News

UK Winlan to invest 184 mln levs in Sofia retail park

The project, which Wednesday received a First Class Investor certificate from Bulgaria's investment promotion authority, will be implement by Retail Park Sofia, 85%-owned by Inland Bulgaria Limited.

It has bought 24 ha of land between the capital's Lyulin and Filipovtsi boroughs for 25 mln euro.

The location for the retail park, due to open in 2010, was chosen for its proximity to the Lyulin motorway, the Sofia ring road and the general scarcity of such projects in this part of the capital in contrast to its eastern boroughs, said Asen Agov, who owns 5% in Retail Park Sofia.

The 77,000 sq m retail park will accommodate several supermarkets as well as furniture, electronics, automobile and apparel hypermarkets. There will be 3,000 parking spaces and a gas station.

Cushman&Wakefield will market the lettable space inventory. Rent rates will be significantly lower than those charges by other Sofia malls.

The developer will provide 25% of the necessary financing and will borrow the remainder after the property reaches a certain occupancy level.(Dnevnik)

 Legislative tweaks to resolve Hild controversy 
The Bulgarian parliament is scheduled to review Thursday urgent amendments to the insurance code needed to bring the operation of Hild Bulgaria, the local provider of property-backed life annuity programs for pensioners, within the regulatory purview of the nation's insurance supervisor.

The MPs will legislate that the transfer of title shall be treated as insurance premium in cases when real property rights are transacted in exchange for the payment of life-long or otherwise pension or annuity.

Another legislative change will require that the value of the transacted property is appraised by an official pursuant to the Judiciary Act.

The enactment of the legislative changes will put to rest the raging controversy over whether or not Hild is conducting an insurance business and whether or not it can be regulated by the local financial watchdog.

The amendments are sponsored by the Financial Supervision Commission which has argued that Hild is engaging in what is basically the marketing of life insurance products.

Hild has since responded that there are substantial differences between a Hild contract and an insurance policy.

FSC chairman Ralitsa Again said that the passage of the legislative proposals will force Hild to make some changes to its business model. The company will have to register as an insurer and certify a capital of 6.4 mln levs required for this purpose.

Hild said that if faced with new legislative requirements it will duly comply and align its operations to national law.

Hild clients exchange ownership of property for one-off payment and subsequent monthly annuity for the rest of their life.(Dnevnik)

 
Karoll to set up fund for IPO investments 
Local asset manager Karoll Capital Management has won regulatory approval for the launch of Advance IPO Fund, a vehicle that will target IPOs performed by companies in Central and Eastern Europe.

The fund will initially focus on Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Turkey, Greece, Kazakhstan. Macedonia and Montenegro as well as other ex Soviet republics could come into focus at a later stage.

There will e no restrictions as to the industry to which the company going public hails from.

The fund shares will be offered to the investors from the second half of November.

Advance IPO Fund is the third mutual fund managed by Karoll.

Karoll Capital Management has a portfolio of 105 mln levs in mutual fund assets.

The domestic mutual fund market was worth 972 mln levs n terms of assets by end-October 2007