Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov said on June 18 that there would not be any building activity in Vuzrazhdane Park while he is city mayor, municipality spokesperson Tsvetanka Krusteva told the Sofia Echo. As previously reported by The Sofia Echo, competing claims over the ownership of a large land plot from Vuzrazhdane Park near Sofia centre have sparked a row on June 6. read more

Dutch-registered Redstone Holdings, a real estate manager and developer with properties in Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine, announced plans to build a new shopping centre in Blagoevgrad, southwest Bulgaria, the company said. The 36 million euro investment will have a total built area of 48 000 sq m and 20 000 sq m of commercial and retail space, the company said in a statement. The centre is scheduled to open in 2011, and it will house leading international and local brands. read more

The Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has drafted changes to Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Act, which are intended to sift idle REITs from the market, Dnevnik daily reported on June 6. The bill will seek to double the minimum paid-in capital to one million leva, as well as oblige REITs to maintain a free float of at least 10 per cent. read more

The administrative court in Sofia overruled on May 22 a decision by the National Construction Control Directorate (NCCD) that had ordered Hotel Dunes in Slanchev Bryag to be torn down. Hotel Dunes is owned by the VAI holding of former businessman and the owner of the Lokomotiv-Plovdiv football club, Georgi Iliev, who was murdered in 2005. The hotel is built over the former site of restaurant Dune, Dnevnik daily said. read more

Bulgarian authorities have issued 3505 construction permits in the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of nearly 25 per cent over the previous three months, data from the National Statistical Institute data showed on May 21. read more

Petar Pandourski was dismissed from his post as head of Defence Ministry's state property executive agency, the ministry's press service said on May 8 2008. The reason why Defence Minister Nikolai Tsonev had decided to sack Pandourski was because he did not carry out Tsonev's order to halt deals involving swapping real estate owned by the ministry, the statement read. read more

The building that currently houses the interior ministry's museum and which is state property, will be transferred to the justice ministry for use by the prosecution, Bulgarian parliament decided on April 30. read more

The high prices of land mixed with high expectations of local entrepreneurs were the main problems of Bulgaria's residential property market. Pablo Rodríguez-Losada general manager of Spanish developer Martinsa-Fadesa said on April 16 2008 as quoted by Dnevnik daily. read more

Bulgaria needed a strategy for attracting foreign investments in other sectors besides real estates in order to have sustainable development, Rosen Plevanliev general manager of Lindner Bulgaria told participants at the second regional conference Balkan Real Estate Conference (BalREc) on April 16 2008 as quoted by Dnevnik daily. read more

Bulgaria's Transport Ministry extended the deadline for bids in the tender to pick a concessionaire for the Rousse airport to May 7, weekly Stroitelstvo Gradut reported on April 14. Bids would be opened no later than May 21, according to Bulgaria's regulations on public tenders. read more

A referendum in Sozopol municipality on the construction of Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline was announced invalid on April 6 as turnout was below the necessary minimum of 50 per cent. Slightly more than 30 per cent of the 12 000 residents of the municipality voted, Bulgarian language daily Dnevnik reported. read more

People living in the centre of Sofia have been forced to leave their personal data exposed in their windscreen if they wanted to park for free in front of their homes in blue zones, or areas where parking is paid. read more

US investment bank Merrill Lynch, hired to advise the sale of Kremikovtzi steel mill in Bulgaria, has asked several extra weeks before choosing the best candidate, the press service of the Economy and Energy Ministry said on April 4. read more

Sofia city hall discussed the possibility to allocate a one ha municipal plot in Zona B-5 neighbourhood for the construction of a new building for the Sofia City Court and Sofia’s prosecutor’s office, investor.bg reported on April 2 2008. read more

Bulgaria’s Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works will assign a new procedure for developing a new master plan of Bourgas, regional minister Assen Gagaouzov announced on March 31, quoted by Dnevnik daily. He explained that the new plan for urban development will add new territories to the municipality. read more

Amendments to the law on beach concessions envisage Regional Development and Public Works Minister Assen Gagaouzov deciding which 100 coastal beaches would be given on concession or rented out. read more

Bulgaria's Directorate for National Construction Supervision (DNCS) has issued a total of 193 orders for the demolition of illegally constructed buildings, including 94 on the north coastline and 99 along the southern coast, DNCS head Ivan Simitchiev told a news conference in Bourgas on March 31, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. read more

On March 27, UK-based real estate consultancy Emerging Markets Understood Ltd (EMU) has hinted it would take Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund (LCSPF) to court over missed payments and loss of profits after the relationship between the two parties broke down over a Bulgarian project. read more

