Does anyone know what is happening with the Pirin Springs Bansko project and Scott Huggins, please comment

looked at property in bansko.ran out of bulgaria,wouldent touch bulgaria with a bargepole,worst country ive ever been in,a hole in the ground

It does make me laugh to see foreign property investment being blamed for "ruining the countryside". Development only happens after local authorities allow planning permission, and who do you think constitutes the local authorities? I don't see many foreigners being part of it!! The unfortunate truth is that Bulgaria was always the white elephant of property investment. Bulgaria became the new "investment hot spot" on the back of Spain's real estate market getting so expensive. People imagined that they could do the same in Bulgaria because the prices were so low compared to elsewhere in Europe. Unfortunately that old friend [...]

Read the full comment "common sense" was as usual sadly lacking. People did not look at the obvious statistics. Spain was a wealthy European country of nearly 40 million people with almost as many tourists visiting each year - ie a healthy demand for property. Bulgaria was and never will be as popular destination (and this is to do with climate more than the character of the population) and the average person in Bulgaria could no way afford the property that the Brits saw as "cheap". The result - no demand for completed product = bad investment. And by the way Valeri, if you want to see really ruined countryside, you should visit the south of Spain some time.

I wonder what all the British are doing here, is it because they're afraid someone will pull the plug out of their "Great" Britain?

Maybe we should ask Slavi to make a show and have all "smart foreigners" go their to tell the Bulgarians what to do.

Hey, I don't mean to be urinating in your swimming pool here, and I know how much you enjoy your British sport called "Bulgar-bashing" , but "shut up" is all you can say?

Look, there was a time when I actually saw foreign pressure for BG to reform as a positive thing. But, after many years of frivolous and casual "campaigns" against BG for any reason, like in that dumb hooligan Shield's case, I've come to see it for what it is - British tribal politics.

You of all people, are the [...]

Read the full comment most tribal individual I've seen in a long time.
It can cut both ways, and the time is coming when BG will be a much better place, but Brits will not be nearly as welcome...

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained off-topic content

"instead you went for the short term..."

who's "you"?
You think that Bulgarians are one person? I'd that how you see yourselves in the UK?

There are all kinds of Bulgarians.
There are ruthless people like there are in every nation, especially in more desparate times in their history.
BG never got a chance to get our building laws and enforcement in line before all that madness started.
You heard the guy before - he bought when the $ was higher than the Euro! [...]

Read the full comment
How long a go was that?
Too bad you can't hear yourselves - "I bought an office with a garage for $75K in their Capital, and those Bulgarians cheated me"!

Look, I am tired of you folks exersising your euro-skeptic demons on our back, as if we don't have our hands busy with changing everything we know.
You wanna go after the EU, do it, just leave us out of it! You know, and we know, that it's not about BG but about GB and her ambiguous feelings abou beloning to a continental European Union, and the inevitable clash with your mental Anglo- exceptionalism...
That's all...

No Jim,
they sell all kinds of new car in BGs dealers, the price difference in various countries comes from taxes.

To the person who dedicated their nick to me:

not surprising that a Brit would be so tribal - I know, when one of you commits a crime in a foreign land, you all jump to get him off.

It's you that's not taking any responsibility for the dumb bubble and the reckless destroying of our nature in BG, I already said that it's everyone's [...]

Read the full comment fault.

Yeah, I wanna move on, but would you let me? Another anti- Bulgarian media campaign in the UK - it's exactly adding insult to injury!
No different than the Shields case - attack the country after one of yours did something wrong there. typical British tribal mentality.
I think you, and the Bulgarian mutras whe built all those ugly apartments for you, deserve each other.
DFI my ass.
Creating bubbles in not investing as of manufacturing facilities or high tech job creating investments. The Americans and the Koreans and others invest in BG.

I suppose now Valeri you are going to blame all your nations woes n the Turkish Yoke! ...that is my fave cop-out! ;-) Get on with improving the future and stop looking in the wing mirror of your 50,000 dollar sedan that would allegedly cost 200,000 dollars in Scandinavia ...or did the guy who sold it you 'import' it from Sweden and not show you the documents? er..... nice one Val!

