Two industrial zones near Sofia - for aviation and IT - will boost Northern Bulgaria
More than 100 companies invest over BGN 1,2 billion in the Bulgarian state industrial zones
Negotiations have advanced for attracting investments for another BGN 45 million with companies from economic sectors such as automotive, food industry, building and construction, pharmaceuticals, high-tech manufacturing, warehousing and logistics. The potential investors are not only Bulgarian, but also German, Spanish, Chinese and Turkish.
“Development of the industrial zones and construction of the necessary infrastructure is our priority in order to attract new high-tech investment in Bulgaria. To be effective in attracting investors, we need to build industrial zones with ready-built infrastructure”, was stated by the Minister of Economy and Industry Petar Dilov.
Such will be the strategy of the new management of the National Company Industrial Zones EAD (NCIZ). In the end of February Angel Tanev headed the company, which is under the governance of the Ministry of Economy and Industry.
"We want to make the industrial zones self-sustaining - we'd better invest in priority zones to attract investors and generate additional revenue to invest in the other industrial parks. My goal is not only to make sales and attract investors. An investor comes to an area when it offers conditions. Without infrastructure there is no investor interest", Tanev states his views on the management of the company - it owns 100% of the shares of three companies - "Free Zone Rousse", "Industrial Terrains and Warehouses"- Bozhurishte and "Economic Zone Dobroslavtsi", as well as smaller shares in "Industrial and Logistics Park - Burgas", "Industrial Zone Zagore" and "Transit Trade Zone" - Varna. Other industrial zones in Bulgaria, managed by NCIZ, are in Telish near Pleven, Vidin, Svilengrad, Kardzhali and Karlovo.
The jewel on the company's crown is Industrial Park Sofia-Bozhurishte. It has already implemented 43 investment projects for over BGN 610 million, which are in the automotive industry, high technology, warehousing and logistics, biotechnology. The companies are from Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Greece and Switzerland and provide more than 2 thousand jobs. The free plots in the Park are almost over. In order to ensure smooth production, an additional project for power supply is underway. For this purpose, NCIZ applied for funds from the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, but the project was not approved and last year the government allocated earmarked funds of BGN 23.5 million.
Under the “Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Smart Transformation” Programme a Regional Centre for Digital Solutions is going to be built in the Park. The centre will include a virtual reality lab for 3D laser visualisation of buildings, machines and new products before being brought to market - pre-investment testing. The project is worth BGN 6 million and the implementation period is 36 months.
Currently, there is an investment interest towards the Park for a new kind of manufacturing, related to the textile industry and design furniture. In September 2024, the well-known company Solent Film purchased two industrial plots, passing an auction procedure, afterwards starting the construction of a film centre on an area of over 30 thousand square meters. The investment is worth BGN 30 million, as a result of which 40 permanent and 1 000 temporary jobs will be created.
“It is a priority of NCIZ to develop two more industrial parks around Sofia. One is the "Dobroslavtsi Economic Zone". For this purpose BGN 21.3 million were allocated by the government last year, but the infrastructure has yet to be built. There is no shortage of investor interest, including for the construction of mega-productions, but companies are waiting for the zone to develop. The original idea for Dobroslavtsi was to become a cluster of the automotive industry. However, for one reason or another, things are not happening as planned - you see what is going on with the automotive industry in Europe… It is not impossible for the park to develop in this area, but rather it needs to move in a direction that is as cost effective as possible for what it offers. Dobroslavtsi is a former military airport and it had been originally planned for the aviation industry, that’s why I think there is a lot of potential to develop in this sector. I do not exclude other options – so far there are enquiries from the automotive, food, chemical industries", says Angel Tanev.
“Another Sofia park under development is the one in Krasna Polyana. The situation there is similar - a plot of 312 thousand sq. m. and infrastructure which is yet to be built. As it is located in the city, the site is not suitable for heavy manufacturing, but rather it could be developed into a high-tech cluster. NCIZ is in a stable financial position and will direct the investment interest towards priority areas with economic potential,” Tanev is clear. “In 2024, NCIZ made 6 deals for implementation of investment projects worth total BGN 48.2 million, five of which in Sofia - Bozhurishte and one in Simitl. They will create 85 jobs. Four of the deals were finished with final contracts and two of them are at the preliminary contract stage”.
Besides Bozhurishte, the industrial zones that are already well developed are the ones in Stara Zagora, Burgas and Ruse.
A total of 10 companies have chosen to implement their investment projects worth BGN 561.6 million in “Zagore” Industrial Zone - Stages 1 and 2 near Stara Zagora. Currently, there is investment interest from companies in the field of logistics and for expansion of existing production in the pharmaceutical sector. The first part of the zone soon will be full. The second part, next to the village of Elenino, is going to be expanded, the funds will come from AttractInvestBG programme within the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan. BGN 14 million will be granted, the entire project of Stage 2 amounting to BGN 17.4 million. Negotiations with investors are already underway and two preliminary contracts have already been signed. There will be located a plant of the Turkish “Smart Solar Technologies” for production of solar panels and cells worth BGN 240 million. The other of the preliminary contracts is with a company for panel recycling and production of battery components. Because of the location of coal-fired power plants in the area of Stara Zagora, the town is included in the decarbonisation schedule and clean industries will be the focus of the region in the future. Stara Zagora is among the priority towns to receive financial help under the upcoming procedure “Support for industrial and logistics parks and zones with a focus on the use of clean energy” under the “Development of Regions” Programme.
In Burgas 48 companies have already invested over BGN 100 million. Most of them are in Phase 1 of the park, which is fully developed. Phase 2 has yet to be build for which grants under the AttractInvestBG programme have already been allocated, amounting to BGN 26 million. "For one reason or another, funds related to defence and high-tech equipment are currently being allocated in Europe", Angel Tanev says. “Last year, a plant for Bulgarian defence equipment according to NATO standards became operating in Burgas, run by the International Armored Group. The investment exceeds BGN 20 million and the number of working specialists will reach 300. The same company is currently building another production facility near Simitli. The value of the deal, realized in July, was BGN 1.14 million”.
There are many plans for construction of new industrial parks in the future. Among them are two in Varna region – in Suvorovo and Aksakovo. According to a research regarding the potential of existing free terrains in some municipalities to attract investment, there are 99 plots in 84 municipal districts with characteristics to be developed into industrial parks, according to the Conception for development of the industrial parks and zones 2024 – 2028. Eleven of them are situated in Northern Bulgaria, which region is regarded as a priority one. So far though the investment interest towards this part of the country is not very strong – “In our operating industrial zone in Vidin it is mainly in warehousing. Last year the first step to renovate the base in Vidin was made by winning a project under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan for improving the energy efficiency of the administrative building”, Angel Tanev says. According to him the public-private partnership is a good work option for building new industrial zones.
As it became clear that many of the projects under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan could not be implemented due to the refused second tranche of funds for Bulgaria, the NCIZ is now looking for the information whether co-financing will be received for Vidin Industrial Park, to decide whether to launch the project.