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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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• France 2001
  
• France 2002
  
• France 2002, 2
  
• France 2003
  
• France 2004
  
• France 2004, 2
  
• France 2005
  
• France 2005, 2
  
• France 2005, 3
  
• France 2006
  
• France 2006, 2
  
• France 2006, 3
  
• France 2007
  
• France 2007, 2
  
• France 2007, 3
  
• France 2007, 4
  
• France 2008
  
• France 2008, 2
  

2001 was a relatively good years for the investors on the French rental commercial market. Office rents jumped by 9 percent in average and the total investments in the country increased by 50 percent on an annual basis from $6,5 billion to $10 billion. This means that in 2001 the market have experienced a slowdown after the more robust increases in 2000 (more than 10 percent).

Many local experts expect these trends will continue in 2002. Inside the general picture they anticipate a big increase in the rents in the commercial centers and malls combined with relative rent levels stabilization in the city centers. As a result these experts wait for good financial outcomes for the investors in the coming year or two.

In Paris, for example, the vacancy rate on the office market remains low (2.9 percent) although it's a bit higher than one year ago (2.1 percent). For most experts the rents are likely to remain relatively stable in 2002 because little new developments are under way. On the other hand, the take-up of offices in Paris in 2001 fell by 40 percent.

The foreign investors account for three quarters of all activity in Paris, up from 45 percent in 2000. North Americans play a prominent role accounting for almost a half of the total investments. German investors last year also increased their commitments reaching $2 billion.

The optimism for the French and European individual investors is linked with the major financial reform within the Eurozone. On 1st January 2003 the so-called Individual pension plans invested on the stock exchange could buy shares traded in any other stock market within the Eurozone. This will increase the capacity of the investment funds to better manage the assets.

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