70 Million EUR Investment in Biggest Office Center in Bulgaria

70 million EUR will be the cost of the biggest office center in Bulgaria - the European Trade Center.The construction works are presently planned to be finished in January 2010.The large project has mobilized big part of the sector's capacity.By the project's data round 60% of the constructing and engineering resource of Sofia is occupied with the center's realizing.14 cranes are presently working on the building site.The European Trade Center is located on the busiest boulevard in Sofia - ‘Tsarigradsko Shose' and includes the highest office building in construction process in Bulgaria for the moment.The new center will be build using a serial of ‘green technologies', lowering the energy expends and optimizing the functional environment in the center. The roofs will be planted.The center is being built in a common comnplex with ‘Carefour Tsarigradsko Mall' and will offer individual projecting of office surfaces.

US investors put USD 615 M in European real estate fund

Dublin-based Quinlan Private, international private equity and real estate group, has raised USD 615 million of equity capital from US investors to invest in properties across Europe."There's a strong degree of interest among US investors in European properties, and the fund has been able to capitalize on that" a spokesman for Quinlan Private told Commercial Property News (CPN), adding that the fund is now oversubscribed.The Quinlan Private European Strategic Real Estate Fund is to invest in real estate assets in Western Europe, as well as parts of Central and Eastern Europe.The fund has so far invested in retail developments in Bulgaria and Slovakia and office properties in the Netherlands, the UK and Germany.

New ferry connects Bulgaria and Romania over Danube

The new ferry complex connecting the Bulgarian port of Nikopol and the Romanian port of Turnu Magurele over the Danube River will opened in mid July, 2008.The news was announced by Bulgaria's Deputy Minister of Transport Dimcho Mihalevski during his visit to the northern Bulgarian town of Nikopol.The ferry complex has been constructed already but some additional safety guarantees are being completed at the moment.About EUR 6,5 M have been invested in the ferry, EUR 2,5 M of which have been provided by the Bulgarian government, whereas the rest is EU funding under the PHARE Program.The Bulgarian side of the ferry complex will be operated by the Bulgarian River Shipping company.The Deputy Minister of Transport Mihalevski said in Nikopol that the new ferry would have a great economic impact as part of the country's policy to tackle the marginalizing of its border regions by opening up its borders.Mihalevsky reminded that another ferry line between the city of Silistra and the Romanian town of Caluras had been opened recently, and said that two more border checkpoints would be opened on the Bulgarian-Greek border by the middle of 2009.The Bulgarian platform of the new ferry can carry 12 trucks, and crosses the river in only eight minutes. Yet, the fees for using it have not been set because the ownership issue has not been settled.The rehabilitation of the 45-km road connecting Nikopol and the district center, the city of Pleven, is going as planned.

Highway to be Build in the Rhodope Mountain

The constructions of a highway in the Rhodopes will start in the few months.This was reported by the vice minister of development Dimcho Mihalevski.The highway will go through Gotse Delchev - Dospat - Borino - Devin - Smolian - Madan - Kurdjali and will shorten with hundred of kilometers the current round route through Borovetz resort.The project is ready and the first sod will be done in the beginning of 2009.It is foreseen that the Greek partners will give 30 million EUR for the purpose and the Bulgarian government will bestow 50 million BGN (25 million EUR) more by ‘Regional Development' operative program.

