August 17 (SeeNews) - ABB Bulgaria, a member of Swiss-Swedish electrical engineering and automation group ABB, plans to complete an upgrade of its production plant in Sevlievo by the end of 2017, its managing director, Ekkehard Neureither, told SeeNews.
"The new building will be a real landmark, including the overall modernization, the environment, the innovative technologies, quality, and positioning as one of the best employers in the region," Neureither said in an e-mailed interview with SeeNews.
ABB Bulgaria's plant in Sevlievo manufactures high-voltage gear used by large industrial energy consumers.
"We have been growing fast over the last years, and we have to stabilize the implemented processes," Neureither added. "We have gained very positive experience with our investments, and we are evaluating and considering Bulgaria as highly competitive and interesting as production footprint."
The company expects its business to grow by 15% - 20% in 2017 on the back of increasing domestic demand, particularly for smart solutions to increase energy efficiency, productivity and power reliability, and also in the area of enhanced comfort in living and working space segment.
ABB Bulgaria also plans to boost the output of its factories, most of which is exported to global markets.
The company sees strong interest in fast-charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) on the Bulgarian market, Neureither said.
In July, ABB Bulgaria announced the opening of its first fast-charging station for electric vehicles in the city of Plovdiv, a major industrial and logistics centre in the southern part of the country. The installation aims to facilitate the traffic of electric vehicles between Plovdiv and the capital Sofia, while reducing charging time.
"With a better coverage over the country the population of electric cars will grow strongly over the next years and we will reduce emissions and pollution in the cities," Neureither said.
ABB has installed more than 5,000 charging stations worldwide.
"Another area, where we notice strong interest, are the robots for industrial usage in fields of painting, packaging, welding and general handling in automated processes," the managing director said.
ABB Bulgaria operates four production plants in the country: two in Plovdiv, one in Sevlievo and Petrich each, as well as a turbocharger service station in Varna. The company employs more than 2,600 people in the country.