The big bite Panichishte

The big bite Panichishte

Krasimir Krantov, 168 chasa, March18-24

A consortium between two huge firms from Austria and Italy, which prefer to stay anonymous for now, will invest over 100 million euro for the construction of a new winter resort, which is supposed to compete with Borovets, Pamporovo and Bansko. The new purl of our winter tourism will be in the lately not very well maintained site Panichishte. It is situated on the territory of Sapareva Banya municipal in the north- western part of Rila. Rila sport, the firm which will take major part in the investment expenses and which is representing the still anonymous Austrians and Italians- has already bought 200 decares land from Sapareva banya municipal. In five years it is going to build hotel complexes with at least 4000 beds. The firm also bought the rights for one of the ski pistes in the complex and plans to equip it with a modern lift. 14 super- modern alpine pistes with a capacity of 4 500 skiers, are planed to be build together with a cabin lift from Sapareva banya to Panichishte, which probably will reach Kabul peak. It is situated very close to the famous Seven Rila lakes. The way Rila sport bought the 200 decares land, where it will build its hotels, is very doubtful. The only competitor of Rila sport for now is Ukon- Sofia, which is supported by Russian capital. It already bought and reconstructed two hotels in Panichishte and one in Sapareva banya. Their capacity is almost 300 beds. There are around 10 hotels in Panichishte, but most of them are small and not very well maintained. In April last year the municipal council of Sapareva banya sold the huge part of land to Rila sport. The 200 decares land is more that 1/5 of the whole land on Panichishte owned by the municipal. The municipal owned a total amount of land of 980 decares. The offer by the mayor Sasho Ivanov was supported by 12 out of the 13 municipal advisers in Sapareva Banya. The transaction was made without an auction or competition. According to the old Law for the municipal property, which was totally changed in November 2004, was found a gate which allows the municipal to give the land to private firms for the development of the infrastructure. The councils voted Rila sport to pay 2,8 million BGN for three years. The money has to cover the repairment of the streets as well as the drainage system. The bills show that Rila sport bought the land for 14 BGN per square meter. Nobody can say for sure how real this price is. The municipal did not find it necessary to take advice from property agencies, neither to acquire assessment from licensed assessor. The price is not low, it was even over the market price by that time- said the mayor of Sapareve banya Sasho Ivanov. Now the terrains are a lot more expensive, but this is due to the fact that Rila sport started the project. When people discovered that something grand is about to happen in the region that might compete with Borovets and Bansko many businessmen started looking for lands in the region. The rising of prices is normal under these circumstances. Rila Sport also claims to have paid everything legal. We even paid over the market price, just to make sure that the municipal wont be accused in illegal actions, explained Tichomir Trendafilov, who is one of the owners of the firm. If everything is so legal, why the municipal didnt sell those 200 decares on an auction as is usually practiced. These questions are asked by the local people and enterprisers, who also want to invest in Panichishte. Sasho Ivanov explained:We decided not to make an auction, because we were afraid of fake firms, who want to take part in the auction just to dispute in front of the court the results from the auction. This could stop the project for two- three years ahead. According to well- informed people, this result is good for the large owners of equipment and hotel complexes in Bansko and Borovets. They do not like the idea of the construction of another ski resort in the southwestern part of Bulgaria. The owners of Rila sport support the claims of the mayor Sasho Ivanov. Together with the municipal they decided to escape from the auction, just to get over the endless court procedures. Who stands behind Rila sport is still just a legend. The owners of the company with equal shares of 50% are Tihomir Ivanov Trendafiolv and Dobromira Valerieva Teneva- Dashkova, shows the verification of the information system DAKSI. Tihomir Trendafilov is a famous lawyer from Sofia. His name became popular with the second procedure for the privatization of Bulgartabak. He was then representative of one of the four candidates of the tobacco holding- the Russian bank Odencovo, which during the privatization procedure was renamed into Regional perspective. The failure of the attempt for the privatization of Bulgartabac gave birth to numerous gossips. Some considered it as the hidden ace of Michael Chorny, others claimed that the Russian president is standing behind it. At the end Regional perspective gave the weakest price offer for Bulgartabac, although its offers for the development of the tobacco industry, the investments in the production of cigarettes and the programme for the preserving of working places in Bulgartabac were the best. After the court removal of Tobacco capital partners from the horizon, came the opportunity for the Regional perspective to buy Bulgartabac but then the ministry decided to close the procedure. According to well- informed people, no matter how rich Tichomir Trendafilov is, after all 100 million is a lot of money and there is someone who supports him for sure. According to one of the gossips the money will be provided from the ex- minister of transport Plamen Petrov. He was long ago in love with Panichishte, every year he goes to the resort several times to ski on extreme places. Very often together with his classmates he stayed at the Seven Rila Lakes Chalet. "I know very well Plamen and I have asked him to invest in Panichishte many times", said the ex- mayor of Sapareva banya, Cvetan Dimev. He has the opportunity. You know that he is married to the daughter of Canadian multi- millionaire. It wont be a surprise if the money really comes from him. Plamen Petrov, who now is the representative of Bulgaria in the Black sea