Date Target Vendor Investor Size Comment
April 3 Construction of tablet factory Sofia Municipality Bulgarian drug maker Sopharma EUR 30m The modern unit for production of tablets that will fully cover the international GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) standards.
April 3 Loan for construction of wastewater treatment plant in Haskovo Bulgaria European Investment Bank EUR 19.3m The municipality of Haskovo, together with the towns of Dimitrovgrad and Stara Zagora, are beneficiaries in a large-scale wastewater treatment project for the Construction of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) located in the Maritza Basin.The total budget for two of the three wastewater treatment plants (Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgrad) is EUR 19 554 075, and is co-financed by ISPA (75%), the European Investment Bank (15%) and the state budget (10%).
April 3 Acquisition of agricultural land Bulgaria REIT Advance Terrafund BGN 20m The company will raise financing for the land buys from the capital market and will not resort to bank loans. Advance Terrafund plans to add by March 2007 some 10,000 ha of agricultural land to the stock in its portfolio which currently stands at 5,000 ha.
March 30 Retail network expansion Bulgaria Bulgarian consumer electronics retail chain Technopolis EUR 10m Technopolis is co-owned by local audio, video and household appliance importer Videolux and German construction firm Lindner Group. Half of the 20 mln euro financing for the '06 store openings will be borrowed.
March 30 Purchase of 6,500 square metre development plot Varna Municipality International property developer Orchid Developments EUR 8m Orchid intends to develop a mixed use complex with a floor space of approximately 35,000 sq m. The directors estimate that the completed development cost will be around 26 mln euro including the cost of the land. Orchid Developments already owns a development plot in Varna, a 26,000 sq m site in the center of the coastal city acquired for EUR 12.7 m earlier this year.
March 29 Hotel upgrade Radisson SAS Hotel Interhotel Grand Hotel Sofia AD EUR 10m The project will add 41 rooms to the 136-room hotel as well as a 160-seat conference hall.
March 29 Business park construction Stara Zagora Municipality Bulgarian and foreign investors EUR 117m Тhe park will span on 260 000 sq. m. hosting commercial hypermarkets, business buildings, warehouses, entertainment malls, etc.
March 29 Construction of bio-diesel factory Italian-Belgian engineering group Desmet Ballestra Bulgarian edible oils producer Slunchevi Luchi N/A The selected biodiesel plant is of the Multiple Feedstock Type as Slunchevi Luchi will process several rawmaterials like Palm, Soya, Sunflower, Rapeseed in order to keep a large flexibility.
March 29 Construction of bio-diesel factory Ruse Municipality Astra Bioplant EUR 10m The capacity of the new factory will allow daily processing of 500 t seeds and an output of 200 t bio-diesel. The Indian company Chemical Constuction International P LTD will deliver the technology installation for extraction of raw oil.
Deals, contracts, tenders and outsourcing for a total value of more than BGN 2 mln. and projects of strategic interest to Bulgaria
With the contribution of SeeNews (published by AII Data Processing Ltd) and Rivas
GOVERNMENT AND EU | REAL ESTATE AND FINANCE | EU TOPICS
Date Subject Institution Comment
April 3 EU commissioner to say Bulgaria should join EU in 2007 President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) advisory body In a report due out on May 16, Brussels is expected to give a partially positive assessment of the 2 aspirants' readiness for accession. The final decision on the accession date will be taken by the Council of EU in July.
April 3 Two consortia bid for 4.95 mln euro EBRD-funded Pernik thermal power plant modernisation Media The reconstruction will cost around EUR 12 m with EUR 5 m euro coming as a grant from the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDS) administered by the EBRD. Additional financing will also be provided by the World Bank.
March 31 Austria's Alpine Mayreder wins 7.8 Mln Bulgarian road repair project Bulgaria's Road Executive Agency (REA) The EIB will loan-finance 75% of the project costs with the remainder coming as local co-financing. Kalotina-Sofia is part of the local project portfolio of the EU's Transit Roads 4 program that envisages the rehabilitation of roads with a total length of 430 km.
March 30 Bulgarian Govt decides to leave VAT unchanged in 2007 Government VAT in Bulgarian stands currently at 20%.
March 29 Bulgaria is world leader in real estate yields UK and US consultants With yields rising to 12% and capital gains remaining impressive at 36%, the total return on cash invested in Bulgaria is assessed at 116% last year.
March 29 Israel's Engel readies 48 mln euro for 7 residential projects in Sofia Media Initially, Engel planned to build 5 residential complexes but has now added developments in the Manastirski Livadi and Malinova Dolina boroughs in southern Sofia with a combined price tag of EUR 22 m.
News and events important for investors related to the Bulgarian legislation, government and EU policy, financial and real estate sectors.
With the contribution of SeeNews (published by AII Data Processing Ltd) and Rivas

Launch of a EUR 21.5 m co-generation facility by Biovet

Investor: Bulgarian drug maker Biovet
Investment: EUR 21.5 m
Investment source: own funds and a credit of EUR 9.5 m from Bulbank
Project: a new co-generation facility of a18MW GE turbine to produce industrial steam and electricity from exhaust gas emissions
2005 revenues reported: BGN 65.4 m
The 2005 assets of the company rose from BGN 27 m to BGN 72.5 m.

Production planed: 178,000MWh for Biovet in 2006 and to sell 42,000MWh to national power grid operator NETC
The co-generation project enabled Biovet to sign in September 2004 a contract for the delivery of 486,000 emission reduction units to the Dutch government.
Biovet has asked the State Energy Regulatory Commission to approve a tariff of 94.53 levs/MW for electricity sold to NETC. The regulator will review the proposal next week.

Showcase of important issues, deals, and events.
With the contribution of Rivas
April 5, 2006