Law Changes To Introduce Technical Passports For Property In Bulgaria 14/03/2008
Changes to urban and territorial planning, accepted in Parliament on first reading, would introduce technical passports for new and already existing property. Technical passports aim to list all construction characteristics, related to EU requirements for increased construction safety, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported. New technical passports would be needed in case the building is re-constructed or modified. Licensed consultants would inspect buildings before issuing the passport. The changes to construction regulations would enable stricter control over construction activities. Until present Bulgaria lacked regulations harmonised with EU directives. European technical approval would be issued from now on by experts that received European Commission license to carry out such... more

Bulgaria Loses Appeal As A Property Hotspot Financial Times 14/03/2008
In their search of high yields and satisfactory capital raise, entrepreneurs have set their sights on quite out-of-the ordinary destinations like the districts surrounding Mongolia's copper mines or western Canada's oil reserves, as the newer investment areas such as Cape Verde, Morocco and Bulgaria have started to overheat, a recent Financial Times (FT) report says. Rightmove.co.uk property search engine shows that interest in Bulgaria has dropped by more than one third since January this year. Real estate prices in Bulgaria have risen by more than 30 per cent in 2007 and in the last three years alone, they have posted almost a 300 per cent growth, according to some analysts. However, after the initial boom, when property market witnessed a surge of investors, drawn by... more

Elana Plans Ipo 20/03/2008
Elana Financial Holding will be floating its shares in an initial public offer (IPO) in the second half of this year, Kamen Kolchev, chair of Elana Holding AD board of directors and chief executive director, said on March 19. The holding plans to offer between 15 and 25 per cent of its shares. Elana Financial Holding comprises the companies Elana Trading, Elana Fund Management, Elana Property Management and Elana Investment. The company is in charge of Elana's financial operations. Elana Holding reported consolidated net profit of 7.5 million leva in 2007 in what is a 180 per cent year-on-year increase. Revenues grew by 50 per cent on the year to 50 million leva. In addition, Elana plans to establish two real estate investment trusts (REITs) before the year expires, Kolchev said.... more