bank, was not found to comment this. Tihomir Trendafilov denied the participation of the ex- minister in the project. Rila sport will probably not receive the right to have a monopoly in Panichishte. The municipal now has almost 800 thousand decares of land. The assessments show that this land is enough for the construction of 15 thousand beds. The plan of the mayor Sasho Ivanov is the lands to be sold to private investors, on an auction this time. The appetite towards the land is probably going to attract the big fishes in the tourism industry. It is gossiped the brother of the financial minister- George is interested in the region.Interviews Tihomir Trendafilov, the head of the board of directors of "Rila sport": We will invest 100 million euro - Mr. Trendafilov, how did you decide to invest so much money to transform Panichishte in one of the most modern Bulgarian resorts? - We listened to the advice of our Austrian consultants, who assessed the incredible potential for development of Panichishte. - How much money do you plan to invest? People talk about 30 million euro. - 30 million euro is just the first investment in the hotel accommodation, ski pistes and ski equipment. The whole investment will probably be around 100 million euro. - Who will supply those investments? - The investors. - Who are they? - This is a consortium of Austrian and Italian firms. At this stage I would not like to say their names. I can just say that one of them is very serious institutional and the other is a financial investor. The ski equipment supplier is Dopplemayer- a world leader in the industry that supplied Bansko with equipment. The detailed project for the construction of the complex of hotels is now being prepared by another Austrian firm Ecosign. It has made the projects for many modern ski centers in Austria, USA, Switzerland, Norway, Finland and other countries. - Have the investors build other similar projects for winter resorts? - Yes in many European countries. The mayor Sasho Ivanov: We didn't need an auction -Mr. Ivanov, the price for the 200 decares that you have sold to Rila sport is 2,8 million BGN. How did you define it? - We sold it on the price of the land in Panichishte for that period- we are talking about March, April last year. The price which Rila sport paid is the market price of the land. - The square meter turns to be 14 BGN. At the moment the land in Panichishte is sold for 30- 50 euro per square meter. Don t you think that there is a big difference between the prices? - The truth is that the price of the land in the region went high because of the rumors for the serious investments of Rila sport. Before that the prices were very low. - Why didnt you use the services of property agency or licensed assessor? - We decided that this is not necessary. - Why didnt you make an auction for the transaction of those 200 decares? -We didnt need one. Rila sport was the only one interested in investments in Panichishte. After we finished the transaction the other investors came. All this is nice, but where were they before that?
     
  • Mario Domínguez From España
    Sent on 23 December 2022
    I have received the best service imaginable, with great flexibility, I have never received such excellent attention as that received with this company
  • Ana Whitton From UK
    Sent on 06 March 2019
    I wanted to write a proper review of our hotel and experience while in Pamporovo, so this is the addition to my email. We flew to Sofia and the pre booked taxi transport was waiting for us. The driver (Kosta) was wonderful and we felt really safe with him driving. Our flight was late and we arrived to the Dafovska hotel after midnight. The reception was open and they were waiting for us. We were given sandwiches and water and shown to our room. The rooms were spacious and warm, the beds comfortable, bathroom lovely and clean. Plenty of hot water, the towels were changed every day and bins emptied. The hotel has Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room which is 12 leva per person with towels. I would have liked the water in the Jacuzzi to be a bit warmer. We went in every day after skiing, apart from one when we tried a different hotel. Snezanka hotel has a swimming pool too. Its ok but it was too busy for us and we decided to stick with ours. Their changing rooms are very very small and you have to pay extra for the towels. We chose half board. There was many things to choose for breakfast, hot food, pancakes, fruit, cereal & toast. Apple & orange juice as well as many teas and coffees. I have to admit I always take my own tea bags . Not having to cook dinner after a day skiing was very welcome. There isn’t really a great choice for strict vegetarians, but I always managed to find tasty food to eat. You can buy drinks from the bar, or bring your own. There is a free shuttle bus that takes you to ski centre Malina. Very busy ski centre. We met with the representative Nelly there. I would have preferred to have the information on what time to be where when we arrived. Nelly organised our helmets (you need to rent this separately, 5 leva per person), ski equipment and our instructor. Well! I cannot give more glowing review for our instructor! Alex was amazing, very patient, very friendly and knowledgeable. We had lessons in the morning, then lunch, which he was very good to organise with the local bar, then another set of lessons. The food in the bars by the ski school and at the top of the slope was very good. Big portions, quickly delivered. I only needed soup at lunch time which were homemade and delicious. Staff, at the ski centre and gondolas, didn’t always speak a lot of English or smile enough but they were never the less very helpful especially with children and beginners. We skied on our last day too and we were picked up from the hotel by a taxi to be taken to the airport. This taxi driver was not so careful and good at driving and we could not wait to get to Sofia and get out of his car. The whole organisation of our trip with BulgariaSki was excellent! Thank you all
  • Richard From England
    Sent on 10 February 2019
    Have just spent 5 nights at the hotel for the second year. Still same high standards. Had a after ski massage with Kateriua, spot on girl knows her stuff. Highly recommended her.
