US photographic materials and equipment firm Eastman Kodak opened a film lab worth five million leva (2.55 million euro) in Sofia, Dnevnik daily newspaper reported on October 7.

The local subsidiary Kodak Cinelabs Bulgaria was quoted by Dnevnik daily as saying the lab was placed in one of the buildings of the Boyana Film Studios.

Boyana Film Studios is located in the outskirts of the Bulgarian capital and has been sold to Nu Image in a privatisation procedure in 2006.

The new facility was part of a growing network of Kodak’s labs in Eastern Europe.

One of the commitments made by Nu Image and Kodak was to build the lab, as soon as the sale of Boyana Fim was finalised.

Three years ago, while on a visit to Sofia, Eastman Kodak’s Peter Boyce, business manager for CEEMA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa), said the lab was going to be open to all customers from Bulgaria and abroad, interested in using the firm’s equipment, and not only to Nu Image.

Kodak’s investment was spent on the equipment for the new lab, on the reconstruction and renovation of the entire building where the facility is placed, and on personnel training, Dnevnik says.

Kodak Cinelabs Bulgaria will offer services for the filming, advertising and music production industries.