Buy & Sell Bulgaria Insight Newsletter

Bulgaria Gazzette, 24^th May, 2009

Varna will have a multifunctional culture center before 2019, when the city is expected to become the European capital of culture. The news was announced by the chairman of the Municipality council Borislav Gutsanov.

The new art center will replace the old harbour Varna-east and will be the analogue of the Australian Sidney Opera, said Gutsanov. Still, the project will not copy the architecture of one of the symbols of Australia. The concert hall is the key point of the make-over of the harbour complex into an attractive, culture center.

To complete the project, the municipality will announce an international competition, which will likely attract prominent architects from all over the world. The lack of a proper-size modern concert hall that is suitable for spectacles and music performances of various ranges is one of the serious problems for the people of art in Varna. It is also a major stopper of visits of foreign artists.

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

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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27 October 2008, Monday, by Novinite.com

Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Varna won the competition for “Bulgaria’s Best City to Live in”, which is organized by the National Darik Radio and the 24 Chasa Daily.

The Bulgarian “Black Sea capital” won the first place with 276 points total. The country’s second largest city of Plovdiv was ranked second with 272 points. The medieval capital Veliko Turnovo made it to third position with 268 points.

In addition to the main award, this year’s competition featured also four additional awards. The city of Plovdiv was awarded the “Culture City” prize, the capital Sofia got the “Business City” award, Veliko Turnovo was declared “The Most Beautiful City”, and the town of Teteven received the “Eco-Town” award.

A total of 40 Bulgarian cities and towns were included into the competition. They were ranked according to 44 different criteria including demographic growth, architecture, airport access, Internet access at public spots, sunny days, suicides, air quality, administrative services, etc.

In the first edition of the competition in 2007, Varna was ranked first again, followed by Veliko Turnovo, and Plovdiv.

In 2007 the municipality of Varna built a multifunctional playground in the Sea Gardens in Varna. In the first months of its opening the playground was visited by over 200 000 people. The field costs BGN 130 000.

Varna Municipality will invest 1.3 M euro in modernizing and expanding the football stadium and basketball playground, which is located in the courtyard of the Technical University. By an agreement with the rector of the Technical University the undersized playground will be constructed in real sizes. “With it in our town we will have genuine sports facilities at which championships are to be conducted. There are many private companies that want to hire the base, to train their teams,” commented the mayor of Varna Kiril Yordanov. Five new sports grounds will be finished by the end of the year in the sea capital. They will be located in the quarters of “Vladislavovo” and “Primorski” and the villages of Konstantinovo, Topoli and Kamenar.

Meanwhile the construction company Engstroy Engineering Ltd. won the announced by the a Municipality of Varna competition for carrying out further construction and installation works, necessary for the complete construction of the sports-amusement complex “Mladost”. The contract is for 2.049 M euro. Last year the company built the facility for U.S. $ 7.5 M. The Sports complex has a combined playground for a minifootball and handball, volleyball games, basketball and a stand. It is going to have a children’s sector, where children from 3 to 5 years old will have cradles, a castle, etc.

A skatepark has also been completed in “Mladost” and a roller track has started working. The municipality has reserved 940 thousand euro for the construction of a squash center with two cells.

By Lili Gospodinova

Eurolink Investment Groups’s (EIG) Annual Conference was successfully closed with an enjoyable gala dinner and an up beat message from the Chairman Mr. Violaris, who thanked all who supported the company in the last years and wished a fruitful and productive cooperation to those new investors and associates currently engaged with the company.

‘The Eagle Has Landed’ event started on Wednesday night (8th October) with a welcoming drink at the hotels lobby bar, where all the attendees had a chance to greet and enjoy a pleasant evening together.

Following a much needed rest, the Conference started on Thursday (9th October) morning. Mr. Alan Coleman, former Sales Director of EIG, introduced the panel and work kicked off. The Group’s Chairman Mr. Christopher Violaris, opened the conference with a meaningful speech, followed by Prof. Ivan Nikiforov, Team Leader of the new General Town Plan of Varna; Mr. Stelios Iacovides, Group business consultant, who revealed the new Corporate Identity of EIG; Mr. Henik Siebken, Project Director of our strategic partner Nordic Development Group (NDG), explaining the company’s involvement with EIG; Mr. Frank O’Dowd, golf course designer and golf course builder, who talked about the design and construction of EIG’s two golf courses - Aphrodite Hills and Royal Oakwood; Mr. Henry Tondovski, banker & investment consultant together with Thorsten Eggert, Investment consultant for South Africa, both providing insight to the investment opportunities in Varna.

