Owning a Motor Vehicle in Bulgaria
You can bring your foreign registered vehicle into Bulgaria and use it on the roads for up to six months, but you must purchase a Vignette at the border when entering the country, which can cover a visit of one week, one month or six months. At the end of six months if you want to keep the car in the country you must register the car in Bulgaria and transfer it onto Bulgarian plates, at which time it must meet the requirements of the Bulgarian Road Traffic Act, its Implementing Regulations and the Bulgarian State Standards. EU/EEA citizens do not need to pay import duty on a used car that they have owned for over six months and driven 6,000 Km prior to entry in Bulgaria. Owners of cars brought from outside the EU/EEA do need to pay import duty on the vehicle. NB We have heard a of a case recently where a vehicle was allowed to pass through the border crossing without being made to buy a Vignette, and was then stopped by Police only a km into the country and find two hundred Euros for not have one on display. They then purchased an annual Vignette from a garage which will only be of any use for six months as a new one has to be purchased when you re-register the vehicle here. Be warned!
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Documents Required to Register a Private Vehicle in Bulgaria.
To register a vehicle in Bulgaria go to your local Road Traffic Office and Test Centre with the following documents, and an interpreter if you do not speak good Bulgarian.
• Proof of identity
• Original receipt/bill of sale
• Proof of Bulgarian residency or an employment contract
• A valid road worthiness certificate.
• Vehicle registration documents
• Receipts proving that Bulgarian vehicle tax has been paid. The amount paid depends on the age and model of the car
• Proof of minimum third party insurance
• Proof of payment of customs duty for non EU/EEA vehicles.
( Right hand drive (RHD) vehicles must have the headlights adjusted before registration. )
An environmental tax called eco-tax must be paid for all cars imported to Bulgaria from outside the EU and on all cars over ten years old imported from within the EU. The amount paid depends on the age of the vehicle; it applies to all vehicles.
You will be issued with Bulgarian registration plates which are fitted for you. Your old Registration Documents and Plates are returned to the country of origin, so it's a good idea to keep photocopies of them. Once the vehicle has been registered on Bulgarian plates, the owner may not sell it within the first year.
Vignettes
Drivers in Bulgaria have to buy their toll stickers, (Vignettes), by the end of January each year, preferably those valid for the whole year as they are the best deal.The current cost of an annual vignette for a car is BGN 67, a price that has remained unchanged since 2007. The price for a monthly toll sticker is set at BGN 25.
The stickers can be bought in the Petrol, Lukoil, Shell, OMV, ECO Bulgaria, Litex, Rompetrol, in the Piccadilly stores, in Easypay's offices and 1,870 Bulgarian Posts'offices, as well as on the www.vinetka.com website.
A vignette is required for driving on Bulgarian state roads. These are practically all main roads in Bulgaria and there is no option to avoid buying a vignette for driving across Bulgaria. Bulgaria's road vignettes are not likely to be replaced by electronic toll systems before 2017.
Local Vehicle Tax.
When you have completed the Registration process you should go to your local Municipality Offices and pay the local Car Tax which is also due each year. You will only have to pay the proportion which is due up until the tax year end, and will then have to continue paying it when due each spring.
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The vehicle road worthiness test in Bulgaria is a regular technical inspection carried out on all vehicles over three years old. The test is carried out in authorised garages that are licensed by the Ministry of Transport, and is the equivalent of MOT testing in the UK, though possibly less rigorous. To find a testing center, look out for this sign: Технически преглед.
Taking the Test
New vehicles are exempt from testing for three years from first registration.
• The first test takes place at three years from the date of first registration
• The second test takes place two years thereafter
• Five years after first registration, the car undergoes annual road worthiness tests
You should have the vehicle tested before the expiry date on the road worthiness certificate but you do have 30 days following the expiry date to carry our the test. After this time there is an on the spot fine if you are stopped by the traffic police. Be warned, that if you have an accident, if the road worthiness test period has expired, the insurance of the vehicle may be considered invalid by the insurance company.
Documents required for the test.
The following documents are needed by the test center:
Proof of identity of the driver/owner
The vehicle's registration documents
Proof of insurance, compulsory for all vehicles, with the sticker on the windscreen
The receipt proving that the vehicle's taxes have been paid .
What is Tested
Brakes
Steering and steering wheel
Lights
Tyres
Axles
Suspension and wheels
Equipment carried inside the vehicle including seat belts, first aid kit, warning triangle etc..
