November 7 (SeeNews) - Maltese-owned Cleves, which rents apartments to expatriates, plans to complete a 40 million euro ($58.7 million) investment in Sofia apartments within six months and is considering entering neighbouring Romania, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
“We have bought 137 apartments so far and the total portfolio will end up at 200,” Cleves partner Vesey Crichton told a news conference.
Crichton said the company targets a group of some 15,000 senior expatriates, senior managers and diplomats living in the capital Sofia and has no plans to expand to other Bulgarian cities as international businesses are headquartered mainly in Sofia.
Cleves, which is owned by Maltese-registered Cleves Sofia Holdings, is considering entering Romania and will decide whether to do so within a year, Crichton said.
The company finds the two Black Sea neighbours attractive because of their membership in the European Union since January and also because of their strong economic growth and large expatriate population, Crichton added.
According to data from Bulgaria's National Statistic Institute, 514,000 people had left the ex-communist country in search of jobs and better living conditions between 1992 and 2001 but the unofficial figure is much higher. Some of them are returning now to Bulgaria lured by prospects for a higher standard of living now the country has become a member of the EU.
($ = 0.6812 euro)