Buy & Sell Bulgaria Insight Newsletter

By Christopher Violaris, BSc, MSc, PhD ( Econ)
Chairman of Eurolink Investment Group

You may ask, what is the best way and where should somebody invest. We are listing below some facts that will allow you to draw your own conclusions:

THE APARTMENT MARKET-RENTALS AND RE-SALES:

In recent years tourism has seen a spectacular increase and development in Bulgaria, something that has come about because of the huge Tour Operators’ advertising and the construction of exceptionally modern and luxury hotels on the Black Sea coast and the winter resorts of Bulgaria. Only in 2006 we had an increase of 28% of tourists spending their holidays in Bulgaria and the predictions for 2007 is even greater, 35% increase!

The role of the tour operator in the tourist industry is not just dominant but it is also absolute! Over 98% of tourists come into the country on packages bought through the tour operators, while over 85% of the flights landing at Bulgarian airports during the holiday season (summer and winter) are controlled or organized by tour operators.

With regards to hotel beds, the last 5 years have seen a huge increase both in numbers as well as quality, while in the meantime a huge number of new hotels are under construction, thus offering more and more beds. Considering all the above, we can not see how a holiday maker who can get a package all inclusive from a tour operator for a week in a luxury hotel, next to the beach or on the ski slope for €350, will be prepared to pay the same just for accommodation in a flat, somewhere in or near the resort, neither can we see how a tour operator will rent an apartment for his clients and offer a reasonable rent for the season, when he can get all the hotel rooms he needs at very low prices!

We honestly believe that investors buying apartments for rental purposes should think again! There are thousands of empty apartments in the resorts every year and they will carry on being empty for a lot of years to come! The non-existence of a rental market, therefore rental income, has naturally affected demand which has been declining year after year. Not to talk about the re-sale market which is either too small or non-existent!

READ MORE »

Ingredients for 3-4:

- 3/4 kg of tender pork
- 1/2 cupful of oil 4-5 leeks
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 cup red wine
- 1 onion, parsley, 1 small chilli

How to cook:

Chop the meat and brown it in the oil. Take it out of the pan in a dish and leave. In the same oil, fry the finely cut leeks. Add salt, the tomato paste, paprika and pepper. Pour in 1/2 a cup of water, add the wine and the meat. Let it stew on low heat until the juice has thickened. Serve with sprinkled chopped onions, parsley and a small hot pepper. You can also serve it with mashed potatoes or rice.

Great interest for our region from English, Cypriot, Greek, Italian, Maltese and Scandinavian Investors.

By Christopher Violaris, BSc, MSc, PhD ( Econ)
Chairman of Eurolink Investment Group

As a token of our long standing promise and commitment to keep our clients and investors fully informed on matters related to the Bulgarian Property Market and considering that we already entered the holiday season, I wanted to bring to your attention, a number of recent developments that affect directly your existing or future investments.

The Greater Varna Expansion Plan:

After long deliberations, changes, additions, exclusions and exceptions to the rules (this is more about culture than politics in Bulgaria), The Greater Varna Expansion Plan is expected to be approved and adopted by the Municipal Council just before the City Council members take their Summer vacations. (Read more about this topic in our BULGARIAN PROPERTY NEWS column). I am very happy to announce to you that all our regions, old and new are included in the new town boundaries and the micro regions provided by the plan. It is needless to say that upon the official publication of the plan, prices in the region will hit new heights.

I would like to disclose some details of the plan, though I am very confident that sooner than I originally thought, we may be in the position to supply you with official copies of the plan.

READ MORE »

By Christopher Violaris, BSc, MSc, PhD ( Econ)
Chairman of Eurolink Investment Group

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH EXCEPTIONAL RETURNS

There is no doubt that a huge amount of money has and is still being made in Bulgaria from the property market and property development. On the other hand a lot of money has been lost and a big number of people have been greatly disappointed. What shines, is not always gold and the same logic, not every purchase or investment in Bulgaria, will give you huge profits.

It is not widely known, but the estate agent’s profession is not regulated in Bulgaria and the easiest thing, is to hang a sign outside your door and call yourself an “estate agent”. In fact a recent survey showed that only 3% of the so-called “estate agents” had any qualification or professional knowledge relevant to the business. Choosing the company through which you are going to make your purchase or investment, is without doubt the most important thing in the whole chain. Your agent “can make you or brake you”! We strongly advise you to choose companies and agents with a long and proven presence in the market.

