Veliko Tarnovo Municipality will invest nearly 2 million bulgarian leva in the transformation of the Western Industrial Area of Veliko Tarnovo. The city and its industrial area business environment will be renovated with funds from Operational Programme “Regions in Growth” 2014-2020. The project, elaborated by the team of the city Mayor Daniel Panov, is part of the Integrated Plan for Urban Renovation and Development and of the approved Investment Program of OP “Regions in Growth” 2014-2020, and will be implemented in the next 30 months.
Through the implementation of the project“Improving the Business Environment in the Western Industrial Area”, the existing technical infrastructure related to the business will be improved and renovated. Sections of the municipal road network that provide access to the industrial area will be built and rehabilitated. 200 road signs and nameplates will be placed. The overall renovation, cleaning and restoration of the urban territory aims to permanently improve the business environment and transform the Western Industrial Area into even more attractive region for realization of new investment plans.
The Western Industrial Area of Veliko Tarnovo is among the fastest growing areas in North and Central Bulgaria. It is located near main road I-4: Sofia-Veliko Tarnovo-Varna. The total number of production complexes and businesses that operate there is over 30. In this industrial area of Veliko Tarnovo work more than 5,000 people.
Veliko Tarnovo Municipality offers to investors three vacant plots in the Western Industrial Area, which are regulated and equipped with the necessary communications. All the procedures needed for the preparation of this plots for privatization are held.
The Investment Interest in Veliko Tarnovo Has Increased
The interest of investors in Veliko Tarnovo and the region is growing. The Old Capital city and the municipality become more attractive because of the infrastructure and the urban environment improvements, as well as the business support by the local authorities and the major national projects in the area of infrastructure.
13 kilometers away from Veliko Tarnovo will pass Hemus Highway, which is part of the fifth Pan-European Corridor. Within seven kilometers from the Old Capital will be built the high-speed road: Ruse – Veliko Tarnovo – Svilengrad, part of the ninth Pan-European Corridor: Helsinki-Istanbul.
Both highways will pass next to Veliko Tarnovo, turning the municipality into a central logistics center of Bulgaria. The international airport of Gorna Oryahovitsa, which already has a concessionaire and will soon recover its flights,is located15 kilometers away. The second largest railway station in Bulgaria, situated in Gorna Oryahovitsa,is located at the same distance.
Currently, in Veliko Tarnovo intersect the first class roads Sofia-Varna and Ruse-Stara Zagora / Gabrovo. Veliko Tarnovo Municipality has available space and plots near this busy thoroughfares.
The Municipality Encourages Investors and Environmental Industries
Veliko Tarnovo Municipality encourages investors with a package of measures, including a number of reliefs. Faster and more individual administrative services, as well as property preferences, can benefit entrepreneurs who invest more than two million levs, regardless of the economic sector. These investors may acquire ownership of private municipal property or rent it without tender or auction after an assessment and with the decision of the City Council.
The Ordinance for Investment Promotion of Local Importance focuses on the development of environmental industries, protecting the natural wealth of Veliko Tarnovo and the region, services with high added value, the innovations and technological development.
Over 50 million bulgarian leva were invested in the period 2012-2015 from the private sector. At the beginning of 2016 started the realization of an investment plan for about 300 million bulgarian leva, providing the construction of a plant for production of wood panels of the latest generation and with modern purification systems in Austrian model.
Veliko Tarnovo – Tourist, University and IT Center of Bulgaria
Veliko Tarnovo is a year-round destination and a cultural tourism center of Bulgaria and Southeastern Europe. The unique cultural and historical heritage of four eras and the festival character of the city determine 47% of the municipal economy to be connected with tourism. Tsarevets and Trapezitsa Medieval Fortresses, 1500 cultural monuments, Holy Forty Martyrs Medieval Churches, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Dimitar, Arbanasi Architectural Reserve and Nicopolis ad Istrum Roman Town are just some of the sights. Veliko Tarnovo hosts renowned international festivals such as Stage of the Ages, International Folklore Festival and Stara Planina Fest Balkan Folk. All this leads to enormous interest in the Old Bulgarian Capital – nearly 1 million tourists annually.
The information and high technologies sector is among the fastest growing in Veliko Tarnovo. Only for a few years, the Old Capital and the municipality have become a desirable place for outsourcing companies and entrepreneurs operating in the IT sector. About 80 companies are working in this field.
The main advantage of Veliko Tarnovo is the university profile of the city and the high educational level of the population, especially of young people. For these indicators the Old Capital is among the leaders in Bulgaria. In the city is located the largest university in Bulgaria, outside the capital – Sofia, – Sts. Cyril and Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, as well as Vasil Levski National Military University, where a number of subjects in the field of engineering are also studied.
Veliko Tarnovo Municipality, the academic community, schools and businesses work in harmony and partnership in order to provide the necessary personnel for the economy. In the second half of 2015, the Mayor Daniel Panov and the member of the European Parliament Eva Maydell organized the first of its kind in Bulgaria regional analysis of the labor market. Interviews were carried out with over 400 employers. The educational programmes in the schools are already under preparation according to this analysis. For the first time in Bulgaria the subject “Software Engineering”was introduced in the University of Veliko Tarnovo.
