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On November 6, an Italian delegation visited Velingrad with a business proposal to create a joint company to invest in repair and maintenance of the fourth-class road network from the region. The idea is of the company Astral, which is a joint-stock company of the largest Italian region Lazio with the capital city of Rome. She proposes that the mayors of the region unite in a consortium that, with the help of Astral, will reach money from the European structural funds in order to improve the system of municipal roads. Specifically in our region, the object of interest is the road from Cerovo, where it deviates from the highway, to Yakoruda.
In the Italian delegation were the MP Giambini, who is also a member of the administrative board of Astral, the president of the firm Andrea Bodi and Gabriele Parente, who is responsible for Italian investments and projects in Bulgaria. After an hour delay, the guests were welcomed in front of the municipality building with the brass orchestra and the cheerleading squad by the chairman of the Municipal Council - Velingrad Nedzhat Kehayov, the Mayor of Rakitovo Municipality Dimitar Andonov, municipal councilors from Velingrad and Yakoruda. Interim Mayor Stoyan Dulev did not accept the invitation to meet with the Italian delegation.
The host of the visit was the Center for Business and Information-Agency for Regional Development with Executive Director Vaska Milusheva. CBI-ARR's contacts with Mr. Parente are not from yesterday and have already borne fruit - with its help this spring local products were shown with success at an exhibition in Trieste. Mr. Parente himself recalled this and stressed that this is how Velingrad travels abroad and that our city is the perfect place for a holiday.
Dzhambini put the visit in Velingrad in a broader context, recalling that a few days ago Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha signed the new European Constitution in Rome and expressed the desire for Bulgaria to have its important place in Europe. He wished for contacts like this to become reciprocal opportunities for business cooperation and told about the meeting with the regional governor Ivan Dimitrov, at which the hypothesis of creating a joint venture between the mayors from the region and Astral was proposed. We do not offer ourselves as a company that comes to take away manpower, but as an opportunity for investment through European funds, the MP stressed. And the decision whether we continue together will be made by the mayors and the district governor. With compliments for our wonderful land started his speech the President of Astral Andrea Bodie. He explained that the company has been in existence for more than a year with a mission to maintain the road infrastructure in Lazio district and that he is reinvesting his profits in additional activities. They are heading to the future EU member state Bulgaria to support the development of the territory by improving infrastructure. Moreover, Italy has special funds for similar activities on the Balkan Peninsula. Surprisingly for the attendees, Mr. Bodie showed that he was familiar with the project for the winter center "Sutka" and highly appreciated the idea. He himself was the manager of the Ski World Cup in Italy and explained that he was aware of how much is earned from winter and snow. With our help, you can develop the entire infrastructure of the Sutka project and even think of a small airport to gather more tourists, wished Andrea Bodie.
Nejat Kehayov welcomed the guests with "Welcome to Velingrad" and presented to them the vision for the development of our municipality as a tourist center. For economic reasons, in the last 15 years Velingrad has retreated from its conquered position as a national and international resort. In order to overcome this problem, a good road network must be built in the first place. Now the flow of tourists to Bansko, Sandanski, Greece does not pass through here due to the critically poor condition of the road. Therefore, your intentions for us are hope and chance, we will be happy to create a joint company, announced the chairman of the Municipal Council. The same position was taken by the Mayor of Rakitovo Dimitar Andonov, who presented the tourist potential of the neighboring municipality. The Italian guests stayed at the Palace and took a short tour of the city. We will expect the final decision on whether our region will win the opportunity for European money to come to repair the roads. Because the Astral delegation has held similar meetings in 4 areas and the choice of partners is forthcoming.
Elena Baeva