Veliko Tarnovo Properties for sale

lt;P gt;Turkish hotel chain Dedeman Hotels amp;amp;Resorts International will take over the management of two Bulgarian hotels, owned by Turkish businessman Sudi Ozkan, Dnevnik daily reported on February 29. The hotel operator has already placed job ads to fill available vacancies in Bulgarian papers. lt;P gt; lt;P gt;Dedeman will take over the Ozkan hotels the 200room Trimontsium Princess in Plovdiv and the 600room Sofia Princess in the Bulgarian capital, in early March. The Turkish operator intends to invest in upgrading the two hotels which are currently rated at four stars. lt;P gt;

lt;P gt;The Prosecutors Office in the town of Smolyan have launched an investigation into Russian investors pouring money in construction of hotels in Pamporovo, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on February 29. lt;P gt; lt;P gt;The prosecutors seek to make sure that no illegal money was used for the construction of hotels in Pamporovo mountain resort. Similar inquests have been carried out since 2006. lt;P gt; lt;P gt;Special teams are tracing out how deals for land were signed, contractual clauses and taxes paid. The magistrates did not specify the number of projects in Pamporovo and Smolyan region that were funded with Russian capital, BTA reported. lt;P gt;

lt;P gt;The two reports by the Finance Ministrys inspectorate on possible misuse of funds at the National Road Infrastructure Fund NRIF, as well as the final report of the European Union Funds Audit Directorate, showed there were no infringements in the funds operations, the Finance Ministry said on February 29. lt;P gt; lt;P gt;There were no unexplained expenses concerning the projects financed under EUs preaccession infrastructure aid programme ISPA or using cohesion funds, according to the reports. At the same time, there were also no serious violations in the functioning of the funds management and control systems. lt;P gt;

lt;P gt;The largest British clothing retailer Marks amp;amp;Spencer Group Plc set up a joint venture with the Greek Marinopoulos Group to expand its business in Eastern Europe, Bloomberg reported on February 29. lt;P gt; lt;P gt;The British company acquired 50 per cent of Marks amp;amp;Spencer Marinopoulos BV, which manages 38 outlets under franchise in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Switzerland, for amp;nbsp; 50 million euro. Marks amp;amp;Spencer plans to open 50 new outlets on the Balkans in the coming years, Bloomberg said. lt;P gt; lt;P gt;The acquisition is a part of Marks amp;amp;Spencers expansion and investment strategy, which includes boosting the share of international revenues to between 15 and 20 per cent over the next five years. lt;P gt;

Bulgarias Parliament approved on February 29 at the first reading the three bills of amendment to the Public Property Act, put forth by Eleonora Nikolova from opposition Union of Democratic Forces, independent member of Parliament MP Maria Kapon and Remzi Osman from the coruling Movement for Right and Freedoms MRF.

Polands real estate developer Globe Trade Center GTC, which has mall projects in the Bulgarian cities of Stara Zagora, Varna and Bourgas, as well as several plots in Sofia, has announced plans to invest about 1.5 billion euro in new projects across CEE Central and East Europe during 2008 and 2009, investor.bg reported. The companys activity will be directed primarily towards acquiring land and developing new

More than half of Bulgarians seeking to buy property will use mortgage loans to finance the purchase, a survey commissioned by Raiffeisenbank and carried out by GfK Bulgaria showed, as quoted by Bulgaria news agency BTA.The survey, carried out between January 7 and 15, covered individuals aged between 26 and 55 in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Rousse, Pleven and Stara Zagora.Mortgage loans are thus the most popular means of financing, with only 17 per cent planning to pay with their own money, and eight per cent would sign hirepurchase agreements.About 5.4 per cent of respondents said that they have used a loan in the last five years and 10.2 per cent said they planned to use one in the next two years.

The European Commission EC may stop a major project for building a sewerage system in Sofia, backed by ISPA the EUs preaccession structural aid programme unless the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation SCEWR states its position on the proposed plan and charges of Sofiiska Voda by May 1. Carsten Rasmussen, from the ECs Regional Policy Directorate General, revealed the possible move at a news conference on February 27, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.The money under ISPA, totalling 58 million euro, was provided by the European Commission when there was a concession contract between Sofia Municipality and Sofiiska Voda. The shareholder in Sofiiska Voda, United Utilities, has invested little money due to low water prices and sewerage services and because the SCEWR has not approved the investment plan. In order to make investments, the price should increase to 1.20 leva from the current 0.85 leva, Rasmussen said.

John Cutts, the founder and chief executive of commercial property developer Parkridge, is continuing his expansion into East Europe, the Financial Times reports.Although the entrepreneurs initial plans envisaged expansion to Poland, due to its key location, he also saw good opportunities for investment in retail compounds in Bulgaria and Ukraine. Seven retail centres have been erected in Warsaw since Parkridges accession to the Polish market, which means that it might be oversupplied soon, the developer said. He added that the Czech Republic used to offer good potential, but it faced a similar problem of reaching its capacity for absorbing commercial establishments.

Bulgarian Trace Group, Patishta Holding and Glavbolgarstroy could be hired as subcontractors by the BulgarianPortuguese consortium picked to complete and operate the Trakia motorway under a concession arrangement, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Asen Gagauzov said on February 27, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.On December 16, 2004, the Government awarded the concession to Magistrali Trakia Jsc, a PortugueseBulgarian consortium, which has to build a 190km stretch and repair 162 km of the Trakia Highway, receiving in return the right to collect the road toll for 35 years. The total length of road, which runs from Kalotina on Bulgarias border with Serbia to Bourgas on the Black Sea via Sofia, Plovdiv, Orizovo, Chirpan, Stara Zagora, Nova Zagora, Yambol, Karnobat and Aytos, is 433km. Only 293.5 km are operational now.