Buy & Sell Bulgaria Insight Newsletter

The Black Sea city of Varna enjoys the best living conditions for living and working in Bulgaria, according to a survey conducted by Darik Radio in association with Bulgarian daily newspaper 24 Chassa.

The research, carried out in October and November 2007, ranked 35 Bulgarian cities according to 40 criteria. These included the availability of green areas, the number of kindergartens, road conditions, public access to wireless internet, climate, investment, unemployment rate, recreational opportunities, cleanliness, signposting, facilities for disabled people, architecture, airport availability, parking and health service as well as the crime rate and various other benchmarks.

The study’s aim is to evaluate the quality of life in Bulgarian cities at the turn of 21^st Century. The findings do not claim to be completely scientific because only some of the criteria could be assessed through statistics. Darik Radio’s listeners and 24 Chassa’s readers offered subjective evaluation of the other “quality” criteria.

Radosvet Radev, Executive Director of Darik radio, said that people living in the “best” cities would feel proud, and that residents and local governors of “under-performing” cities would be motivated to work harder to improve their surroundings. He noted that the Top 35 chart is not the culmination but rather the beginning of an ongoing process that will be followed closely by the media.

Assen Gagauzov, Regional Development and Public Works minister, said that 52 % of his Ministry’s programme, or € 800 million in absolute terms, will be allocated to restoration and infrastructure improvements in Bulgarian towns. This should result in towns to enhance their competitiveness. Real estate prices in the best-rated cities are likely to increase, Radev implied.

Here are the results of the study:

Top 5 Best Cities for Living in Bulgaria
1. Varna
2. Plovdiv
3. Veliko Turnovo
4. Sofia
5. Bourgas

The Bulgarian cities of Sofia and Varna have been identified as potential overseas property investment hotspots by analysts PropertySecrets.net. Strong demand in recent years has allowed the country to develop a robust financial sector, making investment in Bulgaria easier than neighbouring markets.

Cheap material and labour in the Bulgarian property market allowed property to be built for a low cost, before being sold for ever increasing prices.

Buying off-plan in up-and-coming locations is a key trend in the Bulgarian property market. Most people are buying off-plan because with off-plan you know what you’re getting, more or less. This is largely due to the convenience of new property.

You can see the floor plans at home, you can see the pictures, you can see the location, whereas with the existing property you need to have it checked out a little bit more, you don’t know if the room sizes are going to be right and you need to go and visit it yourself, which is a bit difficult for a foreign investor.

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 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

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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An Interview with architect, prof. Ivan Nikiforov - Head of the team of the General Town Plan of Varna

 - Which are the basic alterations in the position and the range of the functual zones in the New General Town Plan of Varna?

 - The habitation and repose integration is specific for Varna. In this meaning, areas zoned for summer houses and urban formations with substantial percentage of permanent occupancy are included. The General Town Plan proposes an extension of the habitation zone to north east, upon territories, stipulated for relaxation and tourism, which practically are already used for permanent residence (St. Nikola, Gorna Traka, Vayalar, Traka- extension). Provisions have been made for the southern and south-west parts of the habitation zone to be included all the urban formations in the land territories of the village of Zvezditza (Pod selo, Letishteto) and the village of Konstantinovo (Chereshova Gradina, Panorama, Pripek and Krushova Gradina) as well as agricultural areas situated between them.

 - What about the so-called “lungs” of the city?

 - The green system in the new General Town Plan keeps the existing areas in the compact city by expanding - to the south - the seaside park, situated by southern coast of the sea bay, as a continuation of “Asparuhovo” park, to the south and west - by inclusion in the city of parts of the forest massifs in the regions of Djanavara, Orehcheto and Konstantinovo.

 - The citizens of Varna hope that the procedure of solution for the transport problems of the city is going to start soon. What does the plan provides for this problem?

 - The most essential improvement of the communication - transportation infrastructure of the south part of the city is the proposed road continuation, which connects Borovets with “Cherno more” highway, to the south-west to the village of Konstantinovo. To ease the traffic on the existing road Varna-Konstantinovo and Beloslav, the plan offers a new direct link from Varna to Konstantinovo. It will serve the new parks - attraction and zoological.

We want to provide the Municipality instrument for managing the town planning, in order to keep its magnificent nature facts and civilly inheritance and to integrate the new building with them in the best way.

Minutes before the charity concert and the launch of the initiative “Izberi Zhivot” (Choose Life), the candidate for Mayor of Varna for 3rd mandate and later on elected, Kiril Yordanov, appeared on the stage at the entrance of the Sea Garden in Varna, and announced that he will give to the children at “Gavrosh”, as a present, 10 bicycles.

