Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, officially opened Monday the "Sisecam" factory for automobile glass in the northeastern city of Targovishte, saying the cabinet works hard to ease foreign investments in the country.

"Today is great day for the city and the people who will work here. Such investments are of prime importance, especially for underdeveloped regions," Borisov stated.

Ahmet Kirman, CEO and chair of the board of Sisecam, has pointed out that the investments of the Turkish company have turned the Bulgarian city of Targovishte into a center of glass production in the Balkans, and have provided direct employment to 1440 people, while also facilitating the creation of additional small and medium-sized enterprises working with the company on the local level.

The brand-new investment is estimated at USD 25 M and will provide work for another 130 people.

The factory will make automatic and non-automatic side windows and heated back windows with an annual capacity of 1.3 million square meters and a turnover of USD 20 M at full capacity.

This is the fifth manufacturing facility of the Turkish glass giant, after the factory for household glass, launched in 2005; for flat glass, launched in 2006; the mirror line and the line for appliance glass from 2007. A total of 1 500 workers will be employed at the five facilities.

In 2008, "Sisecam" froze the project for automobile glass manufacturing over the shrinking of the European market.

The company plans to invest another USD 415 M in Targovishte, Turkish PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his visit to the facilities, also in 2008.