A report at BNN (Bulgarian News Network) provides an interesting perspective to investing in agriculture – be it a sheep farm or a winery:
The common agricultural policy of the EU determines the quantities of different cultures that a member country can produce. So if you rely on some bureaucratic decision taken somewhere in Brussels, you may be unpleasantly surprised.
If you have invested, let us say, in vineyards, it may turn out that there is too much grain production in Bulgaria already and your production asset will bring you less income than you expected. This is where the basic advantage of funds lies as compared with direct purchase of land. Thanks to their bigger volume, funds can diversify their portfolios.
That’s an interesting twist on diversification when it comes to investing in agriculture. Next week’s tip: mix sheep, dogs, foxes, and hens to minimize risk 
Due to the increased interest from UK tourists, British Airways has added a new flight – direct to Varna airport, on the Black Sea coast. The price will be about 200 euro (excluding airport charges). Apart from the standard fare of seaside resorts, Varna sports one of the two new golf courses – near Balchik.
The low cost carrier WizzAir is also adding flights from London (Luton) to Sofia and Bourgas’ airports. The number of flights to Bourgas will be increased to 3 per week, once the summer season starts (June 15).
The overall increase in tourists flying to Bulgarian airports have increased 17% in 2005. A similar increase is expected this year.
Bulgaria’s traditional wine-making goes back to Orpheus time but 50 years of communism have all but destroyed this once thriving industry.
With the ascension to the EU, Bulgarian wineries will once again stand a better chance to compete in the European markets. Not to mention that over 6 billion euros will go from EU coffers to Bulgarian agriculture projects.
The third factor which makes investments in wineries so attractive is the low land costs because there’s no actual market for land. Quite a few foreign (mostly French) companies have purchased huge blocks of land and started their own successful brands.
Here’s a snippet from The Prague Tribune:
Large foreign investments, the purchase of modern technologies, the arrival of young, well-educated specialists and traditionally favorable climate and soil conditions – these are factors that currently favor the formerly undervalued Bulgarian wines. Above all, red Bulgarian wines are scoring big at international wine tastings, and Czech and Moravian wine-lovers are once again returning to Mavrud, Melnik, Gamza and Dimiat…
One example is the Belvedere group which bought several state-owned wineries and transformed them to a modern winery that’s selling wine under the Domain Menada brand throughout Europe.
If you’re an avid reader of CIA’s World Factbook, you probably know that Bulgaria has a total of 213 (!!!) airports. If you think there’s a catch somewhere, you’re right. Of them, “only” 128 are paved airports. That’s not the whole story either.
There’s a total of 3 (three) airports in Bulgaria that you and I can fly to. That’s Sofia, Burgas, and Varna. All other airports are either directly owned by the defense ministry or in the process of being conceded to a private party. It has taken 15 years since the fall of communism to see one of these “military” airports welcome a private company – even as a concession.
If you look at the map, you’ll notice that there are big red circles around these three airports. This is a zone that doesn’t allow more airports to be constructed. So in practice, if your project is not close to these three airports, you’ll have one helluva drive, considering the only highway starts in Sofia and barely reaches Stara Zagora (about 200km).
Two new Bulgarian golf courses will be constructed: one near Bansko, one near Balchik (on the Black Sea). This is part of the efforts to establish Bansko as an all-seasons resort.
The design of the courses is being done by Ian Woosnam Design, working in conjunction with European Golf Design. The development company behind the project is Barage Complect, one of Bulgaria’s leading property development companies
I am extremely excited about this opportunity. Golf is in its early stages of development in Bulgaria and I am keen to be involved in helping develop the sport in the country. We aim to create world class facilities which will promote the game of golf and tourism in general. The backdrop to the Bansko site is spectacular and with mature pine tress and streams I envisage a rugged mountain look to the course. The Balchik site is very different, being on a plateau adjacent to the Black Sea coast with magnificent cliff top views.