Buy & Sell Bulgaria Insight Newsletter

Crisis doesn’t affect Eurolink Investment Group’s plans for Varna Golf Courses

  January 31st, 2009

By The Sofia Weekly, 10 Jan 2009

Christopher Violaris, CEO of Eurolink Investment Group

The coastal city of Varna will soon have two attractive additions to its tourist infrastructure, expected to boost further the region’s tourist industry and luxury homes market. Eurolink Investment Group’s Chairman Christopher Violaris confirmed once again at a press conference in Nicosia, Cyprus his Group’s plans to build two 18 hole PGA golf courses in the outskirts of Varna.

Mr. Violaris was adamand that the present crisis will not affect his Group’s plans, on the contrary, he added, if our management of the situation is proper, Bulgaria and the region of Varna can greatly benefit from it.

He pointed to a recent report prepared for the insurance giant AXA, which predicts an exodus of over 500.000 Britons which consider Varna as the ideal place to relocate to.

“What is holding us back, is neither the market situation nor the lack of funds, but the extended delay of the official approval of the new Master Town Plan for Varna”. Mr. Violaris added that “any further delays will destroy great investment opportunities and will kill the interest of serious investors in the region”.

Expat Finance: Trend for moving abroad increases as up to 500,000 prepare for exodus

  January 31st, 2009

By Alison Steed, Source – AXA report

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As many as 500,000 Brits could be leaving our shores to become expats by the end of the year, reports Axa, one of the world’s biggest insurers. The study which was conducted between October and November 08, puts Bulgaria’s Black Sea costal city of Varna at first place and as their first choice.

It is difficult to use forecast figures as a barometer of intent to be fair, but there is no doubt that the trend for moving abroad is increasing.

In 2006, official figures from the Office of National Statistics showed that 400,000 people emigrated from the UK, and by the end of 2007, Axa had seen an 11.7 per cent rise in the number of inquiries for international private medical insurance, and a 28.6 per cent increase in inquiries from those looking to relocate elsewhere in Europe.

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St John’s day

  January 31st, 2009

As well as birthdays, Bulgarians celebrate their name day. Every Bulgarian has a day of the year where on their name day they are congratulated, receive gifts, eat, drink and party on in their own Bulgarian way!

Name Days is a custom practiced in most countries where the Eastern Orthodox or Greek Orthodox religion is the official denomination.

A Name Day is basically a day of the year allocated on the calendar of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to celebrate the name and life of the respective Saint under that name. Everyone named after that specific saint has cause for celebration, somewhat similar to a large scale birthday.

The Orthodox Church in Bulgaria honours on January 7 Saint John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus.

Widely known as Ivanovden, the day is the festival of the most popular name in Bulgaria - Ivan (John). According to official data the number of the Bulgarians, named Ivan, is no fewer than 204 855.

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On that day, Mr. Christopher Violaris, CEO of Eurolink Investment Group, invited the Bishop of Varna, Kiril, once again (as in the beginning of 2008), to bless all offices and its staff, as well as partners and clients. Bishop Kiril wished all health and wellbeing and sprinkled holy water over the heads of the people present, as they kissed the Cross. He beseeched them to be good and do good and not just expect to receive and gain. God bless us all.

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Port in a storm

  January 31st, 2009

Kerin Hope, FT’s Athens correspondent, January 17 2009

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Archaeologist Teo Rokov watches intently as a mechanical digger raises a bucket of soil from a building site in Varna’s Gratska Mahala, or Greek Quarter (where the offices of Eurolink Investment Group are located). Mixed in with the earth, he spots fragments of medieval pottery. “This is plain old household stuff but you never know,” he says. “We track every construction project in this neighbourhood. If something important comes up, the developer covers the cost of a full-scale excavation.”

The scene is indicative of life in Bulgaria’s largest Black Sea port, which was settled two-and-a-half millennia ago by colonists from Miletus, a Greek city on the Asia Minor coast and is now, as the country’s second fastest growing city, coping with a big influx of new residents.

Originally, and for centuries under Greek, Roman and Turkish rule, Varna was a hub for traders shipping salted fish, grain, furs and gold to the Mediterranean and beyond. By the early 1900s Armenians, Jews and Bulgarians had joined Greek merchants and many took part in a grand urban revival of the city, launched by King Ferdinand. New mansions designed by Italian architects were painted in pastel colours appropriate to a fashionable European resort with a pier, wooden bathing huts and a Sea Garden (a stretch of parkland planted with rare trees under the supervision of a renowned Czech botanist and landscaper).

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Did you know?

