SOFIA (Bulgaria), November 15 (SeeNews) – Balkan Star Automotive, Daimler AG's general distributor in Bulgaria, will receive a 45.5 million euro ($66.6 million) loan to finance the expansion of its distribution and service network, the lead manager of the loan said on Thursday.
Balkan Star, which sells Mercedes Benz, Setra, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, and its affiliate Vienna Real Estate, have a signed a syndicated loan agreement with the lead manager Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria, the bank said.
The facility has been arranged with the participation of Piraeus Bank Bulgaria.
The 10-year loan will be used to finance the projects for expansion of Balkan Star’s distribution and service network across the country, the company’s corporate communications officer Vanya Zaharieva told SeeNews.
The first project to be financed from the loan is a sales and repair centre in the Black Sea city of Varna, which is under construction and will cost 6.0 mln euro, Zaharieva added. She declined to disclose information about other projects.
Balkan Star has auto sales and repair centres in the capital Sofia and the country’s second biggest city of Plovdiv. It also is selling vehicles in the cities of Ruse and Burgas through partnerships.
Car dealers in the country of 7.7 million people sold 40,211 new cars in the 10 months through October, 24.3% more than in the same period of 2006.
($ = 0.6833 euro)