News - Archive

18
Mar. 2008 Bulgaria is still at the top of investor's list Bulgaria, Turkey and France are the three countries set to see the biggest growth in demand among overseas property investors, a new survey has found.

Fly2let.co.uk reports that the NatWest International Personal Banking League of Buying Abroad found that 75 per cent of mortgage brokers expect to see an increase in the number of people looking to buy in Bulgaria in the next three years. Turkey, with 56 per cent, and France , with 46 per cent, were also expected to see a rise in demand.
Portugal, at 41 per cent, and Spain, with 31 per cent, completed the top five locations expected to be popular with investors.

"With the expansion of the EU, better transport links and an increase in low cost airlines offering cheap available flights to countries all over the world, the choice when buying abroad has increased significantly," Mike Freer, head of business development at NatWest, said.
16
Mar. 2008 Plovdiv property prices to add 15 per cent in 2008 The city of Plovdiv now occupies second place in terms of the number of property deals, according to a chart compiled by the Varna-based Foros real estate agency. The number of transactions in Bulgaria's second largest city reached 20 000, versus 18 000 in Varna, where the market is considered much more dynamic and the number of deals is usually above the country's average.

The combined area of transacted properties in Plovdiv topped 100 000 sq m. That figure is expected to double in 2008, Dnevnik daily reported on March 14.

Plovdiv also outpaced all other big cities in terms of downtown property prices with a 61 per cent increase last year, according to Foros' report. Rent rates in the city rose 18 per cent on average versus five per cent for Sofia and Varna.

Foros forecasts a 15 per cent hike for Plovdiv property prices in 2008. Plovdiv office property prices added 32.2 per cent in 2007, which compares with 28 per cent for Sofia. Around 55 000 sq m of retail space was placed on the Plovdiv market last year with another 300 000 sq m scheduled for delivery this year.

Another town that would see strong growth would be Rousse, Dobromir Ganev, Foros general manager was quoted as saying by the daily. The trend of Romanians buying out industrial and holiday properties in the Rousse and Black Sea region would continue in 2008, he said. Foros signed a number of transactions with agricultural land and industrial plots with Romanian residents.

In a report on Rousse's property market, Foros said prices in the Danubian city have been increasing 30 per cent on average year-on-year. Rousse pre-fab apartments registered a 39.5 per cent price hike in 2007, while old-brick apartments prices added 29 per cent in value. The banks' activity in terms of mortgages and home loans, the tourists flows, the population's increasing income and the Romanians' activity on the property market are among the factors that drove the Rousse's market development, Ganev said, as quoted by Dnevnik.


13
Mar. 2008 Bulgaria Music Idol Finalists to Go at Glorious Meeting with Kylie Minogue World famous singer Kylie Minogue is to meet the finalists of second edition of Music Idol in Bulgaria minutes before the beginning of her show to be staged on May 18 in Sofia.

The star will share her personal experience of a glorious artist, who has issued platinum albums.

At the grand concert at Lokomotiv Stadium in Sofia Kylie is to perform her greatest hits as well as the song of her newest album.

Most of the singles in the singer's tenth studio album "X" have been composed by herself at the time when she was undergoing breast cancer treatment.

Kylie Ann Minogue is an Australian, Grammy award-winning pop singer, songwriter and actress. Minogue rose to prominence in the late 1980s through her role in the Australian television soap opera "Neighbours", before she commenced her career as a pop artist in the late '80s. She has sold over 40 million records worldwide.

12
Mar. 2008 Etex Grup is going to invest more then EUR 100 B in a construction materials factory in Bulgaria The Belgian company Etex Group will invest more than EUR 100 B in a construction materials factory in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Darik Radio said.

The company representatives will arrive to Bulgaria at the beginning of next week in order to look for a suitable spot for their planned investment.

The Belgian investors require that the plot for the future factory be about 150 decares, with an access to the gas supply network.

Etex Group intends to start with an investment in a storage facility for construction materials. At a later stage, it plans to construct a factory for about EUR 100 M.

During their visit, the company representatives are planning to look at 10 different plots in ten cities around Bulgaria including Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Plovdiv, Gorna Oryahovica, and Sevlievo.

