 With global commodity prices constantly rising, the costs of the project could well turn out higher than initially estimated | Construction 17:51 Thu 03 Jul 2008 - Alex Bivol The project to build a second bridge over the Danube River between Vidin in Bulgaria and Calafat in Romania has run into new snags, which may delay its completion, Dnevnik daily reported on July 3.
Rather than change the original design, Bulgaria's Transport Ministry has decided to carry out a new assessment whether the original design of the bridge will be robust enough to withstand the test of time and elements, the daily said.
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17:02 Fri 20 Jun 2008 - Elena Koinova
Cherveno Zname (Red Flag) sports complex in Sofia will be renovated into a modern sports centre that would be able to host top international sports events, Construction-Entrepreneurial Holding EOOD (CEH), the contractor picked for the revamp, said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily on June 19.
CEH was contracted by executive agency Social Activities with the Defence Ministry after winning a public bid to this effect. The ministry owns the land on which the Cherveno Zname complex is located.
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16:18 Fri 06 Jun 2008 - Elena Koinova
Spanish and Bulgarian investors announced plans to build a new mixed-use compound in the vicinity of Sofia’s central railway station, SeeNews corporate wire reported on June 5.
The complex, to be named Five Towers of Sofia, is estimated to cost 400 million euro, Krassimir Todorov of Source consultancy told SeeNews. The figure is an update from original plans because prices for construction of office buildings and retail sites has risen since conception of the project.
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16:32 Wed 28 May 2008 - Elitsa Savova
On May 28, Nike Investment Group turned the first sod of their project Central Life City Estates in Sofia’s Tsar Simeon street. The development will have 27 residential and four retail units on total built-up space of 4000 sq m. read more
12:10 Tue 06 May 2008 - Elena Koinova
Africa Israel Investments, an Israeli real estate developer, will finance Business Park Varna in Varna, on the Bulgarian northern coastline, Reuters news agency reported.
Its subsidiary, AFI Europe, and Investcredit bank AG signed an agreement to this effect. AFI Europe will provide 59 million euro of the funds. The cost of the building and the three existing buildings was worth 76.5 million euro.
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16:15 Fri 02 May 2008 - Elena Koinova
The Build Green CEE conference, the first ever promoting business and economic opportunities through sustainable construction, pooled 200-odd participants in Bucharest, Romania, conference organiser SOPOLEC said in a statement.
Among attendants were realtors, architects, developers, technology suppliers, public officials and media representatives.
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15:40 Wed 30 Apr 2008 - Rene Beekman
Romanian daily Ziarul Financiar reported that several foreign investors in Romania who had bought apartments in early stages of development, were putting those apartments up for sale at a significant profit even before construction had finished. read more
14:22 Wed 30 Apr 2008 - Rene Beekman
Last year was still a good one for office furniture in Romania despite delays in delivering scheduled construction projects, local daily Ziarul Financiar reported.
The total market for office furniture in Romania exceeded 80 million euro last year. According to Ziarul Financiar, an increase of 15 per cent was expected this year but the market had the potential to reach 100 million euro by 2011. read more
19:01 Fri 25 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
Turkish developer Kayi was named as the main contractor of Serdika Centre commercial and business complex, Investor.bg reported. The site cited a news release from Sparkassen Immobilien AG, the real estate investment trust of Erste Bank, and the German investor and developer ECE Projekmanagement Bulgaria, the two investors in the project. read more
17:05 Wed 23 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
With some exceptions, design, construction and operation of energy efficient buildings is a costly undertaking. Yet it will drive market transformation and become the norm in the future. This was the message of the second panel of the Build Green CEE conference in Bucharest. read more
13:49 Wed 23 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
Buildings account for 37 per cent of overall energy consumption. In fact, buildings and transport collectively emit 50 per cent of overall green emissions, participants in the Building Green CEE: Energy Efficient and Ecological Design for the Region conference concluded at the opening panel on April 23. The two-day conference, ending on April 24, is taking place in Bucharest, Romania. read more
19:29 Tue 22 Apr 2008 - www.sofiaecho.com
The proposal for construction of a building immediately behind the Russian Church in the centre of Sofia was withdrawn on April 22 by the same person who entered the proposal, Sofia's chief architect Petar Dikov.
Dikov said he annulled the proposal because he had not seen the drawing for the project, Bulgarian daily Dnevnik said. read more
16:27 Tue 22 Apr 2008 - Rene Beekman
ING Real Estate Development (ING RED), the real estate branch of the ING group, was planning to start a large-scale real estate project in the centre of Bucharest, Investor.bg said.