If the vehicle passes the test, the garage issues a card and a stamp for the car. This contains information about the month and year of the next test due and the car's number plates. The card must be carried by the driver at all times, and be shown to a traffic police officer on request. The stamp must be stuck to the windscreen of the car. New cars also receive a card and a stamp that shows that they are road worthy by the car dealer. If the vehicle fails the road worthiness test, the necessary repairs must be carried out and the vehicle will need to be re-tested and the fee paid again.
Other Requirements.
Legally, you are required to carry a Fire Extinguisher and a First Aid kit in your vehicle at all times, though this point is only likely to be enforced during the vehicle test when you take a vehicle to transfer to Bulgarian registration, and in my experience, not even then.
There are also specific rules relating to driving during the winter months on Bulgarian roads, though their implementation seems to be very erratic, but here they are.:-
Winter tyres: Bulgaria does not have legislation concerning the use of winter tyres.
Spikes: The use of tyres with spikes is not allowed.
Snow chains: It is compulsory to have snow chains aboard between 1 November and 31 March. At least one set for the driven wheels. Snow chains must be used if a traffic sign indicates this.
Drivers in Bulgaria must switch their car lights on from 1st November each year. According to the Traffic Act in Bulgaria, all drivers must put their vehicle's lights on whilst driving at any time, including daylight hours, and this applies from the 1st. November through to the 1st. March. Failure to have your lights on will result in an on the spot fine. This one does tend to get enforced as it's an easy hit for an on the spot fine.
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New cars are sold at appointed dealerships in Bulgaria as elsewhere. When buying a new car without a loan or lease contract, the buyer is only required to present proof of their identity, but the procedure is obviously more complicated if a loan or lease contract is to be signed. In these cases the following documents are required:
Private Buyer
• A copy of the residence permit and driving licence
• A declaration of consent to provide the car dealer/distributor with the residence permit and driving licence
• Contact details (telephone numbers, e-mail address)
• A certificate for temporary or permanent address registration. This can be obtained from the local Address Registration Office, usually in the corresponding Town Hall.
• A certificate stating that the person has never been subject to legal proceedings issued by local courts for Bulgarian citizens
• All documents proving the person's income, for example, a work contract, tax declaration and any other relevant information.
• Company owner
• The business registration number
• Bulstat registration number
• Certificate presenting the company's current financial status
• Contact details (telephone numbers, e-mail address)
• Personal identification documents and a declaration of consent to provide the distributor with copies of identification documents
• A certificate from the local courts (Trade Law Department) stating that the company has not declared bankruptcy
• A copy of the annual income declaration
The registration procedures and establishing an insurance policy are usually handled by the dealer on behalf of the buyer.
The dealer provides the new owner with the following documents:
• The purchase contract
• A vehicle road worthiness card and sticker/stamp for the windscreen. Although a vehicle does not need to undergo a road worthiness test until it is three years old, so this is proof of the due date for the first test
• The vehicle's registration document .
• Vehicle Registration Document.
The vehicle's registration document contains the following information:
• Registration plate number
• The vehicle's unique engine number
• Type of vehicle
• Make and model
• Date of registration
• Colour
• Category of vehicle
• Owner's name
• Owner's address
• Buying/Selling a Used Car in Bulgaria
There are a number of Internet sites that can be useful in both buying and selling used cars in Bulgaria, and local newspapers and specialised magazines also have classified advertisements for buying and selling used cars As the world over, you should always be sure who you are dealing with and the legality of the vehicle they are selling when buying a used car. Most towns have registered Used Car Dealers, but you would be advised to have someone with mechanical knowledge with you, if you are not mechanically skilled and someone fluent in Bulgarain, to make sure you are buying something which is legal in every sense of the word.
How to buy or sell a used car in Bulgaria.
To be legal, both the seller and the buyer of a used vehicle must sign a vehicle purchase contract in front of a Notary Public. The contract must be signed by both parties or their legal representative(s) before it can be declared valid by the Notary. If a company is making the purchase it is not necessary to sign at a Notary Public. The signed contract is needed for the new owner to register the car in their name at the local Traffic Police Office.The seller provides the following documents:
• Vehicle registration document
• The road worthiness stamp and certificate
• A receipt proving payment of the annual Vehicle Tax - the owner of a car receives this after paying the annual Vehicle Tax at the local Taxes and Fees Office
• Proof of identity
• Proof of third-party insurance
The buyer will need to provide the following:
• Proof of identity
• Payment
• Registering the Vehicle
Within 14 days the new owner must go to the local Traffic Police Office to register the vehicle in their name. The vehicle must be registered at the Traffic Police Office in Yambol for the Elhovo area.
