site.btaSeptember 4, 1969: Balkan Auto-making Plant Commissioned in North Central Bulgaria

On September 4, 1969, the Balkan Auto-making Plant was officially commissioned in Lovech (North Central Bulgaria), marking an important milestone in the country’s industrial development.

The factory initially focused on assembling passenger cars under cooperation agreements with foreign manufacturers. Between 1967 and 1971, it produced 758 Fiat cars (models 850 and 124) under the Pirin-Fiat brand. More significantly, from 1966 until 1990, the plant assembled Soviet-designed Moskvich cars, with a total output of approximately 304,300 vehicles. At its peak, annual production capacity reached around 15,000 units.

After the political and economic changes of the early 1990s, the delivery of assembly kits from the USSR came to an end and automobile production ceased in 1991. The enterprise was later privatized and transformed into Balkan AD, shifting its focus to manufacturing forklifts, bicycles, drive axles, and spare parts.

In recent years, the site has been redeveloped into the Balkan Industrial Park. While the facility no longer produces cars, it hosts new industrial activities, including a large solar power installation. In 2022, construction work symbolically began on a planned factory for electric vehicles, but the project has since stalled.