site.btaUPDATED National Company Industrial Zones Works on Investment Projects Worth BGN 80 Mln

National Company Industrial Zones (NCIZ) is working on investment projects worth more than BGN 80 million, Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Nevena Lazarova said in an interview for BTA. The projects at various stages have seen interest from German, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish companies. The state-owned company reports a profit of BGN 646,000 for 2024, which is expected to be exceeded in 2025.

In the first half of June, Lazarova and the management of NCIZ presented their project for the creation of a Regional Centre for Digital Solutions and Innovations, which will be built in the Sofia-Bozhurishte Industrial Park. The investment in the digital infrastructure amounts to BGN 6 million.

The goal is to intensify the construction and development of industrial zones focused on strategic areas such as information technology, aviation, pharmaceuticals and high-tech industries, the Deputy Minister said. NCIZ's strategic objectives include the development of the industrial parks and zones of its portfolio located in Northern Bulgaria. Efforts are made to implement a project for energy renovation of buildings in Vidin Industrial Park, with an investment of over BGN 2.8 million.

Since the beginning of the year, two new Bulgarian companies have been attracted with projects with a total investment value of BGN 3.8 million in the logistics and warehousing sectors. At the stage of preliminary contracts are the projects of two other companies that have submitted applications for investment intentions. The investments are worth over BGN 8 million. One project is for the production of laser machines and the other is dedicated to the construction of a base for a leading boutique furniture company.

Work on the applications submitted by four companies from Turkiye, Germany and Italy is at an advanced stage. The companies' projects are in the areas of production and storage facilities for food supplements, an archive storage and data media destruction centre, production of high-tech products, and a production and storage facility for coffee. Their total value is about BGN 26 million.

The development of Bozhurishte Industrial Park

On the territory of the Industrial Park Bozhurishte is planned the construction of a new substation and a feeder infrastructure to it, which will offer a permanent solution to the problem of providing additional power supply capacity. For this purpose, earmarked funding for design has been secured and meetings have been held with the Electricity System Operator.

The Deputy Minister said that the NCIZ is in the process of constructing the recently unveiled Regional Centre for Digital Solutions and Innovation in the Bozhurishte Industrial Zone.

New zones in less industrialized regions

Lazarova said that there is a lot of potential for creating industrial zones in less industrialized regions that have a strategic location and good infrastructure. NCIZ's portfolio includes such projects in the Vidin Industrial Park, Northwestern Bulgaria; in the Karlovo Industrial Park, Central Bulgaria; in the Pleven-Telish Industrial Park, North Central Bulgaria; in the Kardzhali Industrial Zone, Southern Bulgaria.

High and green technologies

The development of the Dobroslavtsi Economic Zone remains one of NCIZ's top priorities, Lazarova said. She pointed out that the automotive sector remains important and promising in the context of the transition to digitization and green technologies, despite the challenges this industry faces in Europe. Dobroslavci is a former military airport, which gives it the potential to develop in the aviation industry. There are enquiries about this area from the automotive, food, chemical and military industries.

Three new zones are under development in Kardzhali, Karlovo and Suvorovo. The goal is to have these parks become manufacturing hubs focused on sectors that attract investment from strategic high value-added parties.