News

Global brand-name apparel, footwear and cosmetics retailers and restaurant chains have opted for flagship stores at the two Western-style shopping malls due to open shortly in Sofia.

Eco skyscrapers from a last generation might rise in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, Black Sea cities Burgas and Varna and the country's second city Plovdiv over the next few years.

Because no other European country offers better value for your money.

The Bulgarian cabinet approved on April 27 a draft agreement on the construction of a high-speed railway network in South East Europe. The document regulates co-operation among the countries in the region in railway transport and envisages the building of a prime-quality high-speed network of 16 railway lines for cargo and passenger transport. Five of them will run across Bulgaria, passing through Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Varna, Bourgas, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Vidin and Rousse.

The City Center Sofia shopping mall will be opened officially on May 12

Colliers Southeast Europe was selected as the Consultant of the Year 2005 by a jury of leading market professionals at a gala reception in Bucharest on Thursday, April 13. Our direct competitors in the run-off, other than strong local companies throughout the region, was King Sturge, CBRE and DTZ.

Roderic Dunnett puts on his hiking boots for a tramp through the hills of north-west Bulgaria

To anyone within striking distance of Strangford Lough or the hills of Down or Derry, hill-walking seems the most natural thing in the world.

For me, the best kind of holiday involves walks with wonderful views, so I was delighted to discover the almost unknown hills of north-west Bulgaria.

It’s pure luxury, after a 10 km drive from Sofia you are in winter wonderland, a.k.a. Vitosha Mountain.
On one cold Sunday afternoon I decided to make my way up, and see for myself. Slowly but surely the car made its way through Dragalevtsi, up the mountain. The road going up was covered in a mixture of snow and sand. Now and again I had to bite my lip, when the car decided to slip a little now and again in the curves. Just when I thought that the only convenient and probably secure way to make it up the mountain is in a Jeep-like vehicle, I saw an old Moskvich happily passing us by. Maybe I was wrong. The higher we went, the rougher the weather got. It was extremely windy, which caused snow hazes to whirl around. On the way I saw a stray snowboarder coming out of the bushes. Maybe he got lost somehow. There were few hotels scattered around, but they didn’t seem very impressive to me. I was heading for Aleko, almost the top of the Vitosha Mountain. When I finally arrived, the place looked somewhat deserted. There were only a couple of snowboarders standing around, looking a bit confused. A couple of ski-instructors telling these people that the weather conditions were not good and that it was dangerous to continue boarding. They were very disappointed. But honestly the wind made it impossible to see anything. One of the instructors, who didn’t want to be mentioned by name, said: “The mountain is beautiful. I spent more time during my childhood on Vitosha then with my family at home. But to tell you the truth, I am very disappointed. The facilities are really not up to standard. Some of the lifts are not working. And there is no real good quality accommodation available. Just opposite the lift is a huge hotel that’s deserted.

Bulgaria's Finance Minister Milen Velchev and the chief of EC Delegation to Sofia Dimitris Kurkulas signed Friday the financial memorandum on the construction of a new bridge over Danube river.

A new ski center with 14 alpine tracks to be used by nearly 4,600 skiers will emerge in the north-western part of Rila Mountain, to connect the areas of Panichishte, the Lakes and Kabul Peak.