West Industrial Zone - Varna Feasibility Study Prepared by: VERGIN Ltd., Varna Commissioned by: Varna Economic Development Agency SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 1 1. Executive summary 1.1 Brief information of project objectives and background Sustainable and Equipped Productive Areas (SEPA) project promotes an innovative management model for the industrial areas, which is aimed at creating scale of economies. It contributes to generate monetary benefits for the companies in terms of savings and reduce the impact of the production activities on the environment. SEPA model is adaptable to all industrial areas and it is based on an accurate planning of investments in energy efficiency, shared services for enterprises and employees, and recycling. The SEPA project main objective is promoting the concept of sustainable production area defined as ‘Community of manufacturing firms and services that, within a functional area and through cooperation, plan to improve their environmental economic and social performances, acquiring specific organisational tools, management and infrastructure’. In this connection SEPA project does have two specific objectives: Objective 1: Definition of a multi-country management model for establishing and developing sustainable productive areas, which mitigate the negative impact of manufacturing activities and support SMEs to achieve higher environmental quality standards. This responds to limited capacity of individual enterprises to integrate environmental, social and cultural concerns in their investment plans. Objective 2: Preparation of feasibility studies and investment & marketing plans in selected South East Eauropean functional areas which provide competitive advantages attractive for investors including SMEs. This shall respond to potential lack of sustainability of business infrastructure and services, based on the proposed SEPA transnational strategic concepts, networking and consensus raised among foreign and domestic investors, particularly SMEs, on economic advantages linked to localizing in pre-equipped SEPA functional areas. SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 2 The SEPA project partnership consists of: INFORMEST (Italy) – Lead Partner - http://www.informest.it Sviluppo Basilicata (Italy) - http://www.sviluppobasilicata.it/ EC Business Innovation Centre of Attika (Greece) - www.bicofattika.gr Central Transdanubian Non Profit Company (Hungary) - http://www.kprf.hu Varna Economic Development Agency (Bulgaria) – www.veda-bg.eu Business Inkubator Sezana (Slovenia) - http://www.inkubator.si Town Hall of the Municipality of Baia Mare (Romania) - www.baiamarecity.ro Agency for the Development of Temerin Municipality (Serbia) - http://www.ictemerin.com The background of the project lay down on the experience of the industrial area “First Macrolotto” in Prato, Italy - the first industrial area in the country, involved in voluntary and continuous programmes for the overall environmental improvement. 1.2 Summary of analysis Part of SEPA project activities include conduct of pre-feasibility studies of two locations, identified during the project implementation. The basic information in that process could be summeried as follow: Methods used: • National and local policies’ review • Master plans and regional development programs’ review • Local stakeholders groups and individual meetings • Internet research SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 3 Involved stakeholders: Regional development agencies, Local development agencies, Trade Chamber, Union of Architectures, business oriented & ecological NGOs, civil initiatives groups, municipal officials, business representatives, media, and other interested groups of property owners. Selection criteria: • location near to Varna • potential for development of eco-industrial zone Preliminary identified areas: Green field : Varna West Industry Zone with three subareas: • Vetrino Industry Zone • Suvorovo Industry Zone • Avren Industry Zone The three zones are maintained by the National Company “Industry Zones” - http://industrialzones.bg/index.php?language=EN Total area of the zone - 535,000 sq m Location: Infrastructure proximity : • near the city of Varna - 35 km to the city center • electricity • 28 km to Varna Airport • water and sewage • 18 km to Varna-West Port • opportunity for gasification • 11 km to highway bound to Black Sea • telecommunication and transportation networks SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 4 Brown fields : • Western Industry Zone in Varna, Dev nya Industry Zone Tranzit trade zone / South- Industry Zone The first two industry zones have been selected for the purposes of pre-feasibility studies. The feasibility study was conducted for the brown field in terms of its location within the city area and necessity of improvement of its economic, environmental, safety, and social performance. SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 5 2. Bulgaria in brief Bulgaria has a central location in the heart of South-East Europe and a good traffic infrastructure linking it to neighbouring countries. Over the past few years, Bulgaria has been experiencing unprecedented growth and all indications point to this trend continuing at a significant rate. By introducing modern economic reforms, the general conditions for foreign companies looking to invest in Bulgaria are excellent. Still inexpensive land prices, low wage and investment costs, a good level of education and training and attractive business tax rates all contributed to create a first rate location for moving a business, for expanding a business or for setting up a new company. On top of that, Bulgaria also boasts a comfortable climate, attractive coastal regions and very friendly people. 3. Varna region It is located in the Nort-East Planning Region - one of the sixt planning region –NUT II level. Its main characteristics include: • Area - 3,819.5 km2 (1,474.7 sq mi) • Population (February, 2011) - 468,238 citizens SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 6 • Density - 120/km2 (320/sq mi) • Municipalities - 12 • The central city – Varna There is a tendency of growth in the number of population in Varna region. According to the National statistical institute the figures for the recent years are as follow: Year Number 2005 458 157 2007 458 264 2009 465 465 2011 475 074 Labor tendencies The table below shows the tendencies in the employment development in Varna region and the North-East Planning Region (NUTSII) according to the official data, provided by the National statistical institute in Bulgaria for the ten years period: There is a tendency of decrease in the number of employees both for the Varna region and the broader North-East Planning Region (NEPR) in the last three years. The reasons among others include stagnation of the economy due to the global financial crisis that SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 7 lead to export decrease, cut of work places, companies’ failure, limited access to finance, etc. The curve of employment for the last year indicates certain increase in number of employees from April until September, 2011. This trend is related to the seasonal nature of the dominant industries in the regional economy . Among them is the summer seaside tourism and related to the tourism industries and services. Most of the people in the region are employed seasonall, usually between April and October, in the hotels and restraints in the summer resorts near Varna . Most of them like Golden Sands, Sunny Beach, St.St. Konstantin & Elena etc. are worlsdwide known. Tourism supporting businesses for transportation of tourist and guiests, food processing , textile and cloths, growing of fruit & vegetable, meat and milk production, traditional wines, trade with souvenirs, etc. create niches for small businesses and craftsmen seasonal employment. Despite the financial crises there are still a lot of jobs in the region in the construction sector from March to November related to big infrastructure projects for rehabilitation and establishment of new water and wastewater treatment plants, collectors, and sewage systems. Many of these projects are financed with EU funding and co-financed by the state budget . Official national statistics calculated average monthly salary for Varna employees at the level of 370 euro. Compared to the salaries in the North East Planning region (NEPR), SEPA PROJECT Varna Economic Development Agency [email protected] ∙www.sepaproject. eu [email protected] ∙ www.veda-bg.eu 8 which center is Varna, the statistics shows a decrease with approximately 40 euro. The graph of the quarterly distribution of average monthly salaries for the NEPR and Varna region is showed below: However, this is not the real incomes for Varna based families’ members as far as many of the people have working relatives and family members abroad, either in the EU or the USA, who support them financially at regular base. People in the local and governmental administration usually received benefits