Broken Eastern Promises 21/03/2008
The Alternative Investment Market (Aim) eastern European real-estate sector is so complicated, it could be deemed a specialist subject on Mastermind. Analysts claim there are too many companies to mention, often with confusingly similar names, and many more that vanished without a trace after failing to raise capital. "For every one that made it to the market, there's at least four that were stillborn," says Blue Oar Securities real-estate analyst Ian Wild. "Far too many were done far too quickly." Blue Oar research shows that since 2005, Ј9bn in new equity has been raised on Aim for real estate - mostly for for overseas property funds (OPFs). Of the total Ј12.25bn current market capitalisation, those focused on eastern Europe account for 17 per cent - the highest proportion. In... more

Fairplay Commercial To Invest In New Logistics Park Projects 11/07/2008
FairPlay Commercial, an office property developer that is part of FairPlay International, said it plans to build distribution warehouses and a 120 000 sq m logistics park. The location of the new property developments was not named. The warehouses would most likely be in smaller cities with shortage of purpose-built logistics properties, FairPlay Commercial board director Mario Zahariev said. The company developed Logistics Park Varna, where tenant demand has surpassed all expectations with full occupancy in its first two buildings. Although construction will not get underway before the fall, the sixth building has already reached 5o per cent occupancy, Zahariev said. There is a long waiting list of prospective tenants, according to Atanas Garov from Colliers Bulgaria, which has the... more

New Airlines To Perform Flights From Varna And Bourgas Airports 20/03/2008
More than 115 charter and 20 regular routes will be available this summer from Varna airport, on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, said Andreas Helfer, executive director of Fraport Twin Star Management, the outfit operating the Varna and Bourgas airports under a concession arrangement. A total of 48 airlines have so far notified their intentions to fly in and out of Varna airport. New additions include Swiss International Airlines and Edelweiss Air (with flights to Zurich), Lithuanian Airlines (flying to Vilnius) and Air Italy Polska with flights to Katowice and Warsaw while Lvov Avia will be flying to Lvov in the Ukraine. A host of low-cost carriers will be performing regular flights to and from Varna this summer. In early April, Norwegian Air Shuttle will open a service to Oslo on... more