The new digital map of Varna has surpassed all previous errors of its kind observed in Bulgaria to date. Entire apartment blocks, constituting whole boroughs, have magically disappeared from the mapping process.

"There were such cases before, but this is about buildings built after 2007," Krasimira Bozhkova, the head of the Varna mapping agency, told Sega daily. She says that the responsibility ultimately lies with Varna municipality which is entrusted with registering all new construction in the area, and which had postponed the timely submission of the appropriate documentation pertaining to the buildings in question.

The new mapping is already active in four regions of the city and hundreds of citizens, primarily from the borough of Primorski, have been queuing before the agency responsible for the registration debacle. Their properties can be submitted and registered properly - for the appropriate payment of course. They also have to submit an appraisal form, documentation of proof of ownership, parcel grids, home disclosure forms and house sketches, etc. The company responsible for the properties' accreditation must fulfill its task within a year. However, for citizens of some boroughs - Mladost, Asparuhovo and Vladislavovo, this period expires in May 2009.

Such problems have been observed elsewhere in the country - in Sandanski eight floors from a 10-storey building mysteriously disappeared, and there have been similar problems in Sofia as well.

The scheme to digitalise the mapping of the entire country in a single database is, some may argue, fundamentally flawed from the onset. There is an ongoing campaign suggesting that another 100 million euro is required to accomplish this feat. The Agency for Registry's boss, Daniela Miteva, says that "100 million is needed if the project is to be feasible within the next three to five years. Alternatively, it will be ready within 20-30 years". Seven years ago Bulgaria received 33 million euro from the World Bank for this sort of register, which is to be unveiled this month. However, the real estate data uploaded within that registry comprises a very small part of the project. Real estate archives in Bulgaria exist going back 100 years, and Miteva believes that in order for the entire information to be scanned and processed, 100 million euro and 100 employees are urgently needed.