France’s Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, has decided to invest 81.6 million euro to expand to Bulgaria.

Carrefour’s plan calls for the construction of a hypermarket and a shopping centre covering about 80 000sq m in the capital Sofia, InvestBulgaria Agency said on July 20 after Economy and Energy Minister Roumen Ovcharov presented Carrefour with a first-class investor certificate.

The French company plans to invest 33.9 million euro in 2006, 23.9 million euro in 2007 and the remaining 23.8 million euro in 2008 to complete the project.

Carrefour decided to enter Bulgaria through its Greek unit, Carrefour Marinopoulos.

Carrefour is also eyeing for expansion Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas and Stara Zagora, among other locations, said Carrefour’s executive director for Bulgaria, Jerome Laubert.

Carrefour’s plans’ announcement came only days after two other international retail chains opened new stores in Bulgaria.

After a month’s delay due to safety checks in its exisiting locations, Austrian retail chain Billa finally cut the ribbon on its outlet in the centre of the Bulgarian capital.

Two days earlier, one of Billa’s main rivals on the Bulgarian market, Germany’s Kaufland, opened its third discount supermarket here in Haskovo, southern Bulgaria.

The company is building a second outlet in Sofia and plans to begin work on a third.

The discount retailer has also launched the construction of a number of supermarkets outside the capital and plans five of them – including locations in Rousse and Varna, to begin operation by the end of 2006.

Kaufland has also acquired plots in Vratsa, Shoumen, Sliven, Yambol and Blagoevgrad and plans to open for business there within two year.