News
Bulgarian-Portuguese JV to build six biomass plants in Bulgaria
Bulgarian-Portuguese joint venture Mape Development will pump EUR 150 million into the construction of six biomass-fuelled power plants with a combined installed capacity of 30 megawatts in Bulgaria over the next four years, the firm said. The first facility will be built in Panagyurishte, central Bulgaria, and will have a capacity of five to 10 megawatts. Mape Development is part of Portuguese consortium MAPA SGPS Group, which plans to build five biomass-fuelled plants in Portugal. Investors... [more]
German firm Degi buys Mall of Sofia
German company Degi has acquired the big-box shopping centre Mall of Sofia, said the anti-trust authority, which should rule on the deal. Sources told Dnevnik daily that Degi Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Immobilienfonds was also a bidder for the capital’s City Center Sofia but lost to U.S. company Heitman, which offered EUR 101 million. Degi’s marketing director and press spokesman Dietmar Mueller declined to comment until the deal was wrapped up. No financial details or yield about... [more]
Mortgage lending slows down to 47% y/y Aug
Bulgaria’s housing mortgage market showed signs of cooling off rising 47.3% year-on-year in August against 55% in May, showed central bank statistics. On the month, the pace eased to 2.7% from 3.6% in July, 3.4% in June, and 4.4% in April and May each. Volumes also took a downturn as the new loan portfolio slumped to BGN 187.3 million from BGN 240.2 million in July and BGN 212.8 million a year before. The volatile global landscape is facing all segments of the Bulgarian credit market... [more]
All eyes on upscale holiday properties
The ongoing segmentation of the Bulgarian holiday property market will knock out all but quality flats with good location, infrastructure and extra services, realtors said at a discussion about holiday resorts. It is not holiday but investment properties that are sinking from the outflow of British buyers, said Lachezar Todorov of Terra Tour Service admitting times are tough for the holiday segment as well but quality projects would pull through. We are back to business as usual after... [more]
Commercial Real Estate Market Characterized by Low Supply
The three main commercial real estate markets in Bulgaria, offices, retail and logistics & industrial, developed quite similarly in the first half of 2008, shows the latest research from Colliers International. All segments saw relatively little development in terms of new stock, but with a significant pipeline expected to reach the markets in 2009/2010. The first half of the year was unusually quiet in the Sofia office market, with an increase in the stock of contemporary office space of... [more]
Brokers say crisis sobers up property mkt
The financial turmoil has affected the Bulgarian property market positively in protecting it from saturation and even a bubble, experts and consultants said. The crisis has impacted on both housing and business projects and driven scores of investors out of Bulgaria’s densely overbuilt mountain and seaside resorts. The retail centre segment is also braced up for a cool-off, and only a handful of the bog-box shopping centres set to mushroom all across the country will be completed,... [more]
Israeli Melina to start work on Plovdiv shopping mall
Israeli company Melina will break ground next week on its EUR 65 million Mall Markovo Tepe retail and business centre in the southern city of Plovdiv. The mall will go up on an 8,500 sq m in the heart of the city, close to the key shopping area. Turkish company Intertek was picked to develop the project while Forton International will be in charge of renting out the space. The centre will have a floor space of over 64,000 sq m of which some 22,000 sq m will be retail outlets. Floors one and... [more]
German Witte Automotive to build car parts plant in Ruse
Witte Automotive, the German vehicle access system manufacturer, will wrap up by the end of the year talks on the acquisition of a land plot to build a car parts factory in the town or Ruse, on the Danube, vice president Tomas Jindra told Dnevnik. The company’s local subsidiary, Witte Automotive Bulgaria, was awarded a B class investor certificate on Wednesday for its planned electronic and mechanical car parts factory in Ruse. The town was picked over 12 other regions in Bulgaria for... [more]
Russia and Romania To Up Wages The Most in 2009
Wages in Romania will increase by some 14.5 percent in 2009, while the advance in Russia will be 14.8 percent, BusinessStandard. Ro reports citing a a study by German Kienbaum executive search company.“If we consider also the inflation rate registered in participant countries, Romania ranks first in terms of salary rises in 2009, exceeding Russia, where wage increase forecasts are very high, and inflation indexes are equally elevated,” said Kienbaum Country Manager for Romania and... [more]
Home loan costs jump beyond 10% benchmark
The annual percentage rate on Bulgaria’s lev-denominated loans exceeded the 10% level in August picking up 1.32 percentage points year-on-year, central bank data showed. APR added 1.81 points to 12.74% on consumer loans and hit 8.83% on euro-denominated housing loans. Consumer loan rates saw the biggest increase gaining 2.33 points to 11.66%. Local-currency housing mortgages bore an average rate of 9.53%, up 1.18% year-on-year. The rate of euro-denominates mortgage loans was 7.94%, up... [more]
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