Energy Minister Backs Declaration on Re-starting of Kozloduy's Units 3, 4

Economy and Energy Minister Peter Dimitrov backed in principle Wednesday a declaration on reconsidering the decommissioning of units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Powers Plant by nuclear experts. The document was discussed at an international nuclear forum held in Varna, BTA reported.The two reactors were closed in late 2009 in line with a commitment to this end undertaken by Bulgaria in the process of its EU accession talks.The declaration is addressed to the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the European Commission, Bulgaria's President and Prime Minister. According to the experts, there are sufficient preconditions to re-consider the decision on the shutting down of the two reactors. In their view political will is needed so as to take such step. "If a decision to this end is taken the units may be re-started for several months so as to resolve the energy crisis in Southeastern Europe," the declaration says.Minister Dimitov told the participants in the forum that, currently, there is an upward trend in nuclear power engineering worldwide. The traditional energy sources are gradually being exhausted. Due to this fact and the need to protect the environment, interest in the N-plants is renewed again, Dimitrov noted. The Belene Nuclear Power Plant will have two 1,000-megawatt units as the first should be ready by 2013.The management of the Belene N-plant's waste is a key problem in the implementation of the project about the construction of the facility, said Nuclear Regulatory Agency Chairman Sergei Tsochev. The location of the waste site is to be set following a broad public discussion, Tsochev specified.The demand of the National Electric Company (NEK) for a markup of prices has been prompted by the producers' position, NEK CEO Lyubomir Velkov said. According to him, the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission should comply with this demand so that the company would not sustain losses on the domestic market.The Varna Thermo-electric Power Plant does not fulfill its quota for the production of electricity for the domestic market, Velkov further said. If the company does not start meeting its commitments, it will be deprived from the right to export electricity.The new Energy Efficiency Bill will be drafted and moved to Parliament by September, Energy Efficiency Agency Chairman Tasko Ermenkov said. Under the Bill the producers should sell electricity at preferential prices to customers, having implemented energy efficiency projects.

Pazardzhik BT Acquires Majority Stake in Bosnia's Fabrika Duhana Mostar

Pazardzhik-BT () has won a procedure for the acquisition of 67% of the capital of Bosnia's Fabrika Duhana Mostar (Tobacco Factory Mostar), the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) said.Additional talks will be held for the signing of a contract for the sale of the majority stake in the Bosnian tobacco company.Pazardzhik BT booked 108,000 leva (55,200 euros) loss in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 43,000 leva (22,000 eiros) loss posted for the year-ago period. The operating revenue of the company declined from 771,000 leva (394,200 euros) as at the end of March 2007 to 540,000 leva (276,100 euros) a year later.Major shareholders in Pazardzhik BT include Chesteam with a 49-percent stake and Eco Trade 2005, which owns 36.24% of the capital of the public company.Pazardzhik BT is not among the most liquid stocks on listed BSE. The stock was last traded on March 26, when 50 shares in the company traded hands at a price of 6.3 leva apiece.

Credit costs tame Bulgarian housing market

After the banner 2007 when transactions involving residential property rose 4-5% and prices jumped by about 30%, the Bulgarian market in 2008 is calmer and more balanced as the cost of borrowing increases, said Teodora Dimitrova, managing partner at the Era real estate agency. The softening of the market is also evident from the growth forecasts for 2008. Housing prices are expected to continue on the up, adding 15%, a pace twice as slower than last year's. 'Demand and supply on the residential market have reached a parity over the last two months,' said Dimitrova. Data of the Era network of real estate agencies indicates that the busiest residential markets are those in Sofia, Burgas and Varna where construction is also most intensive. Sofia homes start from 670 euro/sq m