Dear Veleri: Your Balkan rant is amazing! It is time to wake up smell the coffee and take some shared responsibility Valeri it is the national passtime to seek to pass the buck, do the ostrich! Your rant is incoherent! Yes the 'anglishanini' should have thought longer and harder before buying off-plan but it took a 'kmet/a' or three to sign the redesignation of land, planning permission and a dodgey 'nadzor' or two to make the application for Act 15 and habitation certificates were given! How can you blame FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) for the woes of Bulgaria and the [...]

Read the full comment poor control due to graft and bribery on behalf of developers? Not to mention BGN lawers in cahoots with developers and their agents with spurious offers that defy EU trading standards ...of course Valeri eeahc discgrulntled dance partner needs to take responsability for stepping on the others shoes mid waltz but when you look down at the ballroom now nobody is dancing and that might hurt a few thousand UK/Irish citizens but it hurts Bulgaria a darn sight more as nobody will want to come to your party again! It is 3 times harder to improve a bad image than it is to make the image in the first place! Your tourism campaign on CNN says it all 'Bulgaria easy to find' what is that supposed to mean ....a McDonalds is quote easy to find but I suggest that insted of myopic short sighted money now deal with teh fall out later an integrated approach with governemtn agencies and town halls working with constructors and foreign investors alike and you could have created a wealth of narutal eco-tourism of the highest standard in BG that delivered a long term dividend to your people! Instead you went for the short term and mortgaged your future as a nation very cheaply. This is atragedy as you have a wonderful clountry blessed with space and natural resources in abundance.

@Peter
Ooh the Dollar was higher! That changes everything.... seriously...

Peter, the Dollar hasn't been that high for many years, so my guess is that you bought long before BG even joined the EU, when things were even more unclear. I am sorry to hear that you feel cheated, but as a Bulgarian, I look at photos like the one above, of my beautiful country being right down defaced by criminals, with the help of westerners buying those ugly apartments, and I too feel seriously cheated.
I matters not to me what [...]

Read the full comment is the nationality of the people doing it, and forgive me if I don't feel for your miserable 5-10K that your builder/mutra is trying to hit you with - you are both not friends of mine.

What upsets me though is that casual adding of insult to injury at every step, (and I am not talking about the likes of "1" below, who's probably some angry ex-Yugoslav)- yes Sofia is not London - you think?

Thanks but I do feel cheated. Also at the time the dollar was stronger than the euro and the 70K is about 75kEuro. Not so cheap at the time but yes compared to London (and you cant compare Sofia to London) cheap

Peter,
"normal" is work in progress in a country like BG.
That you have to be aware of. On top of it, there's many other factors, like miscommunication, lack of communication and yes, attempts to get away with stuff.

I'd pay, " have a glass of cold water" and try to keep it in perspective:
it's the down side of being able to buy an office with a garage in a European capital for 50,000 Euros.
It will cost you minimum 10 times, but probably 20 times that [...]

Read the full comment in most other
capitals. When things get "normal" the prices will reflect "normal" too - there is a premium for "normal".
Hell, I payed more than that for my car - nothing exotic just a nice family sedan, which btw would cost you over 200K in some Scandinavian countries, so sleep tight and enjoy the last vestige of affordability in the EU...

One point to clarify - when I said he held back the deeds to the garage I didnt actually realise he had done so and the notary didnt tell me hence the surprise at the request for returning the vat. Should I sue? I was told that issuing a lower invoice price was normal practise

A question for Valeri (and I really hope I can get an answer). I bought an office/appartment in Sofia a few years ago. Cost 70,000 dollars. The builder released the appartment to me with an invoice of 50,000 leva. However he held back the deads for the garage until I returned the vat payable to him. This was never part of any agreement. He now wants interest on this vat before giving me the documents. What to do? Is it normal to make out a low invoice and then demand return of vat. Sure I was naive. Please help

paul, one could not have said it better if obe tried.

Cosmos:

"As far as the countryside is concerned that has not changed."

Cosmos, you see that photo above? THAT was "countryside" FYI;)

The rest - like Paul said...