The concession contract with the Bulgarian-Portuguese consortium for the completion of Trakiya Highway will be breached if the concessionaire fails to procure the financing necessary for the project by May 18, regional minister Assen Gagaouzov told Pari daily. read more

Bulgarian biofuel manufacturers blamed the number of suspended projects and the lack of market for their product on the Government and its aversion to incentive, Dnevnik daily reports. The remarks were made at a round table, held on March 25, organised by the National Biofuels Association. read more

Legislative changes, drafted by the Bulgarian government, may enable the state to apply summary procedures for seizing private properties if they impede private infrastructure ventures, as well as public infrastructural projects, Dnevnik daily wrote. read more

Sofia city hall, Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and the National Association of Residential Developers (NARD) reached an out-of-court agreement on the lawsuit filed against the increased building permits fees by a BCCI and NARD against the city hall, Bulgaria news agency (BTA) reported. read more

Bulgarian coastal Shabla municipality has asked the energy ministry to update the regulations for the construction of wind power facilities, allowing local authorities to have the first look when it comes to new investment proposals for wind generators, Dnevnik daily reported on March 19. read more

Public-private partnerships would be awarded concession contracts without tender, according to the amendments to Bulgaria's Concession Act, passed at the first reading by Parliament, according to the draft put for public debate on the Government's website. read more

Bulgaria's Directorate for National Construction Supervision (DNCS) said it extended the period during which it would check for illegal construction on the Black Sea coast to March 24. Originally, the deadline was March 7. read more

More than one third of Sofia's budget for 2008, or 326.35 million leva, has been allocated for design works and new construction, Stroitelstvo Gradut weekly reported on March 10. The total budget is 892.9 million leva.

Sofia city hall's investment programme stipulates that the money will be split among urban development research, new construction, repair works and expropriation procedures. The initial programme provided for repairs of Georgi Rakovski Street and Vassil Levski Boulevard, but the plans had to be scrapped, saving four million leva, which have been re-distributed for the construction of new kindergartens. The total sum to be invested in new kinder gardens reached 10 million leva.

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Bulgaria's Directorate for National Construction Supervision (DNCS), which started inspecting the legality of completed and ongoing construction along the Black Sea coastline on February 25, has already issued orders for the demolition of 57 units. Twenty five of them are on the north coastline and 32 are along the southern coast, the institution announced on its website. read more

A new territorial scope of regions in Bulgaria in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics is prescribed by a Regional Development Bill, which Parliament approved on first reading on March 6, Bulgaria News Agency (BTA) reported. read more

The European Commission sent a letter on February 28 to Bulgaria's Ministry of Finance, demanding the temporary suspension of payments under PHARE pre-accession aid scheme for projects worth 80 million euro, managed by the finance and contracts unit the ministry and PHARE executive agency with the Ministry for Regional Development and Public Works. read more

Legal changes will limit the swapping of municipal for private property, it emerged after parliament adopted three bills of amendments to the Municipal Property Act on first reading. Swaps will be done only on the initiative of municipalities for the purpose of implementing infrastructural or investment projects. read more

Local taxes in Sofia for this year might turn out to be unlawful because the Sofia municipal council has failed to observe the deadline, February 29, for announcing the new rates, Dnevnik daily reported on March 4. Collection of local taxes should have started on March 4, but the new rates haven't been published anywhere. The councilors said that they “have stopped the clock” and will continue work on the taxes and the Sofia budget at the council's next session on March 6. “Stopping the clock” is practice is used in Parliament, but only to extend its sessions within the range of one day. read more

Bulgaria's 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 co-ruling Movement for Right and Freedoms (MRF). read more

The two reports by the Finance Ministry's 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 fund's operations, the Finance Ministry said on February 29.

There were no unexplained expenses concerning the projects financed under EU's pre-accession 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 fund's management and control systems.

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The Prosecutor's 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.

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.

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.

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The draft bill of Bulgaria's Condominium Act is ineffective and has been written in such a way as to serve the interests of heat, electricity and water utility companies, professor Vladimir Petrov from the Civil Association against Corruption and Illegal Construction said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

According to Petrov, the draft law in its current form aimed to deprive properties from owners who do not pay their utility fees.

If the draft law is approved by the Government, the heat, water and electricity utility companies will sign a single contract with the whole building as a legal entity and not separate contracts with each individual. If some tenants do not pay their utility fees, the amount they owed would be distributed among the rest of the residents. The draft law provides for fining neighbours who do not accept decisions taken by the condominium association, to the tune of 500 to 5000 leva.

