Bulgaria grants First Class Investor certificate to Turkish glass maker Sisecam

The certificate was awarded for the 367 mln lev project of the Turkish company for the construction in Targovishte, North-eastern Bulgaria, of production units for sheet and tempered glass, glassware and mirrors.

After the launch of all production units, Sisecam is expected to reach annual revenues of $147 mln, moving up to the position of the world's no.2 glass maker.
The Bulgarian state has invested 13.5 mln levs in the infrastructure that was put in place for the Sisecam project in Targovishte.

The glassware factory was the first to start operation earlier this year. It is outfitted with the world's biggest furnace for household glassware with a daily capacity of 200 tons. The $75 mln household glassware factory has eight manufacturing lines and a capacity to make 54,000 tons, i.e. 235 mln items, annually. They will be marketed under the Pasabahci brand.

The sheet glass unit will have an annual capacity of 200,000 tons and is expected to begin work in March 2006. The tempered glass and mirror plants - with annual capacity of 2.3 mln and 2.5 mln sq m, will go into operation in the second half of next year.