  January 31st, 2009

John Atanasoff - The Man Who Invented the Computer, from the official site

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Portrait of John Vincent Atanasoff

Few would deny that the invention of the computer has revolutionized society or that the world of today would look quite different without computers. In the relatively short span of time that has elapsed since the world’s first electronic digital computer was invented in 1939, computers have become universal tools that are an integral part of modern life. Yet, comparatively few people know that John Atanasoff, the genius who invented the first computer and initiated the computer revolution, was of Bulgarian ancestry. John Atanasoff was a prominent American inventor who took pride in his Bulgarian heritage and maintained strong ties to his ancestral home of Bulgaria.

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Message from Christopher Violaris, CEO of Eurolink Investment Group

  January 13th, 2009

Dear friends, investors and clients,

Normally this message would and should have started with my best wishes for the New Year, for happiness, health and prosperity for all of you, your families and the world in general!

 

Though this is my genuine and wholehearted wish, what is happening around us and what the forecasts are predicting, do not allow much of optimism and positive thinking.

 

What started as an economic crisis in some parts of the world is now turning into a long lasting nightmare, the end of which nobody seems to be able or willing to predict.

 

In the meantime those who are guilty for causing this drama, which under normal circumstances should have been made to pay the price, are sitting tight and waiting to harvest the loot of their crimes. Mainly in the form of state funding destined to help the economic recovery.

 

I wish I had some good news and optimistic predictions to tell you, but I am afraid what I have to say and how I see the future, would for most of you, be a bad dream come true!

 

You may all recall my past statements as to the reason why we chose the new residential sectors of the city of Varna (the shores of the sea-lake and the surrounding area) to be the epicenter of our investment concept. I was predicting then an economic situation which would have forced hundreds of thousands of western and northern European citizens to leave their countries of origin and look for cheaper and more suitable countries to relocate.

 

Insurance giant AXAA recent study, prepared for the Insurance giant AXA predicts that before the end of 2009 over 500.000 Britons would leave the shores of the United Kingdom and settle in other EU countries, mainly Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus!

 

Additional studies and reports, coming from highly reliable sources, predict the same exodus from other Western, Northern and Central European Union countries! You don’t have to be an economist genius to see what is coming! The present crisis and economic depression will not go away by decreasing interest rates and pumping politics into the sick economies. I am afraid that certain economies and mainly the British and American, are in for a very long recession the kind of which we haven’t seen before! Permanent recovery will only come about if and when the foundations on which the future world economy is built on, is based on real values and strictly managed financial markets.

 

In the meantime, younger and smaller economies, which based their development on more traditional and conservative principles (The newest EU members, Russia, China, India, some Far-Eastern countries, Brazil, Argentina etc) will greatly benefit from the crisis.

 

In the case of Bulgaria, for which naturally we are more interested, I strongly believe the time has come for the long awaited boom! Regardless how we look at it and in full awareness of the practical and other problems Bulgaria may have, its strategic position, its proximity to Europe and Russia, the low cost of living and housing, the openness of its society and the beauty of the country will play a decisive role in attracting both investment and investors.

 

Somebody may say… “But Bulgaria and more specifically the property market and the construction industry are already on their knees”! True, but somebody has to see why? It is not a secret that a very small part of the property market and of the construction industry, targeted the “residential home” market! On the contrary over 85% of the available units (completed or under construction), were designed and built as “holiday homes” and were never destined to meet the needs of people wishing to relocate and settle permanently in Bulgaria. In fact, very few companies and Eurolink Investment Group are the first among them, targeted the market which under the present circumstances will generate the future demand.

 

In our case and from the very beginning we said … “we are not interested for a hit and run situation! We want to catch the real market which has both volume and duration…we want and we are going after the clients who want to settle and live in Bulgaria”. All our planning (prime residential quarters – golf courses – medical center – multi-lingual schools – the marinas - etc) provides for pure residential homes and top quality living for real people with real needs. Our time has come!

 

I will once again make a prediction, which I am more than sure it will come true! The New Year 2009 will see a massive influx of British, Irish and Central European clients, looking for suitable housing and business properties to relocate to. The years to follow will see a steady increase of this trend, a fact that will force the Bulgarian authorities and the market forces to adapt accordingly.

 

Most of you were waiting for this moment to come! I am not sure if it is coming too early or too late for some of you, but what is sure is that this situation will create huge demand for prime building plots, houses, shops etc. The great majority of the land you have invested in answers fully to these specifications! As it is always the case, it is a matter of timing and correct marketing. I believe we have both!

 

Those of you who were skeptical and chose to stay away from investing, you still have time! Naturally you will not have the same returns as those who invested a few years back, but still with a balanced and well planned investment, you can beat the crisis and the diminishing value of your savings and your equity and make a good profit for the future.

 

For those of you considering retirement or you have friends and relatives who do so, choosing Bulgaria and Varna in particular not only will offer you a better life, it will also help you to recover the lost equity from the economic crisis back home!

As always, the Eurolink Team and me personally, are at your disposal for every help, assistance and advice you may need!