Markovo Tepe Mall, the 65 million euro project of which the opening is reportedly postponed until 2012, is for sale but no bidders have come forward, Bulgarian-language daily Trud quoted Jacob Niv, head of investment company Melina Ltd, as saying.

Meanwhile, there is controversy around a house close to the entrance of the mall, building of which is close to complete although no work is currently being done.

The house, at the intersection of Ruska Boulevard and Gladstone Street, is the property of the Bobolevi family and is marked for demolition to enable the widening of Gladstone Street.

According to Trud, the Administrative Court in Plovdiv recently ruled that the family should be paid 727 500 leva compensation but demolition cannot go ahead because the municipality has no budget to pay this sum.

The newspaper quoted Plovdiv deputy mayor Alexander Dolev as saying: "The property is not a priority for us for expropriation and we do not have the necessary money. Let the investors in the mall buy it if they want".

Trud quoted Niv as saying that it was true that the mall was for sale but so far there had been no bidders. "I will not buy a house because the municipality is trying to blackmail us," he reportedly said.

The house has two floors with shop space on the ground floor and a yard.

Also disputed is the value of the house. Trud quoted a lawyer for the municipality as saying that the valuation was based on a number of comparisons, but a lawyer for the Bobolevi family said that looking at prices of housing and commercial space in the area, similar property was available for 1.1 million euro.

The Bobolevi family lawyer, Stoiko Subotanov, said that the dispute could go to the European court in Strasbourg.

Markovo Tepe Mall is intended to have about 100 shops, including a Billa supermarket, and recreational facilities including a disco, restaurants, cafes, a bowling hall and mini golf.

In June, Trud said that Melina, the Bulgarian-Israeli company that is the investor in the mall, would be cutting the ribbon on the mall in January or February 2012.

Initial plans were to open in March 2010, later postponed to November last year.

Niv was quoted in June as saying that 70 per cent of the retail space in the mall had been leased.