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16:28 Fri 18 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
Balkan real estate expo BalPEx, one of the largest of its kind in South-Eastern Europe, opened its doors on April 18. For three days, the event will showcase more than 150 urban and vacation developments, office, commercial and industrial space worth in excess of two billion euro. read more
15:31 Fri 18 Apr 2008 - Alex Bivol
Evromarket Group plans to invest 160 million euro in eight industrial-commercial parks that would be built over the next two years, Dnevnik daily reported on April 18 2008. read more
20:19 Tue 15 Apr 2008 - Alex Bivol
Sofia city hall plans to woo high-tech companies by offering a number of incentives, including real estate, the city's chief architect Petar Dikov said at the Balkan Real Estate conference (BalREc) in Sofia on April 15.
"We already have several initiatives in mind on how to draw companies using advanced technologies to the city, which include issuing construction permits," Dikov said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.
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19:43 Mon 14 Apr 2008 - Alex Bivol
Real estate developments worth a combined two billion leva will be presented at this year's spring edition of Balkan Property Exhibition (BalPEx), which will be held on April 18-20 at Inter Expo Centre in Sofia, event organisers said on April 14 2008. read more
13:23 Mon 14 Apr 2008 - Alex Bivol
FairPlay Properties real estate investment trust (REIT), part of FairPlay International Jsc, has sealed the deal to buy a 8700 sq m land plot in Sofia's Studentski Grad neighbourhood for 5.7 million euro, value-added tax excluded, Dnevnik daily reported on April 14. read more
19:11 Tue 08 Apr 2008 - Alex Bivol
Five funds have shown interest in acquiring three unfinished buildings in the immediate neighbourhood of the St. Ekaterina and Alexandrovska hospitals in Sofia, Health Care Minister Radoslav Gaidarski said on April 8, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency BTA. read more
18:25 Mon 07 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
Varna municipality has earmarked 17.5ha for a new container terminal, weekly Stroitelstvo Gradut reported on April 7. read more
18:10 Mon 07 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
Sofia city hall-owened metro operator Metropoliten called a new tender for the construction of a new section of the metro network, Dnevnik daily reported on April 7. read more
15:34 Mon 07 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
Spanish developer FCC plans to build a temporary port off the town of Vidin, Dnevnik daily reported on April 7. FCC has already filed a request for a building permit and has the support of Vidin regional governor Krustio Spassov. read more
15:48 Fri 04 Apr 2008 - Elitsa Grancharova
Municipal police and a budget several times bigger than what it has now was what Sofia municipality needed to improve its traffic problems and finance general development, mayor Boiko Borissov told a business breakfast organised by American-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce on April 3. read more
15:41 Fri 04 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
Repairs and revamp of the Trade Unions' Culture House in Bulgaria's second largest city Plovdiv and its re-purposing into an arts centre will start on April 7, the consortium that will carry out the works said on April 4, as quoted by investor.bg. read more
17:28 Thu 03 Apr 2008
The coastal resort of Sozopol will hold on April 6 its own referendum on Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project, investor.bg reported on April 3.
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12:15 Fri 28 Mar 2008
Property Commercial Ltd started the construction of the biggest recent building in Rousse, to be named Teodora, local news website ruseinfo.net reported on March 27. With its gross actual area of 22 000 sq m, it will be the biggest edifice in the Danube town built since 1989. read more
17:07 Thu 27 Mar 2008
A new sports hall, seating 3 500 people, will be built in Pazlog, Dnevnik daily reported on March 27.
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14:59 Wed 26 Mar 2008
Industrial mortars' manufacturer Maxit Bulgaria will open its plant in Radinovo industrial area near Plovdiv, the company’s business development manager Pavel Pavlov said, quoted by Dnevnik daily.
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21:29 Tue 25 Mar 2008
Engineering and construction company Enemona plans to invest about 43 million euro in Lom municipality in 2008/2009, company representatives told investor.bg on March 25.
