Construction in Bulgaria Down by 7% in H1, 2012

The first half of 2012 brought a decrease of 7% in construction, according to Svetoslav Glossov, Chair of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber (BCC).

Speaking Friday at the opening of a regional office of the BCC in Dobrich, Glossov specified that the decrease was part of a downward trend."

Glossov said that the tangible decline had spread to sectors that had remained unscathed over the past few years, citing infrastructural construction as an example.

The BCC Chair suggested that the reason for this was the fact that large-scale infrastructural projects were being completed one after another

Glossov argued that there were quite a lot of sites under construction but the projects had a low value.

He explained that the number of sites under construction had increased, while the value of the projects had decreased.

The BCC Chair noted that the northeastern city of Dobrich was performing quite well, given the overall situation in the country, adding that the favorable position was mostly due to resort building.

Glosov informed that although resort building had shrunk over the past few years, the segment was beginning to liven up, following the intervention of Russian investors.

Glosov claimed that investors in resort building had a very tangible impact on processes in the sector on a national scale.

He made clear that the upcoming construction projects in the water supply system of Dobrich would give a boost to the sector on a regional scale.

The BCC Chair voiced hopes that there would be an upsurge in construction during the next programming period.

"Over the past few years, it is precisely this money that the construction sector counted on to keep going" Glossov said.

He announced that Bulgaria would only co-finance EU projects in 2013.

The BCC Chair said that 90% of the projects implemented by the construction sector in Bulgaria were financed by the EU.

The expert noted that the number of officially registered construction companies had shrank from around 6000 to around 4200 in five years.

He specified that around 100 of the total of officially registered construction firms were foreign firms.

Glossov used the opportunity to declare that construction was a dynamic process involving bankruptcies, the emergence of new companies, the expansion of existing businesses, etc.

According to data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI), in August 2012 construction increased by 1.2% on an annual basis.

Meanwhile, in July 2012 the construction sector recorded a slight increase of 0.4% as compared to the same month of 2011.