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Sale prices of municipal apartments in Sofia will rise by two to 2.5 times, depending on their location, according to the amended ordinance on prices of municipal residential property, adopted by Sofia municipal council on February 28. Rents of municipal dwellings will rise by 30 per cent, the city hall secretary Rossen Zhelyazkov told reporters, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency (BTA). read more

The European Commission (EC) may stop a major project for building a sewerage system in Sofia, backed by ISPA (the EU's pre-accession 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 EC's 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. read more

The local branch of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in the statement that construction work was carried out in the national park and the Rila buffer zone, both of which are proposed to become part of a protected area under the Natura 2000 environmental network.

The construction was part of the planned ski zone Panichishte-Ezerata-Kaboul, which was yet to secure a construction permit, WWF Bulgaria said.

More than 70 000 people had signed an Internet petition against the illegal construction in Rila. Its authors plan to forward the signatures to the committee on petitions at the European Parliament, Bulgaria’s Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov, Parliament’s Commission on Environment and Waters, investor Rila Sport and Sapareva Banya municipality, which is responsible for the preservation of the Rila national park.

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Friends of the Earth Europe, an association of environmentalist non-government organisations, has lodged complaints against 50 large-scale investment projects in Eastern Europe, funded by the European Union.

The NGO association believes these projects to be harmful to the environment, arguing that billions of euro would be wasted if the projects are allowed to be completed.

Six of these projects are in Bulgaria and combined for a total of 5.12 billion euro, the association said.

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Some of Bulgaria's largest real estate companies specialising in property development were in talks to set up an association, Laguna Group manager Martin Yanev said on February 26, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. Investor interest in recent years has been directed at building apartment compounds, which were sold to foreigners, who then rented them out. But lately the market, still largely underdeveloped, has been flooded by companies lacking in both professionalism and experience, which had a negative impact on the market. “Once a complex is erected, it has to be properly maintained and managed by experienced specialists,” Yanev said. read more

Sofia city hall has published its plans for the management and development of the city until 2011 on its website. Its motto is "The Change Goes On" and needs the approval of the Sofia municipal council before going into effect By end-2011, when the current term of Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov expires, the collection rate of local taxes, fees and fines should reach 100 per cent, while the amount collected should show an increase of 50 per cent over the figure for 2007. Proceeds from leased municipal property and from advertising should increase fourfold. read more

The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) announced it has alerted the European Commission about infringement on the Europe-wide network of protected sites Natura 2000, the organisation said in a statement on February 25 2008.

The complaint claims that unique natural habitats in the north-eastern Kaliakra region have been destroyed in the process of building a wind farm. It has been backed by 12 other environmental and civil non-governmental organisations. The environmentalists believe that Kaliakra "is emblematic of how innovations and investment are used to mask criminal encroachment on bio-diversity". The complaint package includes documents, photos and maps showing the damage that the wind farm projects have done to nature.

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An NGO contested in Brussels 50 large EU-funding investment projects for Eastern Europe that have been approved and started. Six of these projects are in Bulgaria and are at the total cost of 5.12 billion euro, said sources from Friends of the Earth - Europe. The NGO believes these projects are harmful to the environment and billions of euro will be wasted. Some of the contested projects in Bulgaria are the construction of Lyulin motorway that will cut across Kresna Gorge, waste management facilities in Sofia, expansion of Sofia airport and construction of Belene NPP. read more

Bulgaria's Directorate for National Construction Supervision (DNCS) started inspecting the legality of completed and ongoing construction along the Black Sea coastline on February 25, the institution announced on its website. Аccording to the Spatial Planning of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coastline Act, which entered into force on January 1 2008, all entities that have erected illegal constructions on the beaches are under the obligation to voluntarily demolish them within a month of the law going into effect. If they failed to do so, DNCS would order the buildings demolished. read more

Minister of Environment and Water Affairs Djevdet Chakurov signed the draft ordinances for five protected zones in the Bulgarian part of the European environmental network Natura 2000, the ministry’s press service said.

The ordinances concern the protected areas of Lomovete in Rousse municipality, Ribarnitsi Mechka (Fisheries Bear) in Rousse region, Central Balkan, Apriltsi near the cities Lovetch and Gabrovo, and Ostrov Vardim (Vardim Island) near Svishtov and Veliko Turnovo.

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Hotels built on the beach-front, or occupying a part of it, are to be bulldozed, said the regional development deputy minister Savin Kovachev in Varna, Dnevnik daily reports.

But this can only be achieved if all relevent bodies do their work properly, he added.

First, the Regional Directorate for National Construction Supervision has to acknowledge the illegality of the constructions and issue demolition orders, Kovachev commented. read more