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13:01 Tue 25 Mar 2008
The 30th edition of Stroiko 2000 exhibition will open on March 26 at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia and will run until April 1. Stroiko 2000 is the biggest trading fare for architecture, construction and furnishing in Bulgaria. read more
14:57 Mon 24 Mar 2008
Bulgaria's transport ministry and Vidin town hall would hold monthly panels to monitor the progress of Danube Bridge 2, which will link the Bulgarian town to Calafat in Romania,
Transport minister Petar Moutafchiev and Vidin mayor Roumen Vidov agreed on March 24, Focus news agency reported. read more
10:35 Fri 21 Mar 2008 - Anelia Zaharieva
Construction works on Lyulin Highway could be fast-tracked, so that it is concluded by the end of next year, regional development minister Assen Gagaouzov was quoted as saying by Sega daily on March 21. read more
20:24 Thu 20 Mar 2008 - Anelia Zaharieva
Sofia mayor Boyko Borissov and the head of the State Agency for Youth and Sports (SAYS) Vessela Lecheva discussed the construction of new amusement and sports complexes in Sofia, Bulgarian language daily Standart reported on March 20. read more
19:44 Tue 18 Mar 2008 - Anelia Zaharieva
that would benefit everyone - from large investors to end-consumers, deputy regional development minister Savin Kovachev said, as quoted by Stroitelstvo Gradut weekly on March 17. read more
18:08 Mon 17 Mar 2008 - Anelia Zaharieva
Belgian company Etex Group plans to invest more than 120 million euro in Bulgaria, Pari daily reported on March 17.
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15:36 Thu 13 Mar 2008 - Anelia Zaharieva
Construction company Eurobuilding Engineering will open an exhibition building centre in Bourgas on March 14. The new showroom will house representative offices of the Eurobuilding Engineering Group’s subsidiaries: Anabela Build, Anabela Pools, Europlast Engineering, Europroject Engineering and Bulgarian Sun Properties read more
16:47 Wed 12 Mar 2008 - Desislava Leshtarska
Spanish GreenFuel Corporation would decide within two months whether to build a bio-fuel plant in the region of Pleven, northern Bulgaria, expert.bg reported on March 12.
The decision will be discussed at the company's shareholders meeting in May 2008, Greenfuel's technical director Antonio Jose Huertas Moreno said, as quoted by expert.bg.
Moreno and Pleven regional governor Tsvetko Tsvetkov arranged a working meeting to discuss the future investment's parameters and the production process itself.
read more12:55 Wed 12 Mar 2008 - Desislava Leshtarska
Rousse mayor Bozhidar Yotov met with Spanish ambassador Fernando Ares to discuss the projects eligible for European Union financing on March 11. This was Ares' second visit to Rousse in two months.
The priority infrastructure projects for the city hall are the modernisation of the roads network in Rousse region, as well as construction of sewerage and water-purification plants.
read more18:54 Tue 11 Mar 2008 - Desislava Leshtarska
Sofia city hall will ask for annulment of the tender for the construction of the second line of Sofia's metro network because of the high prices offered by the bidders, Sofia's deputy mayor for transport Velizar Stoilov said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily on March 11.
The decision lies with an ad hoc commission, which includes representatives of the city hall, finance and transport ministries representatives, and could decide to either negotiate down the price with the bidders or to start a new tender.
read more17:28 Mon 10 Mar 2008 - Anelia Zaharieva
More than 80 million leva will be invested in road reconstruction in Shoumen area by end-2009, regional governor Todor Todorov said on March 10 2008, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency (BTA). read more
12:12 Mon 10 Mar 2008 - Desislava Leshtarska
15:26 Thu 06 Mar 2008
The Directorate for National Construction Supervision (DNCS) checked 9 919 building sites in 2007, examining the legitimacy of ongoing works, the availability of building permits as well as construction and habitation certificates, according to the DNCS’s annual report, cited by investor.bg.
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20:02 Tue 04 Mar 2008 - Anelia Zaharieva
Bulgarian property prices posted remarkable growth in recent years, propelled by a number of factors. Primarily, the boom was fuelled by the country’s accession to the European Union (EU). This drew a considerable amount of speculative capital, according to a recent analysis in profit.bg. read more
15:54 Thu 28 Feb 2008
Bulgarian Trace Group, Patishta Holding and Glavbolgarstroy could be hired as subcontractors by the Bulgarian-Portuguese consortium picked to complete and operate the Trakia motorway under a concession arrangement, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Asen Gagauzov said on February 27, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.
On December 16, 2004, the Government awarded the concession to Magistrali Trakia Jsc, a Portuguese-Bulgarian consortium, which has to build a 190km stretch and repair 162 km of the Trakia Highway, receiving in return the right to collect the road toll for 35 years. The total length of road, which runs from Kalotina on Bulgaria's border with Serbia to Bourgas on the Black Sea via Sofia, Plovdiv, Orizovo, Chirpan, Stara Zagora, Nova Zagora, Yambol, Karnobat and Aytos, is 433km. Only 293.5 km are operational now.
