InvestBulgaria announces the top five investors for 2009

  Government investment agency InvestBulgaria has listed the top five investment

companies in Bulgaria for 2009, website investor.bg reported on December 7 2009.

The companies in the elite group of top investors were required to have had "paramount contribution for the economic development of Bulgaria", investor.bg reported. Other criteria taken into consideration were the number of new jobs, the amount invested, new competitive technologies, investment in sectors pertaining to the development of the Bulgarian economy, export potential and environmentally friendly production.

Copper mining firm Elatsite Med, which invested 86 million leva in 2008/09 to create 1780 new jobs was followed on the list by Technogips, a company that specialises in plaster manufacturing. Technogips invested 95 million leva in a new modern plaster factory near the town of Radnevo, creating 120 jobs.

The Bulgarian subsidiary the German car parts manufacturer Ixetic invested 34 million leva in the production of vacuum pumps, with the new plant in Rakovski starting operations in April 2009. Ixetic's line�covers hydraulic pumps for steering, chassis and gearbox applications, vacuum pumps for brake systems, air-conditioning compressors in cars and lubricating oil pumps. By 2010, the plant is expected to employ 250 people on a permanent basis.

Enel Maritsa Iztok 3, in which Italian energy conglomerate Enel owns 73 per cent, has invested 700 million euro to extend the life cycle of the thermal power plant and boost capacity, including 160 million euro in environmental equipment.

AES Geo Energy was picked for its investment in the St Nikola wind park consisting of 52 wind power turbines with maximum capacity output of 156MW. The facility near the Black Sea town on Kavarna provided temporary employment for 250 people, as well as 20 permanent jobs, and cost 528 million leva to build.

      Source:  sofiaecho.com