News

The Bulgarian company Alpha Finance Holding intends to construct an amusement park in the mountain resort of Razlog, the newspaper Pari reported Tuesday.

The holding is currently developing several different projects for the new amusement park, which is expected to cost about EUR 100 M, and will be named "Pirinland" after Pirin Mountain located nearby.

The Pirinland is supposed to be located on the territory of the former cellulose and paper plant in Razlog, which has been closed down years ago, on a plot of 1000 decares.

The Pari Daily quotes the Razlog Mayor Lyuben Tatarski as saying that the construction of an amusement park is only one of the opportunities for the utilization of the land of the former cellulose factory.

The town of Razlog is located very close to the mountain resort town of Bansko in southwest Bulgaria.

The new Sofia route which will commence on 11 December and the new Geneva route on 12 December, will be available from just £33.99 one way and £29.99 one way respectively.

Both Geneva and Sofia are particularly popular destinations with winter sports enthusiasts, as they are the gateway airports to the many nearby ski resorts in the French / Swiss Alps and resorts such a Bansko and Pamporovo in the Pirin Mountain range.

The nine times weekly service to Geneva will not only provide access to some of the world's most famous ski resorts, the route is also expected to become a vital business link between the two cities. Whilst the three times weekly service to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, is ideal for the growing number of second home owners from the region investing in the Bulgarian market, Sofia itself is one of the up and coming city break destinations for 2009.

The addition of these two new routes will bring the number of destinations served by easyJet from Manchester to seven. This announcement follows the recent news that the airline will also launch a new service from Manchester to Alicante this winter from 29 September, reflecting the airline's commitment to its new base at Manchester International Airport.

Carly Brear, easyJet's UK commercial manager, said:
"These two new routes from Manchester are further proof that there is demand for direct low-fare services from the North West to Europe. Geneva has proved an extremely popular destination from all across the UK and it's great that we can now replicate that success from Manchester. The Bulgarian capital, Sofia, is also expected to be popular as more people discover what the city and its surrounding areas have to offer"

Tim McDermott, Director of Aviation Development said:
"We're delighted to see easyJet continuing to expand their route network from Manchester Airport. Sofia and Geneva are important business and leisure destinations and we are sure they will prove to be incredibly popular with our passengers".

experts from the Center for Economic Development (CED), found that Bulgaria's GDP growth reached a record 7% in the first six months of 2008. The report also revealed that Bulgarian National Bank reserves reached a record 13 billion euros.

In response to the report, Georgi Angelov from the Open Society Institute predicted that 2008 inflation would stabilize at around 9% - down from the present annualized level of 14-15%.

A spokesperson for the CED commented: "Bulgaria currently has the lowest unemployment level recorded ever but the shortage of skilled and high-qualified laborers is increasingly problematic.

"The main macroeconomic risks for the Bulgarian economy have to do with the global financial crisis, the rising petrol prices, and the expected slowing down in the EU".

Bansko budget for the year 2007 is the record-breaking one in the whole of South-western Bulgaria. The leading Bulgarian resort will have at its disposal the amount of BGN 30 million, and thus, if divided per capita of the population, it wins the whole country, even Sofia, the population of which amounts to more than 2 million people. This year's budget of Bansko is BGN 11 million higher than that for the year 2006, and exactly 10 times higher than that for the year 2003. Eighty percent of the budget, or approximately BGN 22 has been envisaged for investments. Road designs, streets and squares repairs, water-conduit and sewerage, purchase of machines for Urban Development Planning and Communal Economy, an excavator, two buses, security and office equipment, schools repairs, a library, museums, etc., have been included in that item.

The expenditure for education, social activities and culture are entirely covered by private income. The Town Councils of Bansko, Dobrinishte and Mesta will also be financed by local income. The funds for education amount to BGN 2 344 812, for social activities - BGN 1 006 695, for culture - approximately BGN 900 000, for a ritual hall - a little more than BGN 100 000, for sport and tourism - BGN 100 000.

Best man of a tsar’s yuppie will build a tourist complex. Environmental activiststry to protect the Rhodope mountain.

The impressive Perelik project which might be compared only to Super Borovets received green light from the Municipal Council in Smolyan. Yesterday members of the council voted for a joint venture between STC Perelik AD and the municipality. The municipality will participate by a non-monetary share. Construction below peak Perelik will start most probably in the fall and be completed in about six years. The project stipulates construction of over 200 km tracks and 100 km lifts but without any gigantic concrete structures and heavy infrastructure. There are plans for construction of only 4 places of public resort. The investment will be for more than 300 million euro. The project is an old idea and a businessman from Smolyan (Mr. Kiril Asenov) assumed the responsibility to realize it. Mr. Asenov is the first manufacturer of window blinds in Bulgaria and one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the area with links to the tsar’s party. Mr. Asenov is the best man of the tsar’s yuppie and environmental deputy minister Lyubka Kachakova. The companies of Mr. Asenov are united under the trademark Areksim. They are engaged in the production of garden furniture accessories, window blinds, industry accessories and even floppy disk drives. The investor received a first class certificate from the government. By this the government committed itself to building an airport in Smolyan and 100 km highway of three tracks from Plovdiv to Smolyan. According to Mr. Asenov the revenues and profit might reach 300 million BGN per year. The future sports and tourism center Perelik will include the following villages in the area of Smolyan: Stoykite, Gela, Solishta, Stikal and Mugla. Private owners of landing Mugla started protests against the project. They claim the center has absorbed their properties which haven’t been restored to them. Environmental organizations on the other hand informed that they are concerned about the future of the mountain. A large part of the complex area are excluded from the program Natura 2000. What will be the consequences for water and water supply if for the supply of artificial snow cannons there will be created 16 lakes? This is the question of the environmental protection activists. They are worried the mountain has been “bought” by Asian companies.