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12:17 Tue 26 Feb 2008
The cabinet will propose amendments to the legislation regulating concession contracts, state properties and coastline control in order to promote public-private partnership, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said at a news conference. The planned changes will allow longer concession periods, which are currently limited to 35 years, and rents of state-owned land. A recent government report has found big delays in implementation of infrastructure projects in the fields of transport, energy and environment protection, among which the construction of Lyulin and Maritsa highways, the second bridge on the Danube, seven water-purification stations, six household wastes depots, modernisation of the railroad between Plovdiv and Svilengrad, modernisation and installation of sulphur purification facilities, and construction of power plant in Maritsa East coalmine complex. read more
09:17 Tue 26 Feb 2008
Construction on the second bridge across the Danube river between Bulgaria and Romania, will start in April this year, the transport minister Petar Moiutafchiev said at a news conference, held on February 25, reported Focus news agency.
Completion is due in 2010.
The council on coordination, control and implementation of infrastructure projects of national significance, attended by the Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, has already started.
Spanish company FCC (Fomento de Construcciones and Contratas) has won the tender to develop the project that would link Vidin in Bulgaria to Calafat in Romania and also the road and rail infrastructure on the Bulgarian side.
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16:43 Fri 22 Feb 2008 - Desislava Leshtarska
Bulgarian authorities have issued 4637 construction permits in the last quarter of 2007, a decrease of 4.9 per cent decrease over the previous three months and two percent lower than in the same period of 2006, data from the National Statistical Institute data showed.
Residential developments continued to account for the largest share of the total, with 2884 permits granted for total area of area of 2.4 million sq m, compared to 3110 permits for 2.1 million sq m in the previous quarter. The number of permits for administrative buildings went up to 145 from 114.
read more16:27 Thu 21 Feb 2008
Bulgaria has absorbed about 23 per cent of the funds for infrastructure from EU's pre-accession ISPA programme.
According to data published on February 19 by the Ministry of Finance, the total sum for ISPA projects is 1.5 billion euro. However, the EU, international financial institutions and Bulgaria's co-financing budget, have paid only 347 million euro so far.
The Finance Ministry data, however, indicates that funds for contractual projects in 2007 have doubled. At the end of January 2007, the funds were only 34 per cent of the total volume of the programme, while the January 2008 report indicates the contracts already cover 70 per cent of ISPA scope. read more
17:34 Tue 19 Feb 2008 - Desislava Leshtarska
Construction on the second bridge across the Danube river between Bulgaria and Romania would be delayed by four months to September 2008, Bulgarian radio station Darik reported on February 19 2008.
The reason for the delay of the project that would link Vidin in Bulgaria to Calafat in Romania, known as Danube Bridge 2, was that Spanish construction firm Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) had not filed its technical project with the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, from the Ministry claim, Darik quoted the ministry as saying.
read more15:29 Mon 18 Feb 2008 - Desislava Leshtarska
Building your own house in the UK costs 20 per cent less than buying one, Reuters reported, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. If you decide to invest in the construction of a house with three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen box, this would cost about 283 637 euro. read more
16:42 Fri 25 Apr 2008 - Elena Koinova
ECE Projectmanagement Bulgaria, the Bulgarian arm of German developer ECE, will shortly launch construction on its 40-storey Europe Tower, company manager Plamen Ilchev told Mediapool.bg. read more
15:35 Fri 02 May 2008 - Elena Koinova
Bulgaria’s financial holding AKB Fores will almost quadruple its investments this year to 150 million euro, the owner of the holding Nikolai Banev said at a news conference, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. Investment outlays last year stood at 40 million euro.
The figure for 2008 does not include the investment into a hazardous chemical cargo terminal at the port of Varna, Banev said. The 100 million euro project, which AKB Fores hopes to implement with strategic partners, will be built in a year and a half. Hopes are that it will emerge into the main facility regionwide and deny the competition of its counterpart in Constanta, Romania, he added.
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14:45 Fri 04 Apr 2008 - Alex Bivol
Construction materials companies in Romania are increasingly a target for investment funds, who are attracted to the sector due to its fast rate of growth and high profit margins, Romanian business daily Ziarul Financiar reported on April 4. read more