Very often you will come across to big and well known names in the industry and naturally you will have the tendency to entrust your business to them. Don’t unless you find out how long they are operating in Bulgaria and who is acting as their agent or representative. The rule in this case is to employ local staff that has no knowledge or experience and the chance of being mislead, not intentionally of course, is very big.

To be continued…

Bulgaria is the third most popular country for UK property buyers, with 7.7% of the market, just edging the US into 4th place on 7.5%, the Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP) has revealed. The position of the Eastern European country is “phenomenal”, the only market that has grown to such prominence so quickly.

“Seeing it sandwiched with Spain and France above and the US below highlights the level the Bulgarian market has reached,” AIPP explained. Paul Owen, AIPP’s chief executive said: “It’s gone from emerging to almost-established in three years, which is just unbelievable.

“It had a free run of being ‘the’ emerging market for three years, but it’s now got competition from many others coming in Poland, Latvia, and Montenegro and there are a lot of emerging nations with comparable property prices which are relatively unheard of.”

He also added that the extent of Bulgaria’s success would be revealed in the resale of homes in a few years’ time.

“There’s a lot of properties being built, there’s no doubt that prices have gone up in the last few years properties will be sold a second time around, the second wave of buyers will come in,” he added.

Real estate developers in Bulgaria have already woken up to the massive pulling power of top quality golf courses, experts say.

“Developers here have recognised that by setting a course in an excellent location and combining it with additional quality attractions such as spas, wellness centres, horse riding, tennis and so on, gives year-round appeal.

Golf is offering buyers the opportunity to buy top real estate not linked specifically to sea or ski.” With global golf tourism worth over GBP 10 B, Bulgaria has 12 new 18-hole courses in development or underway, with five due for completion by 2008. Of these five courses, 30% of the 2,300 residential units across them have already been sold.

Experts point out that Bulgaria is set to prosper from its all-new putting greens, given the success of Spanish and Portuguese golf developments and with low cost airlines further spurring golf development. By 2020 nearly every third visitor to Europe will choose a central or Eastern European destination, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

24th May is a holiday, usually celebrated in countries which observe Eastern Orthodox tradition. It commemorates the creation of the Slavic Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets by the brothers Cyril and Methodius. The celebration also commemorates the introduction of literacy and the preaching of the gospels in the Slavonic language by the brothers.

According to old Bulgarian chronicles, the day of the holy brothers used to be celebrated ecclesiastically as early as XI Century. The first recorded secular celebration of the Saints Cyril and Methodius Day as the “Day of the Bulgarian script” was held in the Bulgarian town of Shumen on May 22, 1803.

Nowadays, the day is celebrated as a public holiday in Bulgaria and is known as the Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature Day, a national holiday celebrating Bulgarian culture and literature as well as the alphabet. It is also known as Alphabet, Culture, and Education Day.

George Michael’s show in Sofia unfolded at Lokomotiv stadium on a giant eighty-ton stage, fixed with equipment that was transported to the Bulgarian capital with a fleet of 36 TIR vehicles.

A mature and politically engaged George Michael took the stage in Sofia Monday evening, 28th May, in support of the plight of the five Bulgarian nurses jailed in Libya. Widely described as the most impatiently awaited gig of the year in Bulgaria, the concert was part of George Michael’s “25 Live” concert tour, his first in over fifteen years. The British pop star cancelled a concert in Germany to come to Bulgaria and embrace the campaign “You are not alone”, which aims to raise the international profile of the nurses, sentenced to death in Libya on bogus charges of intentionally infecting 426 children with AIDS.

“The very special reason for being here tonight is to support the “You are not alone” campaign and free the five nurses and a Palestinian doctor jailed in Libya! And do it now!,” George Michael said to an exalted audience of fifteen thousand fans packed at Lokomotiv stadium.

The huge scene and impressive visual effects of the show were something unseen in Bulgaria so far. Three big video walls - one if them tongue-shaped and slipping out into the audience - showed the star performing on stage and video clips in combination with impressive light effects and massive sound that offered the fans a once-in-a-lifetime experience and proved that high-quality remains George Michael trade mark. “Freedom”, one of his best written, produced and sung songs, put a logical end to the show with a plea for the release of the Bulgarian women. “This song is especially for the Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya. I dedicate this song to them - let’s cry out Freedom together, so that the whole world hears us. Freedom is what they need most! What a terrible injustice,” said the Megastar, without hiding his happiness that the proceeds of his mega concert will go to the association Freedom for the Nurses, founded by their relatives.

