The Italian company Nova Textile has invested DEM 3.5 M to add a new knitwear workshop to the Sunitex textile factory in Mezdra. `The fully automated equipment will allow the factory to operate at a nonstop production cycle and put out 8 tonnes of yarn monthly,` the Executive Director Gosho Petrov said. 80 % of the factory`s output is exported, mostly to the EU. After Sunitex was privatized five years ago, the new management modernized the existing facilities and purchased new highly productive equipment. Sunitex manufactures 1 M sq m of fabric annually. The factory is categorized as a model textile manufacturer under the JAICA program of the Japanese government and has received two European and one international prizes for quality excellence.