Contracts in Bulgaria
Contracts in Bulgaria have their own specifics so it is better to use a qualified lawyer in Bulgaria for drafting the contract.
What is the contract?
The general rules regarding the contracts in Bulgaria are to be found in the Bulgarian Obligations and Contracts Act (OCA). According to Article 8 of this Act, the contract is an agreement between two or more persons to enter into, regulate or dissolve a legal relationship. The contract is a counter-transaction – usually the goals and statements of the parties are opposite. More than one person may participate in each of the parties.
There are also employment contracts in Bulgaria which are regulated by the Labour Code. They need to comply with the legal regulations and provisions in order not to be void.
How to conclude contracts in Bulgaria?
To conclude a contract in Bulgaria, it is necessary to reach an agreement between the two parties. The agreement is reached with two acts – offer (proposal) and acceptance. The offer is the statement of intent proposing the conclusion and terms of a future contract. The party proposing the conclusion of the contract is called the tenderer. The acceptance by the counterparty is a declaration of intent, with which the party agrees with the content and the targeted legal consequences of the offer. According to Article 14 of the law of obligations and contracts, the contract is concluded, in the moment that the offering party receives the acceptance.
A written contract can be concluded by signing it with a handwritten signature or qualified electronic signature.
What is the effect of the contract?
According to Article 20a of the law of obligations and contracts, contracts are legally binding on those who conclude them.
The contracts may only be modified, denounced, dissolved or annulled by mutual consent of the parties or according to legal requirements.
Only in the cases provided by law the contract effects operations between the contracting and third parties. If third parties hinder the performance of the contract, they must pay damages. The contract may also be determined in favor of a third party.
What is the form of the contract?
The form represents the special requirements of the law for the manner of making the declarations of intent in certain transactions and their legal significance.
The rule is that transactions are informal unless the legislator provides otherwise. The regulation is imperative.
All transactions at the disposal of real rights are formal. When a certain form is provided for the conclusion of a transaction, it also refers to its amendment and supplement.
How to terminate the contract?
According to Bulgarian law, when the debtor under a bilateral contract fails to fulfill its obligation for a reason for which he is responsible, the creditor may terminate the contract by giving the debtor an appropriate term for performance with a warning that after the expiration of the term the contract is terminated.
The contract is canceled with a unilateral statement of the creditor. In case there is a breach of contract or there are due amounts as per the contract or invoices issued for services or goods which were not delivered you can check our debt recovery in Bulgaria services.
In the case of contracts by which real rights are transferred, established, recognized, or terminated – the cancellation takes place in court.
If you would like to conclude a contract with a Bulgarian company or a person it is better to use a lawyer in Bulgaria to draft the contract to protect in the best way possible your interests and rights.
You can reach us at:
tel.: +359895443792
email: ivanov@bi-lawfirm.com
This article is written by Pavel Dimitrov.