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| International Investment In Bulgaria Still Strong |
The strong growth in the Bulgarian economy is continuing and
this is emphasised by the confidence in the market shown by
companies such as GE for example.
GE Commercial Finance Real Estate recently announced it will be
acquiring a 50% stake of the Mall of Sofia. The Mall is an
enormous trade, business and entertainment centre currently
under construction in the heart of the capital city.
The acquisition is costing approximately EUR 37M and was made by
a consortium of GE Commercial Finance Real Estate and Quinlan
Private.
This investment can only encourage the current growing trend in
the Bulgarian property market and indicates GE's intentions to
expand to the |
countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Copenhagen Airports has announced it will increase their planned
investments in Bulgaria's Varna and Burgas airports from EUR
106M to EUR 140M by the end of 2008. The added investment is
been used to bring the airport and its facilities up to date and
to deal with the constantly increasing passenger traffic.
A corporate analysis on the airports of Varna and Burgas shows
that unless urgent reforms are implemented at both facilities,
the airports may see a decrease in expected traffic as soon as
next season.
Tour operators are likely to redirect tourists to alternative
destinations due to insufficient quality of services and |
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this
would have a knock-on effect for hotels with poor bed occupancy
and a possible slowdown in the overall economic development of
the region. Bulgaria's top three airports at Sofia, Varna and
Burgas have seen a 20% increase in passenger traffic.
New European low cost air-carrier Wizz Air has completed its
first flight with destination Sofia. Tickets for the flight
started selling in Bulgaria three moths before, and 155
passengers were on board for the new beginning.
Wizz Air is now flying the Sofia-Budapest Route four times a
week, and is looking to expand the number of flights out of
other Bulgarian airports and increase the destination sites
throughout Europe, focusing on |
the markets of Central and
Eastern Europe. The airline took off at the end of May from the
southern Polish city of Katowice, initially flying to Budapest,
London's Luton airport, Rome, Milan, Venice and Berlin.
In closing, the above investments in the real estate sector,
infrastructure and travel reflect the growing confidence in the
future of Bulgaria as a major player in the region and move the
country closer to expected EU integration in 2007.
About the author:
Tim Wright is an international property investor and is author
of "Bulgarian Property - The Overseas Buyers' Kit available at
http://www.bulgarianpropertybuyer.co.uk
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