Bulgarian-Irish company Sunset Resort, the owner of Dobrinishte Ski, will create 1500 new jobs in Dobrinishte, a village next to Bansko. Bansko newspaper Utre reported this in its December 1 edition.

Bansko municipality is already looking for a company to carry out the general development plan for the project. The cost of the development plan is valued at 66 000 leva and must be completed by December 20.

On the other hand, the entire building project of Dobrinishte’s ski zone is estimated at 260 million leva and must be completed within three years. Dobrinishte Ski has already acquired a first-class investor certificate from state agency InvestBulgaria. It obliges the Government to build the infrastructure around the ski facilities with state funds. With this, Dobrinishte is the only Bulgarian resort that will have the state building its roads, electricity and water systems in and around the village.

This is an important point. As Bansko’s mayor told The Sofia Echo on December 1, one of the main reasons for water or electricity problems in the town is the fact that the Government does not contribute at all towards the town’s infrastructure. The investors themselves are responsible for building the infrastructure. But often the case is that the municipality does not have enough money to do that, Kravarov said, while private investors think only of their development projects (hotels, apartments and so on) without wanting to contribute to the infrastructure around them. “We charge them 30 leva a sq m to have their water system done for them, because they just can’t get organised to do it themselves,” Kravarov said.

National as well as international firms with proved economic, financial and technical ability to implement the Dobrinishte project that wished to take part in the competition for the planned development submitted their offers by November 27, Utre reported.

Dobrinishte Ski envisages a total of 300 000 sq m of building area, 45km of ski pistes, and ski machinery and equipment. Also planned are a new gondola, accommodation with capacity of 10 000 beds and spa services. A rope and gondola link will also be built to connect Dobrinishte with Bansko. The plan foresees that the hotels be spread along the outer parts of the village, with the restaurants and ski schools in the ski zone.

Sunset Resort is registered in Pomorie. Boyan Bonev holds 50 percent of the company; the rest is divided between Aaron Tracey, Joseph Sullivan and Neil O’Reilly. O’Reilly manages and represents the company.