Buy & Sell Bulgaria Insight Newsletter

By Christopher Violaris,
Managing Director of Eurolink Investment Group

What looked as an impossible dream ten years ago, the economic recovery, the political stability and the rule of law in Bulgaria, today is an undisputed fact! An achievement that took other countries more than a few decades to reach, very often at a high cost and after the introduction of severe austerity measures.

Today, Bulgaria is well on the way to development and recovery, something that is obvious everywhere you go and everywhere you look. The EU membership has played a decisive role in getting the Bulgarian Authorities to put the criminal bands under control, to make the streets safe, to clean up the public sector from corrupted officials, to get the Banking sector to work properly at last, to get the judiciary to function and make its presence felt and finally push the country ahead!

Bulgaria is a great place to live, bring up a family and do business. It is defiantly a great place to invest your money and your life savings, but you should remember one thing, not everything that shines is gold!

The recent ‘writings’ on the wall can only cause concern and teach future investors to be very careful as to how and where they invest their money! A lot of people, in their attempt to make money out of the “property boom” in Bulgaria, have suffered serious losses and a good number of them have actually lost their money! Why and how you may ask.

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As from 01.12.2007 EUROLINK FINANCE Ltd. will offer investment financing only for purchases over 1 000 000 Euro (management approval applies).

Christopher Violaris
MANAGING DIRECTOR
EUROLINK FINANCE LTD.

Cyprus has promised to lend a helping hand in developing Bulgaria’s tourism industry by training and investments. The assurance was given by Cyprus Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Michaelides, who conferred in Sofia with Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov. Minister Michaelides pointed out that the Republic of Cyprus has excellent experience with Bulgarian workers and has placed no restrictions on Bulgarian jobseekers. Most of the 30,000 Bulgarians working in Cyprus are involved in its tourism industry as waiters and hotel staff, Antonis Michaelides said.

The Cyprus delegation, visiting Bulgaria, includes fourteen companies in the field of tourism, real estate property and banking. The country is the fifth biggest investor in Bulgaria with more than € 750 M invested over the last ten years.

Companies in Bulgaria’s tourism industry are finding it more and more difficult to recruit labour force and have recently warned they will be short of 30,000 workers next year.

Empty beds are only one of the Bulgarian tourism industry’s problems. Businesses have invested millions of euros to build beautiful hotel grounds, bars and other amenities, but the corresponding infrastructure, transportation and communication networks are too little or completely lacking.

Please note that there are many investment opportunities in the region of Varna, the Sea capital of Bulgaria. For more information, you may contact us directly.

The bride-to- be and all the girls from Eurolink: Svetlana, Jasmina, Megi, Didi (the hen), Teddy, Lili, Ivka, Nevin, Diana and Mira infront

What a night…we made sure that Didi (Eurolink Finance) will remember her Hen-do forever Teddy arranged that we use a flat of a friend of hers, where there was good equipment for the party, such as a video screen, music systems, dance floor, etc. We had lots to drink, enough to eat and plenty of music, but most of all a BIG SURPRISE. However, I can’t tell, so I’ll leave it to your imagination.

And they lived happily ever after…. CONGRATULATIONS DIDI! TOGETHER YOU LOOK GRRRREAT! WISHING YOU A LOVE-FILLED WEDDING LIFE!!!

Nedyalko Nenkov and Didi Nenkova (previously Vladimirova, Eurolink Finance) arriving at the restaurant, right after the wedding ceremony at St Petka church

“Dental tourism” is an increasing trend with more and more Brits, who combine a holiday to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast with a visit to the dentist. Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Thailand are cashing in from a growing number of Brits who cannot get treatment on the NHS, or cannot afford to pay huge bills for going private, the Finance Market online edition reported.

The medical search engine, revahealthnetwork.com, has revealed that 35,000 Brits a year travel overseas for dental work and nearly 60,000 searched online for information on dentists. The company declared that the British can save up to 70% by travelling overseas for dental treatment - before accommodation and flights are taken into account.

Bulgaria is a preferred destination due to the low-cost, high-quality dental care. Prices that local dentists charge are about seven times lower than those in Great Britain.

The restaurant above, called “Sold bride”, is located in the registry office’s building, an old, authentic Bulgarian house at 1 Krali Marko Str. The restaurant is very cozy, there is a huge selection of wine – the bottles are lined up on a wall and you choose from there, as they would not fit on a menu. The staff is always ready to help with the wine choice. The food is very good; the menu is varied, ranging from typical Bulgarian dishes to Chinese cuisine. There are 2 halls, one which is cosier and the other furnished in an aristocratic style.

Rating: 8/10

Hollywood star Melanie Griffith is expected to accompany her husband Antonio Banderas during his stay in Sofia, where he will take part in a new movie, called “The Code”. The couple arrived in Bulgaria’s capital in the middle of October, reports say and Banderas will stay in Bulgaria until the end of the shooting in December.

The other star that is to participate in the crime drama is Morgan Freeman, who is also to land in Bulgaria at that time.

The shooting of the movie, which is a production of the US moviemaker Nu Image, will already started in New York. A total of 12 Bulgarian actors are to play together with the two Hollywood stars, Deyan Donkov, Zahari Baharov and Velizar Binev among them. The movie will be directed by Mimi Leder (”The Peacemaker”, “Pilot”, “The Tunnel”).