Sofia property investment - Latest research shows capital growth AND rents are on the rise We've been closely monitoring rentals in Sofia since we started offering deals in the Bulgarian capital and our research shows that even though Sofia is following the same pattern of development and is at the beginning of the emerging stage property market stage, the rental market is getting significantly stronger. In general, rents in Sofia increased by some €0.5 - €1 per sqm between May 2007 and May 2008 - a rise of 20-30% rise. Rents rising 20-30% in 12 months, along with good capital growth - 20-25% per year - are unusual for any property market at the beginning of the emerging curve.

Bulgaria’s economy is set to grow on a par with 2007 and reach six per cent this year, Paulius Kuncinas, Eastern Europe’s regional editor at UK-based economic think-tank Oxford Business Group (OBG), told reporters on June 9. Foreign direct investments (FDI) will also repeat last year's figure, yet their structure and heavy focus on real estate remain a concern.

Bulgaria’s tourism revenues last year topped $3.6 billion, up 10.8 per cent from 2006, according to the State Agency for Tourism (SAT), though the number of foreign tourists remained almost static at 5.15 million. In total, about 7.73 million visits were made to Bulgaria by foreigners last year, up three per cent from 2006, though this figure includes“shuttle traders” from neighbouring countries who often do not stay the night.

Price increases in the lodging property sector worldwide slowed down in the first quarter of 2008 to reach 6.1 per cent on an annual basis. But Bulgaria still heads the price hike, according to the Global House Price Index of UK’s real estate company Knight Frank. The price increase registered in Bulgaria was 31.5 per cent for the first quarter of 2008, investor.bg said. Bulgaria also occupied first place in the same ranking for the last quarter of 2007 with a 33.7 per cent price increase.

The international financial research company Standard & Poor's raised Sofia's credit rating from "BB+ Stable Perspective" to "BB+ Positive Perspective" on Wednesday."The raise results from the improved tax autonomy, the gradual absorption of the EU funds, and high economic growth of the city", the Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov announced at a press conference.

Bulgaria entered EU on January 1, 2007 and will enter Schengen zone in 2009. There is one of the lowest levels of income-tax and profit tax in the country."It is a very favorable time to make investments in real estate, hotel business, production and other spheres in Bulgaria", service leader on trade economic issues under Bulgarian embassy in Kazakhstan Boris Yanchev said to Kazinforms correspondent. The unique Bulgarian location in the centre of Europe gives great opportunities and prospects for any business development. Direct foreign investments to Bulgaria amount to 10 per cent of the country's GDP. Here Bulgaria occupies the leading position among Central and East Europe countries.

The first Burger King fast-food restaurant in Bulgaria will open in June in City Center Sofia. The company that owns the franchise rights for Bulgaria, Amrest Bulgaria, a subsidiary of Polish company Amrest, announced the news on May 19, as quoted by Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily. The second restaurant will open on June 12 in Mall Varna. Amrest currently manages 252 restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Freshpoint and Rodeo Drive brands in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia and Russia.

Bulgarian capital Sofia has been tipped to emerge from the shadows and is increasingly regarded as a strong investment opportunity. Among the key features attracting buyers to the market is the potential for sustained growth, with the city potentially on the beginning of the long-term growth curve. Property Secrets argues the market will grow at some 20-25 per cent in 2008 alone.
The arrival of international developers in the market is also a sign the market is not only developing - becoming more sophisticated and following international trends (both developers will build mixed use complexes, according to the current European trend) - but also an investor-attractive market.

Bulgarian inflation will slow this year from 2007, helped by lower food prices as the country expects a better harvest, said Dimitar Kostov, the deputy central bank governor. Bulgarian's economy will probably expand as much as 6.5 percent in 2008, said Kostov. The EBRD forecast Bulgaria's economic growth at 5.5 percent this year. He also said Bulgaria's real estate boom was unlikely to end in a hard landing as ``there is still room for property price increase.'

Last year was signed 325,385 deals for the selling of real estates, which exceeds with 4%
the marked in 2006 record number of deals. This was announced in a research of Arco Real Estate company. The biggest number of deals was marked in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Nesebar and Ruse. The prognoses for 2008 are: remaining of property selling on the same level and increase of the monetary volume. The analyzers expect jump of 10-15% of the residential properties in 2008.