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Sofia's industrial building permits on the rise

Wednesday, Nov 03, 2010

The number of industrial building permits in Bulgaria's capital city has started growing, which was seen as an encouraging sign for the country's economy, Sofia chief architect Petar Dikov told a construction and property forum.

The new permits increased by 20 per cent in annual terms in the first half of 2010, according to data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

Over the six months, Sofia granted a total 76 permits for projects categorised as "other buildings" with a gross area of about 37 000 sq m, compared to 55 permits for buildings with a total space of 31 000 sq m in the same period of the previous year.

Proceeds from issuing construction permits have reached 15 million leva since the start of 2010, with office buildings and commercial centres contributing for the bulk of the money, Dikov said.

Meanwhile, frozen residential projects were now being unblocked, Dobromir Ganev, head of consultancy GVA Sollers Solutions, said. According to Ganev, the number of frozen projects in the country approached 290, which spanned a total six million sq m, over half of which featured commercial and office space.

The number of suspended projects in the capital totalled 81, spread over a projected two million sq m combined, including projects of 250 000 sq m now coming to completion.

The unblocking of projects hinged on the country's macroeconomic indicators, in particular foreign investment, banks' lending policy and competition, Ganev said, adding that foreign direct investments in Bulgaria's construction sector have declined 1.5 per cent so far this year compared to 2009.

The country's construction output has shrunk by 23 per cent compared to 2009 and 68 per cent compared to 2008, which is the largest drop among European Union member states, according to Svetoslav Glossov, chairperson of the Bulgarian construction chamber.

Glossov said that the hoped that the construction segment would start to recover in the coming years, but at a slow pace.

On his part, Dikov predicted a new boom in the construction industry within two to four years.

Source: thesofiaecho.com