The fund of Bulgarian banker Tsvetelina Borislavova, CSFI, plans to invest about 500 million euro in real estate, renewable energy, industrial manufacture and financial services over the next five years, said Martin Ganev, chief executive director of the investment vehicle.
The biggest chunk of investment will be injected into energy projects. These will also take the longest to implement, said the company official.
CSFI, founded in 2005, usually pairs up with strategic investors to implement investment projects. It has accumulated 110 million euro in assets.
The fund intends to finance the projects with its own resources and with borrowed capital. The investment cycle is estimated at four to seven years.
In partnership with Spain's Ferry Group, CSFI will invest in a biomass production.
The company has so far secured 3 000 ha of land near Vidin and Varna and plans to increase the total area to 10 000 ha. The land will be planted with fast-growing tree species used for the commercial production of fuel pellets at two processing plants.
The fund intends to spend another 250 million euro on three wind parks with a combined capacity of 200MW in the area of Kavarna on the Black Sea.
One of the fund's real estate projects is a cluster of banking offices on Sofia's Tsarigradsko Chaussee boulevard.
The four purpose-built bank office buildings will occupy 2.5 ha and will have a combined built-up area of 100 000 sq m.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2008 and will take around two years to complete.
Ganev said CSFI already has preliminary agreements with potential tenants for the bank offices.
The fund will also develop a number of retail parks, including purchased locations in Varna, Bourgas and Plovdiv.
Solid progress has been made on the CSFI retail park development near the Sofia railway station. Construction on the 4 ha site should begin this year and conclude in two years.
The fund is in talks with strategic partners regarding this project, estimated at 90 million euro. These include France's Carrefour, said Ganev.
CSFI also owns 47 per cent in Pamporovo Jsc, the company that owns the skiing infrastructure in the local resort of the same name.
The fund will be investing over the next two years in a holiday apartment complex near the resort. The area in question embraces 100 000 sq m.
The area of the new holiday village will be linked to the Pamporovo resort by a four-seat lift and two ski runs.
Pamporovo is expected to welcome 25 000-30 000 tourists this season, almost unchanged from last year. Around 85 per cent of visitors come from the UK and Ireland.
The resort has 32 km of ski pistes with seven new runs to be added. New ski runs in the Perelik and Chepelare areas will ensure the resort has the biggest total length of ski runs in the Balkans, said Ganev.
News.Dnevnik