“I am here to personally thank Mr. Christopher Violaris (Managing Director of Eurolink Investment Group, organizer of the event) for his constant and varied charity and to summon you young people to active sport activities”. With these words, Kiril Yordanov spoke to the numerous young spectators and added, that the sport base of Varna is available and at their disposal all year round and free of charge. “Think for your future and put your best foot forward, we are right beside you”, said Mr. Yordanov, who came on a bike.

The concert “Izberi Zhivot” aims to help the children and social workers in “Gavrosh”, therefore, on both sides of the stage there were donation boxes and children from the orphanage were giving out soft drinks and snacks, as well as specially made T-shirts, provided by the organizers. MC of the concert was Misho Shamara (popular hip-hop and rap performer), and during the concert other performers also tool part, as Maria Ilieva and Grapha (other very popular singers in Bulgaria).

Dnes+, online news
06.10.2007, 19:24

Recommended by Richard Payne, client and good friend of Eurolink

The restaurant is situated not far from the centre and a few minutes’ walk from Caesar’s Casino. It is not easy to find, since the building is in traditional style and is tucked away by other buildings. I was passing by and was curious with the outdoor table layout and the BBQ at the back, so I cautiously walked in and made a wonderful discovery! It is a full fledge restaurant of two storeys, arranged in wonderful Bulgarian traditional style as the picture above.

As I walked in the central area, there was a large copper chimney with indoor BBQ grill with the bar at one side, but what amazed me was the wonderful collection of wines - lots of them!!! I would assume that indoor BBQ should be very popular in the winter.

Another point goes to the waitress who was very friendly while taking me to my table and happily serving my richly deserved desires. The meal was also very well cooked and juicy, and of very good value (6 Euros) - I can’t wait to try out some lamb meal next time!

For those wishing to experience traditional Bulgarian meal in Varna, I would certainly recommend this place - it is the perfect way to impress yourself and your friends.

Rating 9/10

Located in the Southeastern part of modern Varna, just by Eurolink’s offices, the Roman Thermae was built upon more than 7000 sq.m. and used to be the largest antic public building in Bulgaria. The architectural style and some discovered coins provide information that the construction work took place in the end of the second - beginning of the third century AC. During the relatively peaceful second century Odessos (Varna today) grew into a major economical and cultural centre of the Black Sea coast and the Roman province Moesia Inferior. Close to the end of the century the blossoming city could afford the enormous construction and maintenance operations. The daily life of the Roman citizens included visits to the baths called thermae. They were also equipped with gymnastics and sport halls, called palaestras, meeting and discussing halls, relaxation room, etc. In addition to the indoor hall, the thermae had a featured real palaestra - a big yard, surrounded with columns and shops. The palaestra is in the north part of the baths and stairs lead from it to the main hall.

The building itself was about 20 meters high (the preserved part of it nowadays - the Roman tower is 18 m high), constructed from both stones and bricks. The outer walls and the halls were decorated with marble columns, ornaments and other architectural elements. Another feature is the number of statues of distinguished citizens and Roman gods, built up together with the needed fountains. The social and political crisis from 3rd century caused damages in the Roman Empire and Odessos, as a part of it. The maintenance of the baths became very expensive and they were gradually left without proper care. The stone material and decorative elements were taken and used for the construction of other buildings, including the small baths of Odessos from the 6th century.

Villa Aqua Beach Resort in Varna is the Eastern European continuation of the tradition that started 30 years ago, in 1972, in New York with the establishment of the famous boutique hotel and restaurant The Box Tree. Villa Aqua Beach Resort is situated within 13 km of the town of Varna, in the begining of the beach resort “Golden Sands” not far from the “International Journalists house”, and 15 minutes distant from the beach. The complex has a private parking and 24-hour security guard.

“Villa Aqua” has a magnificent inner courtyard with a beautiful garden, open-air swimming pool, summer cocktail bar, jazz-club and restaurant, famous with its unique cuisine. Restaurant “The Box Tree” is a member of the “Chaine des rotisseurs” and offers remarkable French and Bulgarian traditional dishes.

“Villa Aqua” restaurant offers opportunities for unforgettable evenings, business and private celebrations, corporate events, far from the sounds of the trivial round.

Rating 9/10

In the very first years following the Liberation of the country, the Orthodox Bulgarian population in Varna increased rapidly. To confirm their close ties with Russian Orthodox faith and to manifest their separation from Greek Patriarchate, on his first visit to the town prince Dondukov-Korsakov was invited by the local municipality members to attend the official religious service at the Bulgarian St. Archangel Mikhail church. He was, however, disappointed with the state of the temple and declared that the town deserved an impressive church, the only one of its kind in the country. And he was ready to help. Soon a committee was elected and its task was to choose the place and raise the funds for the construction. Funds were raised through donations, lottery and a government loan. The town’s surrounding area offered building materials - hewn stones in good shape from the already ruined fortress were used in the construction process. Copper sheet plates from England, supplied by Velichko Hristov, were used for the roof of the church. Two lifting cranes for the heavy stone blocks were also shipped from England.

