Bulgaria also has a fairly long history of arbitration. Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Arbitration Institute was formerly a mediation institute established under BCCI as early as 100 years ago. The case accepted at that time must be a dispute between at least one legal person based in Bulgaria. Since 1989, the Arbitration Institute has also begun to provide arbitration services for natural persons and/or legal persons within the territory of Bulgaria. At present, the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Institute involves civil and commercial disputes and disputes over filling contract vacancies and amending contracts in accordance with new circumstances, regardless whether the parties are located in Bulgaria. The Arbitration Institute does not accept property rights, real estate or labor relations disputes. If the dispute is submitted to the Arbitration Institute in accordance with the arbitration agreement or international treaty, the Institute may accept the case. On January 17, 1989, BCCI adopted ad hoc arbitration rules and fees assisted by the Arbitration Institute. The current version of the Arbitration Rules of the BCCI Arbitration Institute is the 2002 Arbitration Rules, which was revised on the basis of the rules that entered into force on July 1, 1993. The 2002 Rules of the BCCI Arbitration Institute, on the basis of summing up the practice of multi-year arbitration, are quite detailed in all stages of the arbitration process.

The BCCI Arbitration Institute consists of a bureau, an arbitrator and a secretariat. The bureau is comprised of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman and members for a five-year term. The Chairman shall represent the Arbitration Institute at home and abroad, convene meetings of the bureau, make reports on the activities of the Arbitration Institute, and implement the decisions of the bureau. Its arbitrators are appointed and deposed by the bureau every five years. The list of arbitrators handling domestic disputes is separate from the list of arbitrators dealing with foreign-related disputes. Non-Bulgarian citizens can also become arbitrators. The arbitrator who handles the dispute shall sign an independent and impartial statement and send it to the parties. The staff members in the Secretariat of BCCI Arbitration Institute are required to be law graduates, have a good command of English, and can also speak Russian, and they are responsible for the management of case file, the issuing of notices for the Arbitration Institute and following the rules.