Varna Municipality in partnership with Aksakovo, Devnya and Beloslav Municipalities are to establish an Innovation and Development Zone. A common investment portfolio reflecting the priorities and opportunities set in the Integrated Urban Development Plans of the four municipalities will be elaborated. The portfolio will present the individual characteristics of Varna, Aksakovo, Beloslav and Devnya, with reference to human resources, employment, industrial capacity and facilities, road, water, energy supply and communication infrastructure, research, innovation and scientific potential, information and communication technologies.
The initiative aims to improve the quality of life through employment growth, infrastructural networks development and increase of the economic competitiveness of the region.
“We combine our efforts, scientific potential, infrastructural and geographic resources with the adjacent municipalities in order to provide complex solutions to each investor, who is interested in the region”, announced the Mayor of Varna Ivan Portnih. He pointed out that this zone is already a spot of business interest and we only need to provide the logistic support.
“The potential of the four municipalities follows a positive trend of development during the last years, indicators of which are the macroeconomic budget frames, implemented projects and the recently negotiated 7-8 new regular flights, considered as a great advantage for the business”, added the Mayor, referring to the official data of the National Statistical Institute, according to which Varna and the region take the second place in the country in terms of foreign direct investments.
“This region – Aksakovo, Varna, Beloslav, Devnya – is a unique place for doing business in Bulgaria. It’s a rare combination of such a good transport infrastructure – part of Hemus Highway, the old road to Sofia, Varna Ferry, Port Varna East and West, Devnya Industrial Complex and the airport with increasing number of passengers and airlines. We are convinced that this region could become the best business and investment place in Bulgaria.”
City of Knowledge
Varna city is the European Youth Capital of 2017. This motivated the Mayor of Varna Ivan Portnih to launch a new initiative – Varna- City of Knowledge. “We have great potential in that field. Over 40, 000 students study in the 6 universities and 4 colleges in Varna. We also have qualified research scientists in the local research institutes as well, so we are certain that our cause is successful.”- stated the Mayor. “Part of the City of Knowledge image will be the new library, which is in а design development phase, the new building for the High School of Mathematics – the school that takes pride in its international competitions winners, the start-up support centres for young entrepreneurs and the Black Sea Youth Centre in favour of the creative smart young people.”
Four Season Destination
Marine recreational tourism, balneo, wellness and spa, cultural, eco, sports, golf, congress and entertainment tourism.
Well-developed tourism infrastructure – over 360 hotels and 1,400,000 tourists from 60 countries in 2014.
5 resorts – Golden Sands, Sts. Constantine and Helena, Riviera, Sunny Day, Chayka.
Natural and geographic potential – mineral springs, curative mud, wide sandy beaches, rich forests and spacious parks
More than 1 million tourists chose Varna and the region as their holidays destination in the high season last summer. The Sea Capital of Bulgaria has great potential to become a four-season destination. Last year, the tourist season was prolonged thanks to the International Tall Ships Regatta at the beginning of October and the passenger ships which attracted thousands of visitors to the city. Four big low cost airlines have announced that they launch regular flights to and from Varna in 2017. This provides plenty of new opportunities for air transportation and the Sea Capital is becoming an increasingly popular destination. Municipality of Varna is in the process of developing new tours such as The World’s Oldest Processed Gold Routeand Cyrillic Alphabet – the European Treasure, thus connecting the cities of Varna, Preslav and Pliska. The city is also involved in an international project titled “Roman Thermal Spas of Europe” which is to promote the unique Roman Baths and other historic sites.
