Another Bulgarian Black Sea Coast Development Project

Oh what a surprise, another major development on the Black Sea Coast in an area of outstanding beauty. This was meant to draw to a halt after many areas of the Black Sea Coast had been over developed and now the recession has hit a glut of unsold apartments and hotel that have gone out of business. This really makes many people’s stomachs turn who know the region. It is a haven for wildlife, but business and profiteering just carries on regardless.

Residential property developer Bulgarian Land Development (BLD) will start work on its July Morning holiday village, the company said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange (LSE), where it is listed.

Set to rise on a site near the town of Kavarna, in northeastern Bulgaria, the development has been put on the list of "destroyers of Bulgarian nature" as the investor plans to "appropriate the coastal line as well," environmentalists claim.

Despite the strong reaction from conservation groups, the project was awarded all the necessary permits from the local authorities. BLD said in its statement that it secured enough funding to launch a scaled-down version of the project, whose first building would have 55 apartments, 41 of which had already been sold.

The building, which will stand on an area of 3600 sq m, should be completed in June 2010 at a cost of about 2.2 million euro.

The entire holiday village is planned to sprawl over 92 000 sq m, accommodating 351 homes, a spa centre, restaurants, small football pitches and mini-golf courses as well as five swimming pools. The total investment in the project is estimated at 40 million euro.

www.sofiaecho.com
Photo: Sofia Panayotova/flickr.com

Bulgaria Currently The Cheapest Holiday Destination

Bulgaria is the cheapest destination for a holiday according to new statistics out. This is actually based on probably the most expensive region Bulgaria, Sunny Beach. The Black Sea Coast resort can see prices that are double the National average so if you travel elsewhere in Bulgaria it would seem to be even cheaper.

However, I always have a suspicion with these reports of new figures that come out. Holiday destination statistics are made primarily driving a commercial interest to get more people take holidays abroad and are sponsored by other businesses that have financial interest in the travel industry.

I'm just glad they are promoting the concrete jungle of Sunny Beach and not the other beautiful parts of Bulgaria that will eventually be invaded by tourism.

Bulgaria has reclaimed the top spot in the annual Holiday Costs Barometer from Post Office® Travel Services - overtaking last year's top trio of Thailand, South Africa and Egypt, where prices have risen steeply.¹

At around £42 for 10 holiday items, including drinks and meals, Bulgaria's Sunny Beach resort was two and a half times cheaper than Antigua - the most expensive destination surveyed in the foreign currency survey. Two other holiday spots outside the eurozone - Turkey and Croatia - have joined Bulgaria as Europe's cheapest options for a bargain break.

But while attention has been focusing away from the eurozone for holidaymakers on a strict budget this summer, price cutting in some of the most popular eurozone destinations mean that the UK's traditional favourites may cost less than expected and help travel money go further.

www.prweb.com/releases
Image from www.bg.dimitrovestates.com

Levski Win Bulgarian Football League Championship

All CSKA fans now hang their heads low after conceding this year’s Bulgarian Football League Championship with a 1-0 loss to Litex Lovech. The Champions are their Sofia arch rivals Levski who achieved that one point that was needed to make their points tally unassailable.

It is such a shame that football incites violent and hooliganism it is a worldwide phenomenon in this most popular of sports.

Levski Sofia won their 26th Bulgarian league title and sealed a place in next season's Champions League qualifying rounds after a 1-1 home draw against Minyor Pernik on Sunday.

With one game left to play, Levski have 68 points and an unassailable three-point lead over CSKA Sofia, whose hopes of retaining the title vanished with a 1-0 defeat at Litex Lovech in a match marred by crowd violence.

Several dozen CSKA fans invaded the pitch and clashed with police in the closing stages of the game following a disallowed goal.

Referee Stanislav Todorov stopped the match for several minutes as fans received medical aid at the touchline. Police are still to announce how many people were arrested.

Kostadin Hazurov gave Minyor Pernik a shock lead at Levski Sofia seven minutes after the interval but Vladimir Gadzhev levelled the score in the 74th minute.

"I'm really pleased because we won the title in front of our great fans," said delighted Levski coach Emil Velev. "We deserve the trophy because we're the best team in the league."

www.guardian.co.uk
Image by Geukochea via Flickr

Pig Flu Arrives In Bulgarian At Last

Well it has finally arrived, a confirmed case of swine flu in Bulgaria. I suppose it was inevitable it would happen one day. The question was why didn't Bulgaria have the means to actually confirm suspected cases up until now, which was the problem before. We can all breath a sigh of relief that confirmaton of the strain can now be tested succesfully and no false alarms and scaremongering as we had before.

Bulgaria confirmed on Monday its first case of H1N1 flu, in a man who had recently returned from the United States, the Health Ministry said.

The new flu strain has already infected nearly 16,000 people worldwide, including many in Europe.

The infected Bulgarian was treated in hospital and was in a good condition, the ministry said in a statement.

"The man has been residing in the U.S. and arrived on a flight from New York via Amsterdam to Sofia on May 27," it said.

Health authorities had examined four other people the man had come in contact with since arriving in the Balkan country but no one was infected.

"They are all in a good condition and show no symptoms of the disease," the ministry said.

www.reuters.com

Bulgarian Show 'Survivor' Fatality

A town mayor from Bulgaria who was taking part in the Bulgarian version of “Survivor” has died from a heart attack whilst filming on an island location in the Philippines.

Noncho Vodenicharov was 53 years old and had just completed an event in the contest. He not only was a town mayor but previously a stuntman and singer.

If you are not aware of the “Survivor” reality show, it is a copy of the American “Survivor” show where contestants complete tough challenges in a remote location, involving mainly physical activities.

There is always a full medical backup on site from Philipino and Bulgarian doctors, both of whom could not revive Noncho at the scene.

It is hard to say how this will affect the whole event now and is sure to open up a can or worms in terms of the safety of reality show like this - A normal reaction to another tradegy that surely can't be anything other than a one off.