DUNDEE WILL be home to around 1000 more Bulgarians when the country accedes to the EU, according to a new report by a professor at Abertay University.

Professor Nikolai Zhelev, who is also honorary consul for Bulgaria in Scotland, conducted a study to predict the number of new migrants coming into Scotland when Bulgaria becomes part of the EU on January 1.

He found that of the 2100 Bulgarians, living legally in Scotland almost three-quarters of them live in Dundee.

He has added these findings to the experience of other countries with similar immigration laws to the ones we will soon have in Scotland and found that the number of new migrants in their experience was around 30% of the existing migrant population.

Significantly, he also found most of the migrants will be coming to join their countrymen by the Tay.

He said, “We have found that most Bulgarians will be coming to Dundee rather than flocking to Glasgow or Edinburgh like other eastern European migrants.

“Of the 2100 or so Bulgarians in Scotland at the moment around 1500 already live in Dundee so I believe the bulk of the new accession migrants will come here also.

“Dundee has its own Bulgarian church, a large Bulgarian community and the very first Bulgarian consulate in Scotland is also situated in Dundee.”

Prof Zhelev found the new Dundonians will provide a much needed boost to the local economy with a high number of skilled farmers, technicians, doctors and nurses.

He continued, “Dundee is the centre of Scotland, not only geographically but in the scientific, technological and agricultural sense.

“Like many Ukrainians, Russians and Poles, lots of Bulgarians are farmers by trade and the 2100 or so who are currently working in Scotland have helped revive the country’s farming industry.”

He added, “It’s not just farmers who will be coming over though. Bulgaria has a high number of intellectual and medical staff who will be coming to work in the universities and hospitals.

“Many of the newspapers say that the new migrants will overload the health service but my study found the complete opposite.

“Most of the migrants are healthy, young workers who come over and are net contributors to the economy. The migrants that are already here are filling up spaces in the understaffed nursing jobs and Bulgaria has three times as many doctors per head of capita as Scotland.

“There is one doctor to every 250 people in Bulgaria whereas in Scotland there is a shortage of doctors.

“I think its something like one doctor to every 800 patients in Scotland, so there’s a lot expertise needed over here.

“Bulgaria has a great number of computer experts and there is always a need for knowledgeable technicians, especially in Dundee as it is the centre for biotechnology in Scotland.”

One of the most surprising findings in the report is that Bulgaria may also absorb some of the problems we face in Britain.

The looming pension crisis may be alleviated slightly by what Prof Zhelev sees as a growing boom for people in Scotland to buy property in Bulgaria.

He even cited a village on the outskirts of the Bulgarian town of Kavarna that is populated almost entirely by Dundee folk.

He concluded, “Property prices and land are very good back in Bulgaria so there is also now a high demand amongst Scottish people to buy property over there for people who want to settle somewhere other than Scotland as they get older, leading to an outward migration of Scots.”

Prof Zhelev is planning a party in Dundee on January 21 to celebrate Bulgaria joining the EU. The party will be attended by Bulgarian interior minister Rumen Petkov.