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What is common between Marseille, Genoa and Barcelona? The forest of masts in their yacht ports. According to the statistics, in the Mediterranean, there are 3500 yachts 30 meters high and above, not to mention the smaller ones. That means not only money for “parking” the vessels, but also increase in number of wealthy tourists.

At present, Bulgarian seaside towns and complexes are aiming at the yacht business as well. When the Dinevi brothers built a magnificent yacht port near the village of St Vlas (see to the right), the city of Varna decided to transform its active industrial harbour into a yacht port and entertainment area.

The idea is of the local chairman of the municipal council Borislav Gutsanov and has already been named “The Gutsanov project”. The Varna councilors, the branch chamber and the state gave him a green light and the first sod will be turned till the end of this year. The project comprises of two stages – the construction of a new, modern terminal for containers in the lake, below the current unattractive Romany neighbourhood, Maskuda. The port will cover an area of 220 decares near the railway. The depth is 16-18 meters, which will allow big vessels to flit and will make things easier for them as they cannot presently enter the harbour. “We will be able to actually compete with Constanta, where 1,25 million container carriers pass through per annum, which in comparison to the Varna harbour – barely 100 000”, said the chief of the port Capt. Danail Papazov.

In the place of the present freight piers at port Varna-East, an enormous entertainment area will be formed. Instead of docks men, there will be tourists and yachtsmen. The port itself, which covers an area of 347 decares, will be transformed into a yacht one, surrounded by an aquarium, hotel, park zones and many small places of public resort.

The work group – Borislav Gutsanov, the port’s chief Papazov and the chairman of the Bulgarian Maritime Chamber Capt. Veselin Genov have been introduced to the execution of such a project in Genoa and Barcelona.

Jovanni Novi, chief of the port in Genoa, told them: “With the present “Port Antico” (an old industrial harbour turned into a yacht port) we earn more than we used to do with the freight one”. “Pantoons girdle the piers, where hundreds of expensive yachts have flitted, the old stores are turned into luxurious hotels, aquariums, shops and places of public resort. The project there was worth around 500 million euro, for which negotiations with a Japanese bank have commenced. We receive rent amounting to 1000 euro per meter per boat per annum, and additional payment is made for prestigious positions”, is what they say in Genoa.

78% of the population in Varna support the new project.

It is now summer, time for relaxation, chilling out and having some entertainment, a time of the year, which everyone eagerly expects. It is time for your Summer holidays, nice weather, trips and a lot of new experiences. Bulgaria has been more and more attractive for the tourist attractions and recreation activities it offers. These are some of the main factors which drive the property interest towards our country. Have a closer look into the various entertainment opportunities in the different parts of Varna - you may be surprised by the variety of locations and attractions. Without any doubt the main summer attractions are the sea and the sandy beaches. Apart from that Varna has a lot more to offer. City landmarks include the Varna Archaeological Museum, exhibiting the Gold of Varna, the Roman Baths, the Battle of Varna Park Museum, the Naval Museum in the Italianate Villa Assareto displaying the museum ship Drazki torpedo boat, the Museum of Ethnography in an Ottoman-period compound featuring the life of local urban dwellers, fisherfolk, and peasants in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The Sea Garden is the oldest and perhaps largest park in town containing an open-air theatre (venue of the International Ballet Competition, opera performances and concerts), an aquarium (opened 1912), a dolphinarium (opened 1984), the Nicolaus Copernicus Observatory and Planetarium, the Museum of Natural History, a terrarium, a zoo, an alpineum, a small European-style Luna Park, a Children’s Corner, and other attractions. The National Revival Alley is decorated with bronze monuments of prominent Bulgarians, and the Cosmonauts’ Alley contains trees planted by Yuri Gagarin and other Soviet cosmonauts in the 1960s. The Garden is a national monument of landscape architecture.

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Varna, the “water town”

The new town appeared in the period of 580-560 B.C., at the same time when the other ancient Greek towns were also founded on our Black Sea coast. Its founders, the Miletian Greeks, settled gradually and without any problems in the already existing settlement, called Odessos and adopted the name given by the natives.

That name is first detected in the works of the poet Skymnos of Chios and the historian Strabo. In the 5th century Theophanus referred to it as Odissopolis. It is assumed that the name is of Karian origin and is translated as “water-town”.

From the VI century onwards the name of Odessos is no longer found in the historical documents. Varna is first mentioned in the chronicles describing the advancement of Khan Asparukh and his people who “…came to the so-called Varna, close to Odessos…” and the consequent settlement of Bulgarian tribes in those areas.