  • Tommyboy From Scotland
    Sent on 07 April 2018
    5th time skiing in Bansko, have been here over Xmas period and Easter break, hasn't always been a lot of snow but enough to ski for five days. It is a good value for money skiing holiday for those on a budget, food very good value and varied depending on taste, some restaurants better than others, again depending on personal taste. Not to sure what the nightlife is like as we stay in our timeshare resort The Balkan Jewel which is 3 > 4 miles out of Bansko, they operate a free shuttle bus but the last one back from town is at 4.30pm therefore going back into town would require the use of taxis. I am sure we will be back in the future.
  • Mitko From Bulgaria
    Sent on 28 February 2018
    Dear all, Borovets is a nice place to be, but it is risky to ski there. The slopes for advanced skiers are crossing the slopes for beginners and the slopes are negligently prepared with icy spots and snow heap places. This all is a precondition for accidents. The ski lifts are maintained all on the surface, they stop frequently and the gondola had to be scrapped years ago. So be careful when skiing in Borovets!
  • Lene willsea From N.i
    Sent on 28 February 2018
    I love Pomporova. Its our home from home.We first went in 2008, the airport was a portacabin and the lifts were a dangling wooden chair.. The place improves year on year. I would highly recommend it. VERY CHEAP once ur there. But with all upgrades the prices to travel are clinbing. Jumped 200 in two yrs.
  • Neo From United Kingdom
    Sent on 15 February 2018
    The hotel it’s a brilliant idea however there are aspects you would be surprised to stumble upon We arrived late at night about 10pm. Greater by a very polite hostes she kindly provided us with prepacked sandwiches as the restaurant closed at 9pm ( we called in advance to ask if such is possible especially when you have young ckranky from long travel hours in multiple travel vechicles The room very spatious. Bed cover had some suspicious sticky stains that absolutely horrified me at the thought that my children could possibly put their tiny hands on to that. One of the bath robes provided had a black stain on its back, the other bath robe had its pocket thorn out and just hanging. There was a massive flaky, mouldy, damp patch in the corner on the ceiling. The toilet was leaking on the floor. Breakfast food was cold and rancid with a queue for pncakes quite long and very impatient as pancakes was the only food that you could have still warm. Boiled eggs were cold and so hard the yolk was dusty . Fried eggs were dry... won’t even go to details about the rest of the food. As the drinks offered to be purchased by the restaurant aren’t the healthiest of choice for children (all the juices on choice contained added multiple preserving agents and colourants) we asked if possible to have some tap water. It proved to be a terrible mistake, we were told that yes but we would have to pay for it, then told that if they bring a jug for us everyone else will be asking for it, then he brought a manager who was more rude than the server and plainly put it that even if we have children asking for water we would have to buy bottled water and she is not prepared to give us water for free, unnecessarily often stressing the ?free’ word. There are far more many good things that are good about this hotel. It’s main let down it’s restaurant staff who are poor hospitality professionals and frankly plain rude.
  • Nigel Buckle From United Kingdom
    Sent on 17 December 2017
    I have stayed at the Orlovetz for 6 out of the last 8 years and will be returning in 2018 for another week. It has become my 'Winter retreat'. A modern hotel that stands out due to its prominent position and its design. The rooms are comfortable and warm with plenty of wardrobe space and an area to relax. The safe is in the wardrobe, which is really useful for your valuables. There is a decently equipped gym, a small pool (though you can also use the larger pool in the Perelik as well) a Sauna and massage treatments, great for those aches from the first days of skiing ! The restaurant was made larger a couple of years ago and now accommodates more guests. Both breakfast and dinner are buffet style, the food, in general, is of good quality and there usually at least four different options at dinner. There is a small bar in the lobby area and a Piano Bar on the top floor that has stunning views across the surrounding district. As it is the sister hotel to the Perelik there is a tunnelway that links the two and saves you going out in the snow if you choose to use the alternative facilities provided there. One of them being 'The Pub' (previously known as the Pampi Bar) plus a couple of night clubs and a bowling alley. Also as the Orlovetz is just across from the Schnezanka it is only a short walk to Daks Bar, often used as the first mornings meeting place for your ski passes etc.,which is a lively night spot with live music and very popular. In all a great Hotel within a great small town, try it , Pamper yourself !
  • Liz From England
    Sent on 19 November 2017
    I went with my daughter January 2018. I was a cheap half board flights included and we wasn’t expecting much.... but what a fantastic week we had!! Stayed at the Lion hotel which is about a 10-15 minute walk to the slopes/town. A free shuttle is provide by the hotel. The hotel and staff are lovely. The food was always varied and hot. My daughter and I are vegetarians and in only two nights were we disappointed with the choice - but we heaped up on pudding so didn’t go hungry. Am lucky enough to be going back in 2018.
  • val From United Kingdom
    Sent on 15 February 2017
    group of us just back from borovets.we arrived 4th feb 2017 and departed 11th feb.had a great time.hotel rila was fab.great gym and spa.food was good.ski school was great.we had a really good instructor Martin Hristov.he was really good with everyone took time to try and learn everyone.we all had a great time thankyou.will be back next yearx
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