April 11 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria is in advanced discussions with three priority international investors from the automotive sector, with a view to potentially attracting them to a new industrial zone on the outskirts of Sofia, the innovation and growth ministry said on Tuesday.
Bulgaria is looking at a mix of investors from the Middle East, Asia and Western Europe and has placed a focus on the automotive sector due to the strong investor interest in this segment, the ministry said in a statement.
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"We are talking about projects in the range of 1.5 billion euro ($1.6 billion) to 3 billion euro that will change the face of the Bulgarian economy, which will create thousands of jobs. We are currently in the final stages of negotiations," caretaker innovation and growth minister Alexander Pulev explained.
Plans to develop the new Dobroslavtsi industrial zone on the territory of a former military airport some 15 km from central Sofia were unveiled by the caretaker government on Monday. The new specialty industrial zone, to span 2.9 sq km, will be operated by a future subsidiary of Bulgaria's National Company Industrial Zones.
The development of the zone will command an initial state budget investment of 8 million levs ($4.5 million/4.1 million euro), with 6 million levs out of it to be used to get the property ready for future investments. The plan also foresees the development of green social infrastructure including electric vehicle charging stations.
The Dobroslavtsi zone will be specifically targeted to the automobile manufacturing sector and related industries, as it is the fastest growing segment of the Bulgarian economy at present, generating about 11% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), Pulev added.
The Bulgarian government is close to kicking off a 212 million levs grant scheme under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, designed to support municipalities in developing new industrial zones across Bulgaria. There are seven operating industrial zones in Bulgaria at present, including Sofia-Bozhurishte, Burgas, Ruse and Varna, and five more under development.
($ = 0.9164 euro)