Pazardjik region major city – Pazardjik

The Pazardjik region is situated in the South Central Region covering an area of 4458 км2, representing 4% of the total territory of the country. In administrative aspect the region comprises 11 self-governing municipalities which in turn encompass 117 habitation sites, 99 of them headed by a mayor. Pazardjik was initially established as natural commercial centre in the region over 500 years ago. Favourable climatic conditions and excellent natural resources have destined the development of the town during all these years such that today Pazardjik is the centre of one of the most prosperous municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria.

The Pazardjik municipality is situated in the Southern Bulgaria, in the central parts of the Upper Thracial valley and north of the Rhodope mountains, along the river Maritsa.

In administrative aspect, the Pazardjik municipality comprises 1 major city, Pazardjik and 31 villages.

• Part of the Euro-Asia transport corridor connecting Western Europe to the Near East and mid Asia along the London-Kalkuta route.
• “Trakia” International motorway constituting part of the E-80 European route and connecting the municipality to Western Europe and Istanbul.
• Transport corridor No.8 connecting the Black sea and the Adriatic sea.
• The main southern international railroad CE70 connecting Central Europe to Asia and providing access to Black sea ports Burgass and Varna.

Distances:

• Sofia - 110 кm
• Varna - 430 кm
• Plovdiv - 36 кm.
• Burgass - 310 кm
• Thessaloniki - 320 кm.
• Istanbul - 450 кm.

A business incubator is envisaged to be set up in Pazardjik with the financial assisstance of the EU’s Phare programme. The municipality council of Pazardjik has offered rent-free for the purpose a municipality-owned built-up site of over 2000 м2. The project will support the small and medium-sized enterprises and will serve as the basis for implementing modern technologies and know-how in various production industry sectors.

A project for the establishment of a new industrial park has been developed with the support of partners from the municipality of West Bend, Wisconsin, USA . A site of 170 decres was allocated for the purpose by the Pazardjik municipality to build up the necessary infrastructure and offer for sale land plots for building up production premises.

The Pazardjik municipality is the first to have developed a projcet for a municipal guarantee fund to be used to warrant loans for the the small and medium sized enterprises in the region. Activities in this project are presently directed at attracting the support of foreign investors and international donor institutions to assisst the structuring of the fund. Following its successful start up the project will eventually be disseminated within the entire region and the country.

A wholesale site for agricultural products was set up to assisst the process of rebirth of agriculture and especially vegetable growing and through the funding of the SAPARD programme of the EU it is expected to grow into the largest agricultural wholesale site in the country.

Operating in the territory of the Pazardjik region are branches of the major Bulgarian and several international banks. 19 financial institutions have their representative branches here, such as Reifasen bank, Bulbank Plc., DSK bank, UBB, etc.

Available free sites and buildings offered for sale or to let for production purposes or agriculture:

• Agricultural land – around 16000 decres
• Unoccupied buildings around 300 decres
• Unoccupied buildnings in the Pazardjik municipality only is as follows:

1. 1.Planned land plot of 1610 sq.m; a three-storey administrative building with ground floor of 523 sq.m. total built-up area; a single storey building comprising garages and laboratory rooms of 144 sq.m. total built-up area.
2. 2.A complex of intervened buildings of various height with encompassed internal gardens comprising: a two-storey flat-roof building built up on 319 sq.m.
3. 3.A five-storey single-panel block of flats built up on 551 sq.m. and of total built-up area of 2763 sq.m. The block was built in 1981 г. and is provided with lift facilities, waste discharge duct and local heating facilities.
4. 4.A land plot area of 56 decres in the industrial estate area of the town of Pazardjik and a total built-up area of 32083 sq.m.

Provided underneath are some extracts from the Regional economic development strategy of the region. 56,07% of the region’s territory is occupied by forrest land and 36% is agricultural land