Following the conference, there was a cruise on the Varna Lake, where investors and guests had a chance to view the company’s land and investments from a different point. This was followed by a gala dinner in the evening which was accompanied by a jazz band, tap-dancer and excellent food.

Finally on Friday (10th October), a number of round table sessions were held, where investors had the chance to enjoy a one-on-one with Mr. Violaris and discuss their individual investments or any concerns they might have had.

The conference was successfully closed on Friday 10th October with many of the guests voicing their thanks and best wishes to the company.

Click here to view photos from the conference, and here for short video .

10th Oct, Morski Trud daily

The neighbourhood of Galata and the villages of Konstantinovo and Zvezditsa will have another 60 000 people, mainly young families, living in the area within the next 10 years. The region will become an attractive place for living. In some projects after the Asparuhov Bridge, prices reach € 1800-2000 per sq.m., said the Chairman of ‘Eurolink Investment Group’, Mr. Christopher Violaris. The main themes discussed at the ‘Eagle Has Landed’ conference were the challenges before the market of real estate, the New General Town Plan and the above mentioned areas, as well as the 2 golf courses, Royal Oakwood and Aphrodite Hills.

According to Mr. Violaris, Varna, as it is today, will be referred to as the old city and the new one will be located on the other side of the lake, with a modern centre and good infrastructure. Investors from Europe, Malta, Cyprus and South Africa showed interest towards those regions. This is one of the reasons why family homes and residential complexes will be an alternative to the panel apartments.

After the approval of the New General Town Plan, near the village of Konstantinovo, over an area of 600 decares of land, an Ethnographic village will be built and it will be similar to the one near the town of Gabrovo, ‘Etara’ (http://www.etar.org/index-en.htm), is what Eurolink Investment Group announced.

13^th Oct, 2008, Martin Markov, “Narodno Delo” daily

From left to right: Alan Coleman, Alexander Nikolov, Christopher Violaris

Varna’s Beverly Hills is being planned in the region beyond the Varna Sea lake. The villages of Konstantinovo, Zvezditsa and the quarter of Galata will become the most attractive places to live, brokers predicted at a seminar devoted to land investments. In some projects across the Asparuhov bridge prices will reach € 1800 - 2000 per square meter, said the Chairman of Eurolink Investment Group, Mr. Christopher Violaris. Between 40 thousand and 60 thousand people are going to settle in the region over the next ten years, revealed Alexander Nikolov, Deputy MD of the company. His calculations were based on the prognosis in the draft of the General Town Plan (GTP) of Varna.

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13^th Oct, 2008, by Doroteia Stoyanova, “Construction - Properties” daily

A new luxurious residential complex is to be developed to the South West of Varna. The investment projects are of the company Eurolink Investment Group, owner of 13 000 decares of land in the area of the village of Konstantinovo. According to Mr. Violaris, Chairman of the company, the new neighborhood will consist of 3-floor family houses. “This is a long-term project, which will be finalized within the next 10 years”, commented Mr. Violaris. He advised that during the construction of the complex, the nature in the region will be preserved to the maximum, which will turn the area into an attractive residential spot. The prognosis, provided in the General Town Plan of Varna, show that during the next 10 years another 40 000 to 60 000 people will populate the area.

According to Mr. Violaris, the World’s financial crisis will not affect the Real Estate Market in Bulgaria. “Citizens from Denmark, Malta, Great Britain and even South Africa are interested in living and working here. However, up to now their interest was toward holiday homes, while in future more demand will be directed towards residential buildings, especially family houses”, said Mr. Violaris

Construction work on the luxurious residential neighborhood will start right after the approval of the General Town Plan of Varna. This is expected to happen not later than March, 2009. At present, negotiations for the construction of a marina are carried out with a specialized company, revealed Mr. Violaris. The first stage of the realization of the project is expected to finalize within the next 3-4 years.

According to the preliminary assignment of the General Town Plan of Varna, the area to the South and South West of Varna is expected to turn into a satellite village. The residential zone will include all housing areas of Zvezditsa nad Konstantinovo, as well as the new agricultural terrains. There is also another idea of having a secondary centre with administrative buildings, techno-park, church, university, sports playground, etc.

