site.btaBulgarian Delegation Visits Cable Factory in Odesa, Ukraine

A Bulgarian delegation visited the Odeskabel factory in Odesa on Tuesday where it was welcomed by ethnic Bulgarian Dmytro Iorgachov, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the company. The meeting was organized by Svetoslav Ivanov, Bulgaria's Consul General in Odesa, to mark Bolhrad's 205th anniversary that the city celebrated in late August. The delegation included Rositsa Kirova, Chair of Bulgaria's parliamentary Committee on Tourism; and Zlatin Krastev, Bulgaria's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine.

Iorgachov told the delegation: "Founded in 1949, over the years the plant has become the undisputed leader in the production of communication cables in Ukraine and one of the leading cable manufacturing plants in Eastern Europe. As a specialist in the manufacture of telecommunications cables, the Odesa Cable Factory produces a wide range of copper and fibre-optic communication cables, radio-frequency cables, as well as digital and LAN cables, which have been in high demand over recent decades and whose range is the most extensive in EU Member States. In addition, PJSC Odeskabel offers its customers power cables, wires and cords for various purposes."

The factory not only meets the domestic market's demand for cable products but also exports, Iorgachov noted, emphasizing that in recent years the company's exports have accounted for around 32% of its total sales. Odeskabel's products are exported to Germany, Italy, Spain, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Economic ties between Bulgaria and Ukraine must be developed, and this meeting is an important step in developing and strengthening cooperation between the two friendly countries, the Bulgarian delegation stated.

Bulgarians in the Odesa region number more than 150,000 and were the third largest population group in Ukraine in 2001, according to the official census. About 50,000 - 60,000 Bulgarians live in the city of Odesa itself. The largest compact Bulgarian population is concentrated in the Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi districts.