The Belgian Etex Group specializes in manufacturing and marketing of construction materials. It has 90 subsidiaries in 41 countries, and employs 12 500 people
11
Mar. 2008 Loan from the WorldBank for water and sewage in Bulgaria The World Bank lends Bulgaria 88.2 million euro for network upgrades and energy efficiency measures, for the construction of tap water filtration stations and eight dams, Regional Development and Public Works Deputy Minister Dimcho Mihalevski said on a conference on infrastructure projects on March 11, Dnevnik daily reported.
The Cabinet would complement the loan with 21.4 million euro in budget financing, while water and sewerage operators will add another 10.5 million Euros. The upgrades are planed to be completed in 2011.
The loan has a maturity of 17 years and a grace eriod of five years .
Sandanski, Harmanli and Belogradchik will be equipped with tap water filtration stations during 2008, while within a year such facilities will be set up in the towns of Sliven, Doupnitsa, Lyubimets and Svilengrad.
A new water supply system will be built from the Kamchia river to the towns of Biala and Obzor, another one some 20km north of Nessebur resort on the Black Sea Coast, will be built by May. By the summer of 2008, winter resorts Bansko and Dobrinishte will have new reservoirs.


10
Mar. 2008 Preparation of an antiterrorist program in Sofia The Bulgarian capital - Sofia will develop a special antiterrorist program by training Municipality's employees in taking actions in case of a terrorist attack, Ivan Boyadzhiev reported, the newly appointed expert to head the antiterrorist department with the body.

"We are going to train the public transport staff, teachers and workers in big municipal buildings," Boyadzhiev said.

He also said he is to prepare a concept for taking such preventive measures, which would be launched as soon as it is approved by the Mayor of Sofia Boyko Borissov.

Boyadzhiev, who takes the post of the antiterrorist expert for about a week, claimed he will do his best to help the deputy mayor, responsible for the security in the capital city.

09
Mar. 2008 Today is 'Sirni Zagovezni' in Bulgaria Today is 'Sirni Zagovezni' in Bulgaria. It comes on a Sunday some seven weeks before Easter and it is a time of celebrating the beginning of spring and the longest fasting period in the Orthodox tradition.

It means abstaining from meat, dairy products, no traditional dancing and no marriages to take place until Easter.
Many villages and towns have the traditional ritual of building of large. The fires have to be built in higher areas with the belief that this would prevent hailstorms striking in the areas they are lit.

The Sirni Sunday is rich of rituals, but it is also a day of forgiveness. Young members of the family their parents and grandparents for forgiveness, nowadays it has turned into a day for everyone to ask their closest people to forgive them for anything they might have done wrong during the past year.

08
Mar. 2008 Bulgarian photos will be on the Logan Airport in Massachusetts Bulgarian photos will be on at Logan Airport in Massachusetts until 31th ofMarch, the online publication of Harvard University, the Harvard Crimson, reported.
The photo exhibition is titled “Bulgaria: Europe's Secret Treasure”, is the joint initiative of the Harvard Bulgarian Club (HBC) and the Massachusetts Transport Authority. It follows a similar event held at the same airport in 2007, staged by Swiss students.
The photographs have been up since 14th of February, but the official opening was on the 6th of March . Strolling past photos of the Bulgarian countryside and villages, visitors could tune in to Bulgarian folk music and get a taste of traditional Bulgarian food, such as sausages and baklava. To complete the picture, HBC members also performed traditional Bulgarian folk dances, Harvard Crimson reported.
More than 150 visitors have attended the event, among whom Elena Poptodorova, the Bulgarian ambassador to the US. Most of the visitors had no Bulgarian origins and were on the lookout to learn more about an exotic far-away land.
07
Mar. 2008 The growth of the Bulgarian property prices is expected to continue Bulgaria's real estate market has been on its rise over the last few years, with prices of Bulgarian properties rising by 30.6 per cent in 2007, but their growth is expected to continue at a more moderate pace this year, home and property portal homemove.co.uk said on March 3.
Many people were eyed Bulgaria for holiday investments due to its natural landscape, the beaches, the coastline along the Black Sea, historical attractions, skiing opportunities.
In its guide to buying property in Bulgaria, the portal warned about the fact that buyers paid the bulk of transaction costs, which can reach 25 per cent of the total purchase price, and sometimes even more.
Properties in rural areas offered little rental income, if any, and were better investments for individuals who seek a retirement house. Typically, these properties sell at tempting prices, it said.
Other shrewd investments could be struck in mineral spa regions or in some of the historic cities, like Veliko Turnovo. Currently, non-residents cannot buy land in Bulgaria, but they will be allowed to do so, as well as inherit it, starting from 2014.
23
Feb. 2008 Bulgarian property market reaches its top in Bansko The real estate market in the Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko is one the most developed and quite dynamical in the last years, but it steadies its temps in 2008.
Some of the causes of this are the worries and the ambiguities around " Natura-2000" in the spring, and in the banning - order on issuing licenses of construction in the summer.
The apartments in Bansko are being offered approximately 1000 euro per sq. m.
The homes in the opening station of the ski lift - 2100 euro per sq. m. are most wanted.
The interest in the real estates in radius of 400 sq. m. around the opening station of ski lift is biggest.