Documents Required
The Local Traffic Police require the following documents for the registration:
• A registration application form (provided by the local Traffic Police Office in Bulgarian)
• The original vehicle purchase contract and a second copy
• Proof of payment of the Vehicle Tax
• A valid third-party insurance policy, compulsory for all vehicles
• Proof of the new owner's identity
• Proof of the address registration obtained from the local Address Registration Office , usually obtainable from the local Town Hall
• The vehicle's previous registration document
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Driving Licences
You can drive in Bulgaria on a normal EU driving licence from your home country, but if you become a long term resident, the Police like you to transfer to a Bulgarian Driving Licence. This involves you exchanging your old Licence for a Bulgarian one, and the Traffic Police then hold your old Licence until you want to leave the country when they will return it to you, if still in date. The reason for this is that there are no reciprocal arrangements in place at present with other EU countries to lipase over traffic offences, so you have to have a Bulgarian Licence in order to receive penalty points and so on. In practice few people seem to volunteer to change to the Bulgarian Licence, but if you are involved in a motoring offence of some kind you will have no choice in the matter, and the Traffic Police will instruct you to surrender your old drivers licence and apply for a Bulgarian one, so that they can record the offence against you within their records and apply points if awarded against you. It does seem, though is not completely clear, that this rule only applies to those with long term Bulgarian residency. There is a suggestion that you carry your passport with you at all times and show that (rather than your residency card), if you are stopped, though this does seem to rely rather optimistically on the Police not bothering to check whether you are registered as a long term resident. Presumably if they ask you if you are and you deny it you could be putting yourself in a very awkward position if they do check, so we would not in any way advise anyone to do this.
The Bulgarian penalty points system starts you off with 30 points on your licence and then deducts points for each offence. Once all the points have been deducted you have to apply to take a test and to have them re-instated on your licence.
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There are over 8,000 miles of main roads in Bulgaria that link the major city centers, which are now being added to by all the new dual carriageways which are being financed by EU money, so that in time you will be able to cross the entire country without actually seeing any of it.
Unfortunately, in the Elhovo area which this site serves, there are very few normal roads which could be said to have a good surface and many which require extreme care when driving along them, especially at night. This is also the case in many of the more rural areas of Bulgaria, and it seems likely that it will be some years before the enormous amount of funds needed to put it right will be available.
Rules of the Road.
Drinking and Driving.I have come across a number of expatriate residents who are convinced that Bulgaria has a zero tolerance policy on Drink Driving, but as far as I can tell this is certainly not the case. The information I have researched all agrees that the limit is 0.5 mg of alcohol per ml., but you can read much more information on the subject at :-
http://www.safetravel.co.uk/EuropeDrinkDrivingLimits.html
where you will see that Bulgaria shares the same limit level with the majority of other EU countries.
General Road Rules.
Traffic travels on the right and the police strictly enforce posted speed limits and award on the spot fines, usually backed by in car radar equipment. Recently speed traps have become more common, and some fixed speed cameras have started appearing. Trams always have priority and pedestrians have the right of way in "zebra striped" crosswalks, at least in theory, but if you are a pedestrian, don't take it for granted is my advice.
If you are still using your vehicle with non-Bulgarian number plates you will probably find yourself the subject of more unexpected police inspections than you would expect.
One of the most common violations is exceeding the speed limit. Speed limits in Bulgaria are :-
Populated Areas - 50 km per hour
Main Roads - 90 km per hour
Highways - 130 km per hour
Fines can be quite high, especially for visiting motorists caught speeding, and in general the traffic police are quite vigilant with frequent spot checks being set up, especially during the evening period, when they will also be on the lookout for drink drivers..
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Main Roads - 90 km per hour
Highways - 130 km per hour
Fines can be quite high, especially for visiting motorists caught speeding, and in general the traffic police are quite vigilant with frequent spot checks being set up, especially during the evening period, when they will also be on the lookout for drink drivers..
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Trains and Buses.
The Elhovo area is not well served with train services, despite the fact that maps still show the old disused lines coming down from Yambol. If you get to Yambol there are reasonable services to most of the major cities, details of which can be found via the web link below. , There are Bus services serving the villages within the Elhovo area, though local buses tend not to run strictly according to time tables. Buses from Elhovo to major destinations such as Yambol and Bourgas can also be found on the web site link below which has a full English Language service.
http://www.bulgariatouristinformation.com/bulgarian-bus-and-train-timetables
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Transport in Bulgaria
News, Views, Comment, Feature Articles, Information and Advertising about Elhovo, Bulgaria, and the surrounding areas.
