Dear readers,

This week, we look at how autonomous cars could arrive in the Balkans sooner than expected. Bulgarian entrepreneur Oggy Popov of Volt Premium Taxi envisions a future where self-driving vehicles complement human drivers, with Sofia quietly emerging as one of Europe’s most receptive cities for robotaxis. The Rimac-backed robotaxi brand Verne, is also planning to provide autonomous cars on the roads of Zagreb, initially targeting launch this year in spring.

We also explore the latest developments in the regional tech scene: investment platforms are expanding, defense firms are stepping into unmanned systems and raising capital, and innovation hubs like Croatia’s Smart Factory are taking shape.

In N. Macedonia, one of the largest IT companies that recently went through a major merger seems to be navigating internal turbulence, leaving employees uncertain about what comes next...

Finally, startups are balancing speed, depth, and innovation, with founders like Alex Nicoara leveraging AI to tackle serious challenges and reshape industries across the region.

Enjoy the read!
Bojan Stojkovski
Editor-in-Chief, IT Logs

For many people across the Balkans, the idea of self-driving cars still feels distant and something out of a sci-fi movie. Moreover, it’s also seen as something that belongs in San Francisco, Shenzhen, or maybe Berlin, and surely not in Skopje, Belgrade or Sofia.  Yet according to Bulgarian entrepreneur Oggy Popov, that reality may drastically change soon.

Popov is the founder of Volt Premium Taxi, a Sofia-based service that has spent the past two years trying to redefine what a taxi company can be. Instead of competing purely on price, Volt focuses on quality: from the vehicles themselves to the drivers behind the wheel.

Today, the company operates around 100 vehicles across the Bulgarian capital, most of them premium models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. But for Popov, the vehicles themselves are not the most important element.

The approach appears to be working, and Volt has quickly become one of the highest-rated taxi services in Bulgaria, gaining a loyal customer base in Sofia. Yet while Volt is focused on human drivers today, Popov is already thinking about a future where the driver may not always be necessary - and in his view, that future may arrive faster than many people expect.

Sofia among the most supportive cities for robotaxis

Across Europe, public opinion on autonomous vehicles remains divided. In contrast, results for robotaxis were mixed, with slightly more support - 37 percent - expressed overall than opposition at 35 percent. A large group, around 28 percent, described themselves as undecided.

But the geographic distribution of support is particularly interesting. Support for autonomous vehicles was highest in Sofia and Paris among the cities surveyed, while Madrid recorded the lowest levels of support.

That means Bulgaria’s capital, perhaps unexpectedly, could be among the European cities most open to the technology. Even so, Popov says scepticism remains widespread when the topic comes up in everyday conversations.

Technology is no longer the biggest obstacle

One of the most common arguments against autonomous vehicles in the Balkans is infrastructure. Critics often claim that inconsistent road markings, chaotic traffic, or missing signs would confuse autonomous driving systems.

But modern autonomous systems rely on much more than road markings. High-resolution mapping, AI-powered perception systems, and sensor fusion allow vehicles to interpret complex environments, even more chaotic ones.

To illustrate the point, Popov points to one example. “They mapped Hanoi in Vietnam in three weeks and it worked. And Sofia is far better than Hanoi in terms of infrastructure,” he notes.

Early signs that the technology is approaching real-world deployment are already appearing. Vehicles equipped with advanced automated driving systems from companies like NVidia and Mercedes-Benz have recently been spotted testing in Sofia. These vehicles rely on AI-defined architectures powered by NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platforms capable of enabling advanced automated driving functions while paving the way toward Level 4 autonomy.

The economics of autonomy

Today, autonomous vehicles remain expensive. A fully autonomous taxi can cost between $200,000 and $300,000 once sensors, computing hardware, and software systems are included. Operators must also build supporting infrastructure - charging stations, maintenance hubs, cleaning facilities, and monitoring centers.

“The mathematics behind it is not yet obvious,” Popov says, adding that falling hardware costs and improvements in AI will rapidly change the equation.

Within the next three to five years, he expects autonomous vehicles to become dramatically cheaper. “I think the cost will drop to somewhere around $70,000 to $80,000. Once that happens, the economics could shift almost overnight, and once the economics work, it will just explode,” Popov predicts.

Despite his enthusiasm for autonomous vehicles, Popov does not believe they will replace human drivers immediately. Instead, he expects a hybrid system to emerge. “Autonomous vehicles will initially supplement human drivers rather than replace them entirely. They will mostly be used in peak times when there are not enough drivers,” he says.

Human drivers will still handle rides where personal interaction matters - such as airport meet-and-greet services, VIP transport, and other specialized requests. “Airport meet and greet and special cases will remain human for quite some time,” Popov says.

In fact, he believes human drivers will remain an important part of taxi fleets for at least the next five to ten years. In the years to come, autonomous taxis are only part of a much larger transformation, he believes. 

The race to deploy autonomous fleets

Nowadays, the global mobility industry is already preparing for the transition. Companies like Uber and Bolt are exploring ways to expand their presence in Bulgaria, potentially partnering with local taxi companies due to regulatory restrictions on their usual ride-sharing models.

Those developments could significantly reshape the local taxi market, but Popov believes local operators will remain crucial. For autonomous vehicles, though, the timeline is shrinking fast.

Within three to five years, he expects the first local tests of autonomous taxis to begin in Sofia, with mapping projects and pilot programs already within reach. “We will for sure have done the first tests locally by then,” he says.

For a region often seen as trailing Western Europe in adopting new technologies, the idea may sound surprising. However, if Popov’s predictions prove correct, the autonomous mobility revolution in Europe might begin somewhere unexpected: on the streets of Sofia. 

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