Bulgaria is poised to establish itself as an important industrial country for Western European companies with cooperative efforts under way to maintain attractive conditions for investors, be it by securing a functioning gas supply or through jointly establishing a language school.

With Bulgaria joining the EU in just a few weeks, talk of combating political, economic and social instability casts a shadow on the country’s image. Yet, a visit to Sevlievo, a city with a population of 45,000 located between Sofia and Varna, reveals that Bulgaria’s hidden gems include more than just cultural and historical sites. The city has in fact established itself as an important industrial site for Western European companies.

With the prospect of highly motivated and qualified staff as well as assistance from the municipality, internationally reco-gnised companies have established offices in town – German sanitary manufacturer Hamberger and ABB, leading supplier of energy and automation technology, already have branches in Sevlievo, and further investors are following suit.

As early as 1992 Ideal Standard, a subsidiary of American Standard, major supplier of bath and kitchen products, secured 2000 jobs by founding a joint venture with ‘Vidima’, Bulgarian market leader in plumbing fixtures. An additional fixtures plant opened five years later, followed by a logistics centre from which around 30 truckloads of Ideal Standard products set out each day.

The figures clearly reveal Sevlievo’s potential as a high quality production site. In the past two years the Ideal Standard’s fixtures plant in Vidima has been awarded worldwide recognition as the safest production site among all plants belonging to the American Standard group.

Renate Haiden is a Vienna journalist; since 2002 she has been
managing a news agency specialised in business economics,
environment and Eastern Europe.