FEATURE ARTICLE: SUPER BOROVETS UPDATE

The 500 million Euro ‘Super Borovets’ project is well and truly underway. The scheme, the largest of its type in Bulgaria, will greatly enhance the current winter sports resort of Borovets with the addition of new gondolas, chairlifts and infrastructure, whilst the total length of ski pistes will double to around 85km.

3 elements of the new lift system will connect the local town of Samokov and the picturesque village of Beli Iskar to Borovets. In particular, one of the 4 man chairlifts connecting Beli Iskar will be 100 metres from Chalet Rila.

This photograph was taken recently and shows the preparation for the base station of the gondola. The map shows the route the lift will take; from the proposed hotel zone in Lower Borovets to the Banderata area at an altitude of 1650 metres.

A new 4 man chairlift is being constructed on Markudjik 2, which will, all being well, be ready for next season and it will be a significant improvement to the current lift system. Additionally, about 40 minutes away from Borovets, at Panischite /Saparevo Banya, another new chairlift is being built and it will connect to the Seven Rila Lakes. This lift is expected to be completed by the end of August (2008), it will make a wonderful addition to the skiing available and also many summer activities.

Finally, further improvements you can expect for next season include the installation of snow cannons on the Yastrebets piste.

Site of the new 4 man chair at Markudjik 2.	The Panischite/Saparevo Banya chairlift will carry passengers to the Seven Lakes area.

GREEK COMPANY TO INVEST NEARLY 100 MILLION EURO IN TOURISM COMPLEX NEAR SAMOKOV

Icon Ltd, a daughter company of the Greek GEK Group, plans to invest in the construction of a tourism centre near the Bulgarian mountain resort of Samokov. The project involves the construction of a spa hotel, mini golf course, trade centre and shopping outlets, sports fields, petrol station, swimming pool, tennis courts, apartments, houses and carting track, investor.bg reported.

In three years the company will invest 72M Euro. The total investment in the complete project could reach 108M Euro. The complex will cover an area of 166 000 sq m in the region Pashenitsa, which Icon Ltd bought from Samokov municipality in July 2007 for 37.5M Leva.

Samokov municipality representatives said that this was the largest deal in its history. The price for the terrain exceeded the initial price reaching 225 Leva a sq m during the tender.

The terrain of Pashenitsa is part of the tourism route Samokov-Borovets-Beli Iskar.

Source: Sofiaecho.com

HUGE CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN BULGARIA'S ROAD NETWORK

Investment into Bulgarian infrastructure is at an all time high, with capital coming from internal Bulgarian government funding and from European Union sponsorship.

Bulgaria’s Regional Development and Public Works Minister, Mr Assen Gagauzov recently announced a 258 million Leva (£92,085,949) award to fund improvements to Bulgaria’s road infrastructure. He said that over the last two years, 147km of brand new highways were built whilst nearly 2150km of roads were repaired.

The main roads, such as the road from the capital Sofia to Bansko, Plovdiv and Samokov are excellent, dual-carriage ways with smooth tarmac, English signposts and Armco central reservation barriers. Indeed, the Plovdiv dual-carriageway has signs every few kilometres that announce that the road build was funded by a multi-million Euro investment from the European Union.

AER LINGUS UNVEILS NEW SOFIA ROUTE

Aer Lingus, the national carrier of Ireland, is to start operating its services on a new route to Sofia, Bulgaria this autumn. This is a great opportunity for the passengers of Aer Lingus to travel to the famous city of Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria.

The carrier will start operating its services to the eastern European city
on the 28th of October, with the airline servicing the route with two
flights per week, so passengers can easily choose from a wide schedule.

The news appears on the day that the Dublin based carrier announced that
its other Bulgarian route, which provides a link between the Irish capital
cities to the Black Sea coastal resort of Bourgas. This route is operating
for a limited period only, with the last flight set to depart on the 4th
of October.

Aer Lingus' new Sofia link is part of its newly announced schedule for the
winter season from Dublin, which also features the re-launch of services
to Salzburg, Agadir and Newcastle. While commenting on the new schedule, a spokesperson for the carrier, Enda Corneille, said, "We are delighted to announce our second destination to Bulgaria, as well as the extension and re-introduction of a number of our services for the winter".

Corneille further said, "Today's announcement demonstrates our response to the continued consumer demand across our route network and is further
testament to our proposition of low fares and great service".