The Bulgarian capital Sofia will host its first ever tournament from the ATP World Tour 250 series in 2016.

The tournament will take place in the Arena Armeec hall between February 1 and 7, daily Dnevnik informs.

This was announced by Bulgarian Sports Minister Krasen Kralev and the chairperson of the Bulgarian Tennis Federation Stefan Tsvetkov on Tuesday.

The contract for the tournament is for the duration of three years with an option for its extension for another two years.

The general sponsor of the tournament will be the Turkish company Garanti Koza and will bear the name of Garanti Koza Sofia.

Garanti Koza sponsored the WTA Tournament of Champions which was hosted by the same venue in the Bulgarian capital between 2012 and 2014.

The prize will amount to EUR 450 000, while the total budget will be BGN 2.8 M with the Sports Ministry providing BGN 500 000.

The renovation of Sofia hall, which will be used for trainings and possibly for some of the qualification matches, is expected to be completed until February next year.

Garanti Koza is constructing a new tennis centre in Sofia and owns a tennis complex in Istanbul where ATP and WTA tournaments are being held.

The tournament in Sofia will replace the one in Zagreb as the Croatian organisers are having financial difficulties and failed to secure sponsors for 2016.

It is still unclear whether Bulgaria's top ranking male tennis player Grigor Dimitrov will take part in the tournament.