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On the grapevine: EBRD supports Bulgarian winemaker
€9 million package to Belvedere for new vineyards and to promote exports
Bulgarian wine will be available in more stores and supermarkets across
eastern Europe following a €9 million package from the EBRD to Belvedere
Capital Management, a Bulgarian holding company of Belvedere, the French-based
wine and spirits producer.
The Bank will lend BCM €7 million and provide €2 million to acquire a minority
stake to help strengthen Belvedere’s operations in Bulgaria. The funds will
help the company develop existing vineyards and acquire new ones, increase
exports and support its ambitions to become a leading player in the wine
sector in southeast Europe.
BCM owns the Sakar winery in Ljubimetz and the Domain Menada and Oriahovitsa
wineries in Stara Zagora, as well as Vinimpex – the former Bulgarian wine
export monopoly.
Nikolay Dalakov, CEO of BCM, said that the financing will support the
company’s efforts to strengthen its market-leading position not only in
Bulgaria but in other European markets.
Hans Christensen Jacobsen, Director for the EBRD’s Agribusiness team, said
that by supporting Belvedere’s business in Bulgaria the Bank is boosting
competition and helping the local economy. Belvedere works with more than
1,000 local farmers and 30 cooperatives, using, in addition to its own raw
materials, local farmers’ produce to develop its wines.
Established in 2003, Belvedere Capital Management binds the wine activities of
Belvedere in Bulgaria, which owns three local wineries. Belvedere was set up
in the early 1990s as a wine and spirits bottler and distributor focusing on
the central and eastern European markets. The company now operates in 14
countries, and in 2004 sales exceeded €450 million, a growth of around 30 per
cent on the previous year.
John Chomel-Doe, EBRD Director for Bulgaria, said this project is important
for the country, and reflects the Bank’s commitment to Bulgaria, where EBRD
investments have reached more than €1 billion. In the agribusiness sector
alone, the EBRD has signed more than 220 projects worth €3.3 billion across
the 27 former Communist countries where it operates.
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