December 20 (SeeNews) - Sofia-based eMobility International said on Tuesday plans to invest 3 million euro ($3.1 million) into the construction of about 500 charging points for electric cars in Bulgaria and neighbouring countries by the end of 2017.
"The company is in the process of negotiations in Romania, Macedonia and Greece," Boyan Bakardjiev, PR and communications manager of eMobility International, told SeeNews by phone.
The company, which has 17 charging stations in Bulgaria, plans to gradually expand its network in the neighbouring countries. The planned investment in the SEE region compares to 496,000 euro already invested by the company in Bulgaria.
EMobility International, which operates through its platform Eldrive, has entered into partnership with Finland's Fortum Charge & Drive, a company in operation of electricity charging infrastructure in the Nordic markets.
The Finnish company will provide eMobility International with a management system for the Eldrive platform.
"The management system is in a testing phase. It will be available to users in January 2017," Bakardjiev added.
Currently, charging within the network is free. Payment for the charging service will be made with a RFID card or through a mobile application.
($ = 0.9653 euro)