Europes Largest Property Fund Declares Interest In Bulgaria 10/03/2008
Dutch TKP Pensioen Real Estate Fonds (TREF), which claims to be the biggest property fund in Europe with investments of more than one billion euro, has declared its interest to invest in Bulgaria, investor.bg quoted the head of real estate investment at TKP Investments, Robert-Jan Tel, as saying. TREF has started researching investment opportunities offered by Bulgarian funds, but also in other South East European countries. The fund already has put money in real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic, such as the US based AEW and a fund specialised in office properties, managed by Orco Properties. But now TREF was looking to the East, Tel said, highlighting Ukraine and Russia as areas of interest. TREF plans to focus on funds specialised in... more

Bulgaria With The Cheapest Electricity In Europe 15/04/2008
The most expensive electricity in the European Union is paid by the Denmark's households - 24,5 EUR for 100 kWh. The cheapest is in Bulgaria - only 6,80 EUR, was announced by Eurostat. After Denmark the most expensive electricity is in Italy - 23,4 EUR, in the Netherlands - 21,80 EUR and in Germany - 19,4 EUR per 100 kWh. Electricity price under 10 EUR is also in the three Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. more

Bulgaria & Romania To Pay 25 Mln Eur Each For Reconstruction Of Danube Bridge 02/09/2008
Bulgaria and Romania will have to provide 25 mln EUR each for a thorough reconstruction of the Danube bridge between the towns of Rousse and Giurgiu. This is the agreement reached by the Bulgarian minister of transport Peter Mutafchiev and his Romanian colleague Ludovic Orban during their meeting in Rousse, announced BNR.Experts from the two countries will prepare proposals about the terms and the actions, which will approved on the next ministerial meeting in the Romanian town of Calafat in September.Such reconstruction of the bridge has not been made since its establishment in 1954.The two ministers agreed the experts to make proposal on reduction of the taxes for crossing the Danube bridge with the criteria being valid for other bridges which are to be built over the river. more

Buying Property Abroad Hidden Costs 17/03/2008
In many overseas locations you can still bag yourselves a bargain – you can buy an apartment in Bulgaria from GBP 30,000, you can buy a villa in Brazil from GBP 100,000 and everything in America is about half price these days what with the weak dollar and all!  So naturally this, combined with the British thirst for property ownership and our desire to have a place in the sun, means that more and more of us each year are planning on buying property abroad. However...there are hidden costs when buying real estate abroad that few take the time to tell you about properly.  For example, did you know that you can pay over 19% in stamp duty alone in France depending on the property you buy and your own personal circumstances – with fees like these coming in on top of the asking price, your... more

Engel Fund Sells Sofia Development For 7.5m Euro 14/03/2008
Investment fund Engel East Europe NV is close to finalising the sale of Panorama residential complex in Sofia's Vitosha borough, investor.bg web site reported on March 12, quoting company sources. The buyer, which is expected to sign the deal soon, has remained unnamed. Engel representatives told investor.bg negotiations for the transaction has started in 2007 and a preliminary contract has been signed in November. The value of the deal is 7.5 million euro. So far Engel has received 75 000 euro. The deal provides for Engel to get 8 per cent from the complex' rental revenues. Engel's projects in Bulgaria are evaluated at 66 million euro. The fund manages a total of 694 residential units in several projects, 264 of them set for completion by the end of 2008. The... more