Two weeks ago it became clear that only two countries remained in the race for the new Volkswagen plant in Eastern Europe. Now there is clarity about who they are. According to the German news agency dpa, quoted by Handelsblatt, the election has been reduced to Bulgaria and Turkey, reports money.bg
The final choice, however, is not yet done, and after Easter there is a meeting of the Supervisory Board of the automotive giant on the topic. According to previous publications in the German media, the decision to locate the new production will be taken in May.
A visit that awakened the hopes
For some analysts, however, the visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, which ended last week, is a sign of tilting the scales in favor of Bulgaria. One of the largest German daily newspapers, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, titled the review of his trip, "It's All Not Random," summing up his signals. During his stay he visited two cities that are in the race for a Bulgarian location for the factory - Sofia and Plovdiv.
Steinmeier also toured key German productions in Bulgaria - Lufthansa Technik in the capital, and that of Liebherr in Trakia Economic Zone. Last but not least, a working meeting was held with the Bulgarian-German business.
It should also be mentioned that Steinmeier's political home is Lower Saxony, where the headquarters of Volkswagen AG are located. Moreover, the local government holds 11.8% of the giant's shares and 20% of the voting rights. In other words, this is one of the politicians in Germany who are strongly associated with the business group concern.
However, it should be noted that during his official visit to Bulgaria, the German president (almost) did not comment on the subject, and his remarks remained vague.
Several local signals
However, there are signals at the local level that confirm that Bulgaria is still in the game. According to Money.bg, Deputy Ministers from two line ministries have held meetings in recent weeks with representatives of Volkswagen. At the same time, it is increasingly heard from different places that our country is a favorite as the location for the new plant.
And something else interesting to support the country's interest: representatives of the automobile concern have looked at a kindergarten in Sofia, which teaches German.