The Bulgarian mentality of putting yourself above everyone else, grabbing whatever you can and blaming everyone else for your problems does not invite safe business practices. Beware!

All of the tribal nonsense would make you sick. The property pyramid affected much of Europe and Bulgaria is no exception. Indeed many of the worst companies in the business were western companies who cut their teeth selling time share in Spain and went on to uses their high pressure (tell them anything) sales technique all over Europe. In the end many of the clients did deals without a lawyer that they would never have risked at home. The Banks throwing money at them assisted the process. Many now have problems with title, common areas and so on and on. [...]

Read the full comment Many will have problems for years.
In Bulgaria the effect was environmentally worse than in Spain because at that time corruption was worse in Bulgaria than in Spain. The level of mess is directly proportional to the level of corruption. But this is not the end of the world. Bad building can be knocked down. Damage can be repaired. Water can be cleaned. Standards can and will improve.
What is much more serious is that thousands of Bulgarian workers have lost their jobs. When Bulgaria should have been attracting modern manufacturing to this sun belt it was focusing on supplying this bubble. This is the real problem and its one that needs urgent attention. Its a structural problem and requires urgent investment in modern industrial estates and active promotion of Bulgaria as a prime cost effective manufacturing location on the east coast of the Union.
Bulgaria is improving and civil society is reasserting itself and slowly recovering from the long dark decades that were the legacy of Yalta. Please don't bore us with simplistic tribal neo-racist nonsense.

ethics don't exist in bg.letting them into the eu was a huge mistake thatwill only benefit the fraudsters that are 10 a penny there.

I am not bashing Bulgaria I have purchased property in BG with no problems at all.The people who are protesting have a right to get there property. The British do not just buy for greed the apts are used as a holiday homes for there family and a lot of people used savings that they worked hard for. There are always risks in buying off plan Spain is an example. It would not surprise me if the British goverment gets involved I have also seen a report on TV about this problem. It has also been in the newspapers. The [...]

Read the full comment coast line does have a lot of building but Its not just the British that have caused the boom after all the Russians and Irish have been buying apts.

As far as the countryside is concerned that has not changed.

Mary:

"People are not so keen to come back as tourists.
Maybe your economy do not require
any outsiders to give it a boost.
Perhaps you were better off before. "

Well, the country side certainly was better off - it used to be virgin and beautiful. That's lost for ever. Money can be made - that's not the problem.

It takes more than one side to create the problems - it's everybody's fault - that's my point. Lets go through the [...]

Read the full comment factors here:

1990 - very crucial junction for BG, not unlike the rest of the East Block, as it's shell shocked by the international events of the times.

Decade starts with the war in Yugoslavia, western embargo against Serbia, geographical isolation of the country, making it possible for the local Commies to postpone reforms in order to drive down the value of government enterprises, enough for them to buy, in collusion with the newly created smuggling class (embargo criminal elite).

Then, towards the end of the decade, after almost 10 years of embarrassing for Europe conflict in YU, resulting in a complete lawlessness of the isolated BG, the US decides to end those wars - the reasons are irrelevant - probably self interest. In order to create allies and surround Serbia, the US pushes the EU towards bringing up the possibility of membership for BG and RO.

That serves as a signal for many westerners, mostly Brits, to start the Gold Rush for real estate in BG as an alternative from the saturated Spain. Eager British buyers, meet a natural bed fellows in our above mentioned new criminal elite, which is just as eager to offer whatever the new cash prospects are looking for - ugly apartments on every beautiful site.

Clear so far?

It's a perfect storm and there are no good guys in this sad story....

this guy valeri has nothing else to but find pleasure in being contrary mary to every(almost)topic.Unfortunately as people like him react in such a childish frustrated way not many changes can take place.hope he can clear his inner demons!

These are the perils of purchasing off plan. But off plan purchases
seem to be more complicated/risky
in Bulgaria.
Naive, greedy or not, Brits purchasing property has helped provide jobs in the construction industry etc.
People will never be so naive again.They will remember how they got treated.
People are not so keen to come back as tourists.
Maybe your economy do not require
any outsiders to give it a boost.
Perhaps you were better off before.

"As this story now gets air time on British Television we will see how concerned the BG goverment is."

