filed for consecutive years, is a dormant shell, not an operating supplier.
- 4
Check it makes what it sells
A real factory carries a manufacturing activity code and a consistent trade history; a middleman reselling everything is the most common mismatch. For an EU company, also validate the VAT number in the free EU VIES system.
This is a factual pointer to public records, not legal advice. For the full method, see the 7 checks that separate a real supplier from a scam.
We do this check for you
On every Bulgaria company we list, we show what the open record says, each linked to its free public source so you can re-check it yourself, no paid badge. And we go past the big directories to the local and craft makers who are too small for them but real, then verify and sort them, so you find genuine Bulgaria suppliers, not just the loudest.
Bulgaria suppliers by sector
Every company on these pages shows what the open record says about it, each fact linked to its free public source.
Related guides
Questions
Is checking a Bulgaria supplier free?
Yes. A basic name or number lookup in the Commercial Register (Registry Agency) is free. Some full official extracts are paid, but confirming a company exists and is active costs nothing.
What ID does a Bulgaria company have?
Its EIK / BULSTAT (9 digits) and the VAT number (BG + EIK). Ask the supplier for it, then confirm it in the Commercial Register (Registry Agency) and check the registered name matches.
How do I know a Bulgaria supplier is a real manufacturer, not a reseller?
The registry's activity code is the tell: a manufacturing code means a real maker, a wholesale or retail code means a trader. Bulgaria is in the EU, so validate a BG VAT number for free on VIES. If the invoice shows BG+digits but the tax authority (nra.bg) marks the VAT registration as terminated (Prekratena registratsiya), transacting with it blocks your VAT credit, a direct 20% loss.