180 Million Euro Invested In Trade Centre In Bulgarias Capital 11/03/2008
Sparkassen Immobilien AG and ECE Projektmanagement, investors in Serdica trade centre in Sofia, have announced that the construction of the centre has begun. Serdica centre will open in the autumn of 2009, ECE Bulgaria head Plamen Ilchev said, as quoted by investor.bg. Investment in the centre totals 180 million euro. The mall will cover 50 000 sq m. It will have nearly 200 shops and nearly 35 000 sq m administrative area. The centre will be on Sitnyakovo Boulevard in the eastern part of Oborishte municipality and will have 1800 parking places. Investors expect that the well-developed transport infrastructure in the region will attract more than one million customers. The centre will focus on fashion. It will boast several large clothing shops, boutiques and sport... more

Bulgaria Poorest In Eu 18/03/2008
Luxembourg citizens are the richest in the 27-country European Union, over seven times more than the bottom-ranked Bulgarians, data showed, underlining the wealth divide between the bloc’s new and old member states. Luxembourg’s gross domestic product per capita, expressed in purchasing power standards, was 280 units — two and a half times the 110 average of the 13-member euro zone in 2006, the EU statistics office said. In Bulgaria, GDP per capita in purchasing power standards was 37 units. The EU average was 100 units. The Luxembourg result is partly thanks to large numbers of cross-border workers who contribute to its GDP, but are not taken into consideration as part of the resident population used to calculate GDP per inhabitant of the land-locked Grand Duchy. Ten eastern... more

Invasion Of The Trade Snatchers 14/03/2008
After an avalanche of investment in shopping centres in Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv, another trend has emerged. Entrepreneurs targeted smaller regional urban centres where markets have not yet reached the maturity of the "big three". Realtors have one simple rule for malls: one large shopping centre is viable for every 100 000 residents in an urban area, including cities, nearby towns and villages. Subsequently, "Location, location, location", real estate's all-important maxim, becomes paramount. Most experts agree that projects in the three big cities have reached saturation point. If all planned shopping centres in Varna materialise, then the market will be unable to absorb all the retail space, according to Foros' real estate agency analysis.  Foros' managing director,... more