Arco Capital EOOD, a subsidiary of the Estonian real estate development company Arco Vara, signed a preliminary contract for purchasing the first plot with development potential in Sofia.

“The real estate is located in the Manastirski Livadi residential district in the immediate vicinity of the centre of Sofia, and the approved building design documentation provides for building rights to the extent of 35,000 square metres of gross enclosed area,” Veiko Pedosk, the Manager of Arco Vara’s Development Division, said. Multi-section apartment buildings will be built on the property. It is intended to invest approximately EUR 24 million in the development project.

Viljar Arakas, the Chairman of the Management Board of Arco Vara, stated that signing the first development project in Bulgaria was a logical continuation of the established strategy of expansion to new markets. “We are quite positive that in the near future countries like Bulgaria, Ukraine and Romania will demonstrate growth potential like what we have learned to value in the Baltic States, and that Arco Vara has entered these growing markets just in time.” Arkas said.

Arco Vara is active in six countries: in Ukraine and Romania in addition to the Baltic States and Bulgaria.

Arco Vara AS was founded in Estonia in 1992. It is a leading real estate company in the Baltic States whose activities include intermediate commercial transactions with and development of real estate, as well as building activities. The company is represented in 25 cities in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania. The group employs approximately 500 people. The audited consolidated net sales of Arco Vara AS for 2006 amounted to EEK 484 million and the group closed the year at the net profit of EEK 217 million.