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EBRD financing supports Bulgarian regional property sector
€43 million to Galleria Stara Zagora to develop brand new retail centre
The central Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora will benefit from new employment and retail opportunities at a brand new commercial centre to be built with the help of a €43 million EBRD loan.
The 12-year senior loan to Galleria Stara Zagora, a majority owned subsidiary of the regional property developer GTC, will be used to finance the acquisition, development, construction, letting and management of a 36,000 m² shopping centre in Stara Zagora. The commercial centre will serve more than 170,000 inhabitants of this fast-developing economic centre. It will consist of a three storey mall which will include retail, food and supermarket services and parking facilities.
Galleria Stara Zagora will use modern energy efficiency technologies and practices, and is expected to act as a benchmark for shopping centres in the region.
James Hyslop, EBRD Director for Bulgaria, said this project reflects the EBRD’s strong emphasis on supporting the development of the Bulgarian regions and contributing to the reduction of regional inequalities in the economic development of the country.
By encouraging the expansion of private investment outside of the capital, coastal and mountain areas the Bank is helping attract quality new investments to the local market and introducing international standards of retail development, Mr Hyslop added.
The Bank has syndicated €25.5 million of the loan amount to Bank Austria, retaining €17.1 million on its own account under the EBRD A/B loan structure.
Reinhard Madlencnik, Head of Real Estate at Bank Austria, stated, that he is pleased to cooperate with EBRD on this important project, especially in these turbulent times. Together with UniCredit Group, Bank Austria governs the largest international banking network in CEE with around 4,000 branches and outlets in 19 countries. Around 83,000 employees serve more than 28 million customers.
GTC has been active as a developer in the Central Eastern European real estate markets since 1994. GTC has positioned itself as one of the leading developers in CEE with over 1,500,000 m² of office, retail and residential space under different stages of development.
The Bank has a long-standing relationship with GTC which began with an equity investment in their Polish operations in May 2000. More recently, the Bank has been involved in the financing of a development of offices in Serbia and regional retail centres in Romania, both sponsored by GTC.
This project builds on the Bank’s experience in this sector. To date, the Bank has committed €1.7 billion in the real estate in its countries of operation with the aim of supporting regional development in over 40 cities.
The EBRD is one of the largest investors in Bulgaria with over €1.6 billion committed to projects across the country. Working with its many partners, the Bank has mobilised more than €5.9 billion for projects in Bulgaria.
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