Oh do threaten us with your media - Bulgar bashing is your favorite pass time there, so I don't think it makes much difference. Don't act like Brits have no share in ruining my country - greedy people, coming in with borrowed money, hoping to make a quick buck in the newest EU frontier, creating am artificial market for illegal buildings all over the sea and ski resorts - you and our gangsters ruined the scenery! I [...]

Read the full comment think I'll let you work it out among yourselves....

You deserve each other...

"Valeri for a person that you say you are. I think you should get out more and get a real life everything that you have written here is the biggest load of dribble I have heared in a long time."

What kind of person did I say I am Cosmos? That I travel? Yeah, when I go to Germany BG feels like India. When I go to India, BG feels like Germany. Can you believe I am such a person???

What part do you disagree with, or shall we just leave it [...]

Read the full comment in general like most of your puke here....

As this story now gets air time on British Television we will see how concerned the BG goverment is.This is about the reputation of BG around the world can it get any worse.


Valeri for a person that you say you are. I think you should get out more and get a real life everything that you have written here is the biggest load of dribble I have heared in a long time.

Don't mention it... really...

Thanks Val ;-)

"No Valeri, we have you to tell us all this"

I am here for you.

It's funny.
Last time I was in Mumbai some random idiot at the airport, started "helping" me with putting my stuff to a car, presumably expecting a tip.
As he did that, he started to walk away with my camera bag. I saw him with the corner of my eye, grabbed him by the collar slammed him against the car, then he politely placed the bag with the rest and continue walking.
Just a nice day at the airport in Mumbai.
Didn't give it a second thought until now. You see, I [...]

Read the full comment think it's a basic sign of natural intelligence, when you can adopt to your environment quickly, orient yourself and re-calibrate your behavior and expectations of others. That's why when a waiter in a small town in the Austrian Tirol area stole 20 Euros that I had placed on the table, caught me off guard. Completely out of context.

It happens.

"Didn't your parents tell you all this? "

No Valeri, we have you to tell us all this.

I get around plenty.

When in Germany I do as the Germans do. When in India as the Indians, when in BG as the Bulgarians. It's called basic adoptability. No one forces anyone to spend time in different places. Nor can you change people around you. Didn't your parents tell you all this?

we do not live in India we live in Europe...maybe u think this is eastern...maybe u should get aound more and stop accepting this garbage behavior,,,,

"We've lived in 7 countries and never experienced anything close to the level of corruption here."

You should get around more.
Go to India or Central America - BG will feel like Switzerland to you;)

There really are those of us here in Bulgaria that even after having thousnds of dollars of our own personal items stolen still can't wrap our heads around the crime on every level, rather it's your home being broken into, car purchases and repairs, dishonest policemen, Bulgarian Air stealing lap tops our of our luggage, store clerks trying to keep your change, and yes real estate too. We've lived in 7 countries and never experienced anything close to the level of corruption here. It's time for Bulgaria to step up to the plate and develop ethics on all levels or [...]

Read the full comment remain in the dark ages of lawlessness and the reputation around the world that goes with it!

"Some people are hopelessly naive .."
it's called "greed" Tim.

Shame on you blighty for the lack of basic eloquence for using words like 'shame' for everything....

Some people are hopelessly naive and daft enough to buy in Bulgaria. Are people not aware that it is a country riddled with corruption, bribery and fraud???!!
as for the UK based estate agency, well, we all know what they are like anyway.

Arrest the scammers, refund the brits money and send them home.

how can people be so naieve and buy property probably from an artists impression and after some heavy blablablah cough up some cash and think that all is ok.The same scams happen everywhere and ofcourse opportunistes are on every corner waiting for their piogeons. Why do people think that so much goes on to convince people to give a deposit and then eveything seems to slow down.This will happen again and again

Reneta Kachushka with the help of Hassall family cheated the investors and now is trying to blame everybody else.

Those who dealt with Rockarch Estates knows very well what exactly "London-based real estate agency" they are. Bunch of opportunists with no experience in real estate and construction...

Shame on Bulgaria that it has taken these protests and the UK newspapers criticisms to get an investigation started.