October 5 (SeeNews) - Cinema City International (CCI), part of Israeli cinema operator ITIT, plans to open six multiplexes in projects developed by Poland’s Global Trade Centers (GTC) in Bulgaria and Romania within three years, a CCI official said on Friday.
CCI will open three multiplexes in Bulgaria, to be located in GTC developments in the central city of Stara Zagora and in the Black Sea coastal cities of Varna and Burgas, CCI investor relations director Joanna Kotlowska told SeeNews.
The Israeli company will also open multiplexes in the Romanian city of Arad in the western part of the country, in Galati in the southwest and the town of Bistritza in the northwest, Kotlowska said. She declined to disclose the value of the investment.
“Bulgaria and Romania are main territorial expansion targets for Cinema City, and these new projects will definitely contribute to this expansion," Cinema City CEO Moshe Greidinger said in a statement regarding the contract between GTC and CCI.
Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the European Union in January, enjoy increased interest from foreign investors expanding to the countries aiming to capitalise on the rising purchasing power of their population.
CCI develops its chain of cinemas under the Cinema City and IMAX brands in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria. The company’s net profit in the first half of 2007 rose 21.8% on the year to 9.5 million euro ($13.4 million).
($ = 0.7077 euro)