Mick Jagger’s first wife, Bianca, arrived to Bulgaria on Saturday, 7th April to take part in the “You are not alone” campaign for the release of the five Bulgarian nurses, sentenced to death in Libya.

Bianca Jagger visited Bulgaria on the invitation of Standart Newspaper, bTV and Darik Radio, who are the organizers of the campaign. After her arrival, Bianca first went to the Vassil Levski stadium in the capital of Sofia to greet the footballers from Bulgaria’s two rival teams Levski and CSKA before their derby, which was also under the “You are not alone” motto.

Bianca Jagger also met the Bulgaria’s President Georgi Parvanov and the Mayor of Sofia, Boyko Borisov. She is one of the most ardent fighters for human rights in the world and she is also a leading figure in Amnesty International. She pointed out that if Libya wants to be accepted by the democratic world there must be justice for the jailed medics and they must be freed immediately.

Bianca Jagger is a good will ambassador of the Council of Europe, and a person with great influence on the international scene so her help will be of great importance, Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said.

Possibly the most celebrated name day in the country, St George’s Day (Gergyovden) is a public holiday celebrated on 6th May every year. A common ritual is to prepare and eat a whole lamb, which is an ancient practice possibly related to Slavic pagan sacrificial traditions and the fact that he is the patron saint of the shepherds.

St. George’s Day is also the Day of the Bulgarian Army (made official with a decree of Knyaz Alexander of Bulgaria on 9 January 1880) and parades are organised in the capital Sofia to present the best of the army’s equipment and manpower.

This is the name day for all who have names like flowers and trees and, like me, Lili (Lily-of-the-valley; Lilium). This is also the orthodox “Palm Sunday”. It is always one week before Easter. On this day most people go to church, they buy some willow twigs which are blessed and then tied to the entrance of the home as a proclamation of faith in the resurrection of Christ.

Being one of the most beautiful spring holidays it celebrates the day of the entrance of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, when he was welcomed with palms and olive branches. Bulgarian Orthodox tradition uses more readily-available willow branches instead of palms, and people weave them into small crowns, which they put on the head of young children for health and blessing. All who are named after flowers and trees celebrate their name day on this day.

Happy Name Day to me!!!!:)

All over the country, Bulgarians marked on 24th February the holiday, known as Todorovden (the day of Todor or Theodor), also called the Horse Easter. The Orthodox Church celebrates the day on the first Saturday of the Easter Fast.

On this day there were many traditional horse races and our dear colleague Teodora (Reception) had a name day. Happy name day Teddy, wishing you loads of smiles and luck!

In the picture above, the mayor of the neighborhood of Konstantinovo (next to Marina Hills) is preparing the thoroughbreds Vagner and Granada for the traditional races on Todorovden. In actual fact we have been invited by the mayor to see some races, which have been organized for April, 8th as well. For any of you who enjoy horse riding, let us know when you come over and we can arrange a ride.

On March 3, the Bulgarian people show their respect to the heroism of the Russian soldiers and the Bulgarian volunteers, who fought in the Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878, that put an end to the five century foreign rule.

On this day Bulgaria celebrates the Liberation of the Ottoman yoke. The liberation of Bulgaria came as a result of the victory of Russia in the war declared on 12 April 1877. During the war, 12 battalions of more than 12000 Bulgarians joined the Russian army and fought against the forces of Ottoman Empire. On March 3, 1878 a preliminary peace treaty was signed in San Stefano, near Constantinople. It included the establishment of an independent state of Bulgaria, and this way regained its independence from the Ottoman Empire.

The first stork for the year was spotted to hover over the village of Mikrevo, South-western Bulgaria on Monday, 26th February. According to ornithologists, the bird came a month earlier than usual because of the unusually warm weather.

The local people call the stork Parvan (in Bulgarian - The First) because every year it flies at least one week before the other birds. Until they come, Parvan is already “repairing” its nest.

March 1st is probably our most intrinsic holiday because it is unique to Bulgaria. The custom of wearing martenitsas (red-and-white threads worn as a decoration) is only popular in Bulgaria and it is perhaps the most positive one in all our folklore. This tradition is based upon the founding of Bulgaria in 681 AD and there are many more than one folk-legends about the origin of this celebrated day.