In the beginning of the century archimandrite Inokenti presents interesting details from his researches. He also mentions the theory that the name Varna originates from the avarian word “var”, meaning city.

Some hypotheses maintain that at the time of Emperor Tiberius (14 -27) the town was, for a short time, called Tiberiopolis. And during the reign of Empress Irene towards the end of VII century there was another short period in which it took her name - Irinopolis. In the ancient times Theophanus referred to the town as Odessopolis and other authors - as Ulissopolis.

Only once in the thousands-of-years-old history of the town were there no doubts about the time, its name and meaning. In honour of the 70th birthday anniversary of Joseph Stalin, taking into consideration the request of the citizens of Varna, the Council of Ministers issued a decree to rename the town. Thus on 21st December 1949 Varna became Stalin and a monument of the town’s patron was erected at the entrance of the Sea Garden. Time passed by and at their 1956 plenary sessions the Communist Parties of the Soviet Union and Bulgaria admitted still another mistake and the recent town name was regained. For those in the nostalgic mood, however, the old streets of Varna still keep drainage covers made in the town of Stalin.

Only 2-storey houses in the new neighbourhoods

Local Bulgarian newspaper “Tema”, 13th June 2007

To the south and north of Varna, only houses up to 2-storeys will be allowed to be built. This is proposed for the new town-plan of Varna. The plans cover the areas of Saint Nikola, Zelenika, Rakitnika, the areas surrounding Konstantinovo and Zvezditsa, and other surrounding areas.

The question of low buildings in these areas and high protection of the green areas, was raised in May this year, at a meeting with the Chairman of the Municipal Council, Borislav Gutsanov, and the Team Leader of the town-planning group, Prof. Nikiforov. Due to the threat of over-construction work, the proposal made in February by the local Parliament’s chief, the Municipal Council decided to stop anyone from building in these areas, until the new town-plan has been completed and approved. The final version of the project will be discussed at a session of the Municipal Council in July.

Town-planning group and Chairman of the Municipal Council

2nd Bridge in Varna

Local Bulgarian newspaper “Narodno Delo”, 13th June 2007

The second bridge over the Varna lake is planned to be built next to the village of Kazashko. This was the decision taken by the Chairman of the Municipal Council, Borislav Gutsanov and the town-planning group, which is preparing the preliminary version of the new town plan of Varna. The bridge will allow a direct connection from the Cherno More highway to the airport, leading to the holiday resorts and the Romanian border at Durankulak. Thus the traffic passing through the heart of the city will be diverted to a by-pass.

The preliminary version of the town plan includes the construction of a third bridge, which will be parallel to the existing Asparuhov Bridge. Fortunately, the bridge will neither impede with the new port terminals, nor with the attractive part of the city and the future yacht harbour, which will appear at the freed Varna-East coast.

Varna Lake is the largest and deepest lake on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. There is evidence that even in prehistoric times Varna lake shores have been inhabited by people. Various remains of ancient civilizations have been discovered here - flint tools, pile dwellings, dug-out canoes. The famous Varna chalcolith necropolis can be seen on the northern side in the region of Varna Western Industrial area.

The neighborhoods of Zvezditsa and Konstantinovo, where our land is, overlook the lake from the southern heights. Marina Gardens, Marina Hills, Golf Hills, Royal Oakwood, Acropolis, Old Vines, Marina Bay, Panorama and Politea, are areas we have chosen, because we see them as best spots in the region. You can see hills overlooking the Varna bay, amongst grape wines, and fruit orchards, where nature is at its best or land next to the waterfront where the sea laps at the edge of the land with a secluded bay, making it a beautiful and serene place.

Supporting the move for making the region a protected territory under the Natura 2000 program, there are many projects for these areas, including a golf course, luxury villas, homes and bungalows for those who love to combine the sport with comfortable living, swimming pools and all the facilities you expect of a small town, such as restaurants, shops, bars, medical facility and spa, an Equestrian Centre. By the Lake, as part of our further investment, there will be a professional water sports centre, horse riding school, archery field, the construction of a swimming pool, a Greek/Bulgarian tavern, an English pub, and we will build a new platform on the beach that will be used for shows and cultural presentations. Be part of the dream! Live your dream!

Reviewed by Lili Gospodinova

This is a very cozy restaurant, furnished in typical Bulgarian traditional style with a fire place and different antique items on the walls and around the tables. Prices are pretty good and food is fantastic. I’m sure you will find this restaurant very pleasant and enjoyable. Perfect for personal and business meals and very close to the Eurolink Group offices. We can take you there!

Rating of 7/10, enjoy a good meal.