Bulgaria Turns Army Lands into New Industrial Zone near Sofia

Business » INDUSTRY | June 9, 2010, Wednesday // 15:04
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Turns Army Lands into New Industrial Zone near Sofia The site of Bulgaria's newest industrial zone, Bozhurishte, is located a couple of dozen kilometers away from downtown Sofia. Map from Google Maps

Bulgaria’s government has approved a decision to set up a new industrial zone in the Bozhurishte Municipality locate to the west right outside Sofia on lands currently owned by the Defense Ministry.

Four plots owned by the Ministry with a combined area of 191.4 hectares will be contributed as non-cash assets to the state-owned National Company “Industrial Zones”, which manages the establishment of new industrial parks around the country.

According to analyses of the Bulgarian government, the area near Bozhurishte has a great potential for development as an industrial zone. Largely because of its location right off the E-80 international road, part of the Trans-European Corridor No. 10 connecting Istanbul and Central Europe.

The Bozhurishte Municipality has a total population of 7 000, and the town with the same name – of 5 000. It is located 3 km away from the administrative border of the Sofia City District, to the west of the Bulgarian capital.

Once the Defense Ministry land is contributed to the Industrial Zones Company, the latter will have to manage the setting up of transport and other types of infrastructure.

Bulgaria’s National Company “Industrial Zones” was set up by the government at the beginning of 2009 in order to establish industrial zones around the country to attract foreign investments, mostly in the form of green field projects.

Back in 2008-2009, the Stanishev government announced a large-scale plan for building 100 industrial zones all over Bulgaria. The plan provided for the construction of 20 zones by the end of 2009, and 100 by the end of 2013.

However, shortly after that the effects of the economic crisis and other factors downsized substantially the ambitions of the Bulgarian government. By the end of the Stanishev Cabinet’s turn, the government completed three industrial zones – in Ruse, Vidin, and Svilengrad – and intended to complete only three more – in Varna-West, Karlovo, and Pleven.

In October 2010, Bulgaria’s new Economy Minister Traicho Traikov announced that the government planned to complete only two industrial zones – near Varna (the so called Varna-West) and Burgas, the two Black Sea ports. He explained that a third new industrial zone might be set up near Sofia but back then the plans for that were vague.

In the fall of 2009, the Borisov government reduced the capital of the Industrial Zones Company from BGN 100 M to BGN 30 M. The Economy Minister Traikov explained that more industrial zones can be constructed with private capital and hinted that Chinese companies were interested in investing in such projects in Bulgaria.

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Tags: Corridor 10, sofia, Bozhurishte Industrial Zone, National Company "Industrial Zones", industrial zones, Bozhurishte, Defense Ministry

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