The creation of three secondary Town Centers is one of the ideas in the preliminary draft of the General Development Town Plan of Varna. Not only such will appear in the well known largo (town center), but also in Borovets, Vinnitsa and the residential quarter “Vladislav Varnenchik”. This became clear in the presentation of the preliminary draft of the General Development Plan of Varna, reported moreto.net.

The concept of the project consists of reconstruction and modernization of the present infrastructure, complex urbanization of new territories/areas, situated in the outskirts of the city, the expansion of the resident areas north-east towards St.Nikola and Gorna Traka neighborhoods, south-east to Borovets and Rakitnika. Provisions have been made for further extension of the central city area to the south and southwest, explained the Project Team Leader Prof. Ivan Nikiforov.

The creation of the three new Centers is only a small part of the surprises. The General Development Plan outlines an expansion of the industrial area to the north-west coast of the lake to the village of Topoli. Thus the industrial area will be connected to the container port, to be built in future. Except the present Bus Station, three new coach stations are going to be revealed. They will be located respectively in the residential quarter Kaisieva Gradina and Alexander Dyakovich Str.

As per the preliminary General Development Plan, the Sea Gardens will have competition by the expansion of the Nature Park in Asparuhovo to Cape Galata. An ethnographic park is going to be created in the area of the village of Konstantinovo, region of Elenitsa, which is the property of Eurolink Investment Group. The village which is expected to be a tourist’s magnet, will consist of traditional houses built in accordance to the rational Bulgarian Architecture, workshops for craftsmen and artists, three village squares around artificial lakes with coffee shops and Mechanas (taverns) and a Roman style Amphitheater for Spring and Summer Festivals.

The General Development Plan was developed by the Territorial designers’ bureau in Varna and the National Center for territorial development. The project is going to be reviewed at a meeting of the Municipal Council in the end of August. When adopted, it will be immediately presented to the National Town-planning Council of Experts for final approval. It is expected to go into practical introduction in early 2009.

The summer season started with a “great” challenge for Varna Airport. Now every Monday Varna Airport operates twice as many Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet” airplanes, compared to last year. About 2800 passengers are arriving on Monday with the Russian Transaero Airlines in a Boeing 747. Russian tourists arrive from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don in Varna during this season with regular flights of Bulgaria Air, Siberia Airlines, Russia, Aeroflot-Don.

Varna Airport operates chartered flights to different destinations in Russia: Moscow, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Saratovo, Surgut, etc. The new airlines at Varna Airport for this season are: Edelweiss Air, Lithuanian Airlines, Air Italy Polska, Lviv Airlines with flights to- Zurich, Vilnius, Warsaw, Katowice, Lviv.

With high frequency during the week, Varna Airport is running regular flights in 24 destinations in different countries: Russia, Germany, Great Britain, Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. There are more traveling opportunities with low-rate airlines from Varna Airport. In April the spring timetable of Norwegian Air Shuttle to Oslo came into force. Later this month the airline launches flights to Warsaw. With a great frequency there are low-rate flights to Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Berlin with the following airlines: Sterling Airlines, Air Berlin and Germanwings. Flights of the low-rate airlines Centralwings, Sky Europe Airlines and Wizz Air started in June respectively to Warsaw, Bratislava, Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Since July Wizz Air is going to have flights to Sofia four times a week.

During the first five months more than 185 000 passengers have travelled through Varna Airport, which equates to 8% growth, compared to the same period last year, reported by the airport’s press-centre.

Following the event and due to the high quality of the majority of the entrants for the art competition, we have decided to hold a charity art auction. All drawings, which remained with us from the art competition, have been put up in the office and available for sale with a reserve price of € 10. Many have already attracted bids, with our staff competing against each other for their favourites. This auction is now also open to our clients and friends online . The funds collected will be used to purchase essentials for an orphanage in the region of Varna.

Please take some time and have a look at these fantastic pieces of art from our talented youngsters and feel free to make a bid at lili@buy-sell-bulgaria.com. Be part of CHOOSE LIFE and our efforts to create better opportunities for the children of this country which has given so much to most of us. The auction is open until Friday 11^th July.

Please note, that drawings will be collected from the office or posted to the new owners on their account.

Alexandra Simeonova - SOLD READ MORE »