Today Bulgarians give the red and white colors only to please Granny Marta so she will not make us cold. In doing so, we are expressing the hope that the spring will come as quickly as possible. Once we have those tokens, which we put on our clothing or wear on our wrist, we keep them until we see a sign of spring; a bird associated with spring such as a stork, crane or swallow or blossoming trees. After seeing the stork, some will tie the Martenitza on a fruit tree, symbolically giving the tree the health and luck that they had while wearing the token.

Bulgaria was caught in three days of real winter conditions, in the beginning of February. Compared to the weather we had in January and the rest of February, I must say it was freezing cold. Temperatures reached about minus 15 degrees Celsius, Standart daily newspaper reports.

However, it is nice and warm again. There are even trees which have blossomed!

FEBRUARY is the month when Bulgarians celebrate wine and its patron saint Trifon, also known as Trifon Zarezan. For vine-growers and wine-makers Trifon Zarezan has become so popular that it is celebrated both in accordance with the old and the new religious calendars. The old calendar stresses the date of February 1, but over the past fifteen years, February 14 has become the day of Trifon Zarezan. This provides the opportunity and excuse for many people to repeat it in less than two weeks. The fact that February 14 is also the day of St Valentine has made the date very popular because Bulgarians can choose weather to celebrate wine or love, or even both, on the same date.

The festivities on the day of Trifon Zarezan mark the dividing line between the ending of winter and the nearing of spring. The transition between the two seasons stirs the most fierce conflict in the annual natural cycle - it is the transition between the dead winter season and the invigorating powers of the following seasons. That is why, namely in this period, rituals are performed to strengthen and ensure a triumph of vitality and fruitfulness. The first pruning of the vines for the season is the main ritual performed on February 14, when people gather in the vineyards outside the villages. Only the men can prune the vines, but women are not totally deprived of part-taking in the holiday observation. Women get up early in the morning, bake festive bread - loaves decorated with dough vines and grapes, roast a hen stuffed with grits (baked ground corn kernels), and put these all and a flask of wine in a woolen bag and see the men to the gate. Women also knead special round loaves - a symbol of the fertile field, and generously hand them out to neighbours and relatives. Men first go to the holiday church service and then head to the vineyards, taking a musician with them. The best vine-grower is the first to drink after pouring some wine on the ground with wishes for fertility. And so, the feast goes on until dark.

Valya, Valentina, Kristiyana, Nasya, Snezhana, Ashraf, on February 9, we will mark nine years since their suffering began. Sudden arrests in Libya and medieval torture with electricity and dogs have marked the worst trial for the past fifteen years - the one against the Bulgarian nurses in Tripoli.

These poor five women have been separated from their children and loved ones for eight years now. They are scared and desperate, but they are no longer alone! Their tragic fate united the Standart, BTV and the Darik Radio in an international humanitarian mission under the motto You Are Not Alone. We have already attracted the attention of the European Parliament to this mission and we have brought the “You Are Not Alone” sign into the Bulgarian National Assembly, as well

Rallies in defense of the Bulgarian nurses in Libya were organized in Sofia and across the country on February 9, on the initiative of the aforementioned three media. We gathered in front of Sofia’s National Palace of Culture and showed our sympathy for these poor women; then, we walked to the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where we prayed together for the release of the nurses. We also sang the “You Are Not Alone” song for the first time, which was written by legendary musicians Mikhail Belchev and Stefan Dimitrov.

Unusually warm weather in Bulgaria is spoiling the plans of tourism companies for the winter season, Dnevnik daily said. Weathermen predict unchanged or even higher temperatures in January. The winter could be the hottest for the past 47 years in the whole of Europe. However, sun is always welcome in Varna and its surrounding resorts and villages. And this month the weather girls just say that the weather today is scorchyo.

You might have, but just in case, let me tell you what it’s all about. The Orthodox Church in Bulgaria celebrates days dedicated to all Saints. For example, on January 17 it is Saint Anthony’s Day (Antonovden), where celebrations are to protect people from illnesses. It is also the holiday of all who bear the name of Saint Anthony.

On this day women do not spin, knit and cook beans, corn and lentil, because they might make the diseases angry.

Legend has it that the twin brothers Anthony and Atanas were blacksmiths and were the first to invent the blacksmith’s tongs. Anthony’s Day is celebrated as a holiday of the blacksmiths, ironmongers, cutters and shoeing smiths.

People named after the saint Anthony (meaning “priceless” in Latin) - Antonia, Andon, Dona, Donka - celebrate their name day on January 17.