Oscar winner Freeman and the star from “Desperado” Banderas will play the roles of master jewellery thieves, whose new aim are Faberge eggs, owned by a NY collector of Russian origin.

Ingredients for 3-4 portions:

- 3 medium tomatoes
- 3 red peppers
- 1 onion
- 2-3 tbs. of vegetable oil
- 200 gr. of feta cheese
- 3 eggs
- chopped parsley
- salt and pepper

How to cook:
Cut the ingredients into small pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan and put the onions, leaving them to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the peppers and the tomatoes and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add the cheese and eggs and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. Delicious with some toast.

Each month, Christopher Violaris and Megi (EOTM committee) put the spotlight on a valued member of the EUROLINK family… and this month it is Teddy Petrova. She joined the Reception team of Buy & Sell Bulgaria in July 2006.

Her duties have ranged from scheduling appointments, giving information to callers, and otherwise relieves officials of clerical work and minor administrative and business detail. With Teddy’s hard work and determination, as well as her outstanding smile, we are proud and happy to have her as a member of our team.

Teddy Petrova

There are many birthday boys and girls in November. Our dear colleagues Todor Baramov (Sales team), Slavi Naidenov (Sales team) and Bobby Dyulgerov (Legal Department), our clients and good friends Steve Flynn, Mark Bradley, Anne Sparks, Alun Copeman, Andrew Childs, Andrew Glover and Susan Guiver, have their special day this month. We would like to wish them all Many Happy Returns and the best of luck!

“We turn not older with years but newer every day”

According to the Wikipedia - an architect is a person who is involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a building’s construction……architects must frequently make building designs and planning decisions that affect the safety and well being of the general public……as well as occupier.

The picture above was recently posted to me from an independent agent in Varna, who was keen to arrange a viewing appointment. The photo suggests that it has a rather nice compact kitchen design for a small apartment. However I was distressed to discover a precariousness practice of placing electrical main socket outlets, just above the kitchen sink and oven area.

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Varna Airport offers convenient flights and very good connections during this winter season. The schedule of the air-lines, which will be flying more regularly this winter, begins from 28th Oct, 2007. You are now able to fly more often and at suitable days and time to Vienna, London and Budapest.

Every day there are flights to Sofia, eight times a week to Vienna, six times a week to Budapest, six times a week to London, new flights to Odessa and convenient connections to every part of the world – a good offer from Varna airport for the winter season. More information about the schedule of the regular flights from and to Varna, you can find at: www.varna-airport.bg

What to tell you…this was an adventure. It all started when Christopher Violaris called me into his office and assigned Stel Violaris as a Project Manager, and me, Lili, as his right hand and assistant, to organize this charitable concert, which had to launch an ongoing campaign, aiming to persuade the young generation to do good, to become someone with value and make the best out of their life. You may ask, how Christopher Violaris decided to make this gift to the teenagers, well, it is actually very simple. As he says, “You cannot expect only to receive in life, but it is good to give back also, and who is the most rightful one to give to than the young generation, our future and hope”.

The whole organisational process consisted of contacting Agents of popular Bulgarian singers, stage owners, people dealing with video screens, the Municipality, the Mayor of Varna, the Police, Security companies, interviews with the media, TV shows, getting media partners on board, finding a DJ, salsa and kick box clubs, a music quartet, a famous football star and a popular basketball team, a hip-hop ballet, making a video film with the children from “Gavrosh”, the orphanage which we decided to help first. The video was great fun, as we took some of the boys from Gavrosh for football training and some of the girls for a salsa dance lesson. The film also included a visit to the orphanage, where all the children were excited to meet us. We prepared advertising materials, such as a huge stage back drop, posters, flyers, T-shirts, an enormous cheque, donation boxes, etc. We also bought refreshments for some of the orphans to give out during the concert. The idea of using 2 large screens was to play on one of them negative images, such as drug addicts, fights, criminals, children drinking, etc. On the other screen – positive images, such as children playing football and other sports activities, playing a music instrument, studying, singing, acting, drawing, and of course our video. However, I have to mention here, that all ideas were coming from Stel! Yes, Stel, I must admit that you’re good!!!

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Oct 11th, 2007, by Sergey Stoynov, BG Reporter online news

The charity concert launched CHOOSE LIFE on the Saturday afternoon of 06.10.2007. CHOOSE LIFE is a campaign aiming to motivate the young generation to go for sports and dance activities, music, arts and education. Despite the bad weather in the sea capital Varna, more than 200 people gathered at the entrance of the popular Sea Garden, nearby the Festival and Congress Centre.

Minutes before the concert began

The most famous Bulgarian rap singer from Varna, Misho Shamara, appeared at the announced starting time of the concert. The one and only aim of the event was to give a chance to the young disadvantaged children and mainly, to collect donations for an orphanage in Varna, called GAVROSH.

Not even half an hour passed by when the spectators applauded the demonstrations of young hip-hop and rap groups, accompanied by the sound played by the famous international DJ Swed Lu. Well-known football and basketball players, as well as active citizens, part of the modern society stood out on the stage and summoned everyone to make a common cause, to give whatever we all can to the children at Gavrosh, and fill the transparent donations boxes on both sides of the platform. All the Gavroshes were wearing T-shirts, specially made by Eurolink for the campaign, and were handing out to the crowd soft drinks, snacks and T-shirts, under the ongoing sound coming from the stage.

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