Nord Stream Project Facing More Uncertainties and Delays

Nord Stream, the Russo-German gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed, seems to be receding into the distance – analysis by Vladimir Socor, Jamestown.org reported. According to Chairman of the Russian Gas Society and Vice-Chairman of the Duma Valery Yazev, the project’s first trunk line is to become operational by 2012 and its second line by 2013 (rather than 2010 and 2011 as initially envisaged). The main delaying factors include cost overruns on construction on the pipeline’s overland portion in Russia as well as the rapidly rising price of steel pipes, The Budapest Business Journal is reporting today. Speaking at a Russian-German gas conference on May 20 in Berlin, however, Yazev attempted to shift part of the blame onto Baltic riparian countries, most of which are questioning the pipeline’s construction through their respective exclusive economic zones or opposing it outright. Yazev criticized European Union authorities in Brussels for “doing to little to remove the objections of riparian countries. … We expect more in this regard from our European partners” (Financial Times Deutschland, May 21). Such wording reflects Moscow’s wedge-driving tactics toward the EU. It implies that some of the EU’s new member countries, such as the three Baltic states and Poland, are nuisances that need to be reined in by Brussels or Berlin. In the Nord Stream case, however, the objecting countries include the “old” EU member countries Sweden and Finland. The Russo-German consortium had announced at its foundation in 2005 that the Baltic seabed pipeline’s first trunk line would become operational in 2010 and the second one in 2011. In 2007, however, the consortium changed those dates to 2011 and 2012, respectively. Yazev’s announcement brings the second postponement. Finland and Estonia were the first to be asked by the Nord Stream consortium in 2007 to conduct preparatory activities in their territorial waters and economic zones. More recently, Sweden received a similar request for activities preparatory to construction. The three countries exercised the legal right to turn down some elements in those applications and to request clarification on some other elements. None of the objections were political. They focused on the project’s impact on the Baltic environment, navigational safety, fisheries and other marine resources, and legal rights of riparian countries in the respective territorial and economic zones. With Gazprom the driving force in this Russo-German consortium, its applications to those three countries seem to have failed to meet European standards. The Swedish government complained, for example, that major environmental aspects were simply omitted from the application. Estonia had made similar observations last year in its reply to the application. Insufficient gas resources is the major delaying factor that Moscow would not acknowledge publicly. The West Siberian gas field Yuzhno-Russkoye, with estimated reserves of 800 billion cubic meters, was initially earmarked as the main source for Nord Stream. That resource, however, would clearly not suffice for a project of Nord Stream’s declared capacity and time frame. Since 2006-2007 the Russian government has held out the prospect of gas from the Barents Sea offshore Shtokman field feeding Nord Stream. Development of Shtokman, however, has fallen behind schedule by several years. It can hardly be expected to materialize before 2015, and then at such high costs as to push the overall costs of Nord Stream even higher. The project’s initial cost estimate of €5 billion is now acknowledged to have been substantially understated, with new estimates approaching €10 billion. As a net result of these factors, Nord Stream has not lined up the financing for the project. In its present state the project does not seem bankable. Nord Stream’s Baltic seabed portion is projected to consist of two trunk lines with an annual throughput capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters each. The combined capacity of 55 billion cubic meters is roughly equivalent to one half of Germany’s annual gas consumption. At present, of the gas used in Germany 18% comes from internal production, another 18% from the Netherlands, 26% from Norway, 34% from Russia, and small volumes from other areas. With production tending to decline in the Netherlands and Norway, many in Germany seem reconciled to growing dependence on Russia, and some circles seem even euphoric about it at times. Some areas in northern Germany offer favorable geological conditions for building underground large-capacity storage sites. Preparations are under way for constructing at least two such sites. At Hinrichshagen near Greifswald (in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), terminus of the Baltic seabed pipeline, the joint venture Gazprom Germania plans to build a storage site for 2 billion cubic meters by 2011. The joint venture Gazprom Export-Verbundnetz Gas plans to build one site and enlarge another, both near Bernburg (in Sachsen-Anhalt), with a combined capacity of 1.7 billion cubic meters also by 2011 (Financial Times Deutschland, dpa, BNS, May 21, 22). Given the mounting uncertainties about the Nord Stream project’s viability, let alone time table, plans to use gas from that source in Germany may have to be put on hold.

Resort operator Albena '08 revenues to add 10%

Resort operator Albena said it anticipates a 10% increase in revenues to 105 mln levs in 2008. Net operating income is seen at around 70 mln levs. The boost will come as a result of the overhaul of accommodation facilities and an expected decrease in vacancies. Congressional tourism is expected to generate for the company 3.3 mln levs this year. Albena said its holiday complex in Primorsko is on track for 5.12 mln levs in revenues. The company is forecasting a 9% uptick in expenses to 85 mln levs in 2008 on higher payroll, food supply and financial costs. Operating profit is seen rising 9% year-on-year to 28.5 mln with net profit at 18.4 mln levs.