EQUEST ENTERS SUPER BOROVETS PROJECT ON 15 MLN EURO INVESTMENT PLEDGE

British investment fund Equest will become a shareholder in the company tapped to expand local ski resort Borovets with an initial investment of 15 mln euro. The fund will swap the cash infusion for a 51% of the stake in the project controlled by Bulgarian construction company Glavbolgarstroy, said Equest managing partner Georgi Krumov and Glavbolgarstroy president Simeon Peshov.

The construction company last week acquired the stake in the project held by the family of assassinated Bulgarian banker Emil Kyulev. The exact size of Equest's share in the project will be determined at a board meeting of the fund in London on Monday. The implementation of the project will start after that board meeting, said Peshov.

The Equest cash will finance the construction of ski lift linking the town of Samokov with the Borovets resort. The design of the facility is ready and talks are in progress with 3 foreign contractors, said Peshov. Prior to the deal, the top shareholder in Rila-Samokov 2004, the company specially incorporated for the implementation of the Super Borovets project, was Glavbolgarstroy with 75%. The Samokov municipality, where the Borovets ski resort is located, owned 25% with the residual 8% held by Energokomplekt.

The project needs to raise at least 350 mln euro in investment over the next 3 years, said Krumov. Equest will structure the financing with an LSE bond as an likely funding option.
The Super Borovets project envisages the construction of 100 km of ski runs and will add 25,000 beds to the resort's accommodation capacity. The new skiing facilities will have a combined daily capacity of 30,000-35,000 skiers.
Dnevnik a.m.