Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stojanov launched a new investment for EUR 56 million in Pleven. The project is of the French company Malteri Soufflé Bulgaria, which has started the construction of a new malt plant that will double its production capacity in Bulgaria.
‘An investment of this scale is a very strong sign for the business climate in the country and a positive signal that Bulgaria has all the conditions to be home to companies of this rank,’ Minister Stojanov said. According to him, the project will introduce innovations of the latest generation. ‘Another important fact is that the future plans of the investor are mainly related to its market in Bulgaria,’ the economic minister added. He explained that by increasing production, the company will fully satisfy the demand of Bulgarian breweries and will create additional opportunities for increasing exports to neighbouring countries.
Currently, the company manages to achieve an annual turnover of about BGN 25 million with 45 employees in their Pleven plant. ‘This speaks of high efficiency, innovation and maximum mechanization,’ Nikola Stojanov added. He stressed that the region needs new jobs, so another good news is that the company plans to use Bulgarian contractors during the construction.
Minister Stojanov also commented on the bilateral economic relations with France. The European country is among the leading trade partners of Bulgaria and ranks 6th in terms of exports of Bulgarian goods. In 2022, the trade between Bulgaria and France will amount to EUR 2.6 billion and French investments in the country will amount to EUR 1.2 billion. ‘Behind these figures are projects that create more than 15 000 jobs and ensure economic activity between our two countries,’ Minister Stojanov said. He also announced the holding of a Bulgarian-French business forum in Paris. ‘I hope that companies like yours — who are already in Bulgaria and achieving a number of successes here — will tell other potential French investors about their experience. Because I believe that there is a lot of untapped potential between our two countries’, Nikola Stojanov stressed.
The event was attended by Guillaume Couture, representative of the Soufflé Group, Clément Gravrault, Director of Malteri Soufflé Bulgaria, H.E. Joël Meyer, Ambassador of France, Todor Dzhikov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Ivan Petkov, Regional Governor of Pleven, Georg Spartanski, Mayor of Pleven, and others.
Malteri Soufflé Bulgaria is part of the French group InVivo, which is one of the leading malt producers in the world. The company has more than 92 sites in 38 countries and employs more than 14,500 people. The malt division has production in 12 countries and in Bulgaria it operates through plants in Pleven and Haskovo. The investment project, which was launched today, is worth EUR 56 million and aims to double the company’s production capacity to 60,000 tonnes of malt per year.
