Archived Articles

Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

Global Real Estate Project
News Index

Directories
  Int'l Realty
  US Realty

After the collapse of communism in Easter Europe in 1989, local governments realized very soon that they could hardly compete with western companies in businesses like heavy machinery construction, biotechnologies or electronics. Instead of this, they found out the positive sides of the tourism and the agriculture as new sources of incomes. Until now they tried to attract the solvent western tourists and visitors mainly using the old-fashioned infrastructures built in the 80s or earlier. The new projects funneling western capitals were focused either on the privatization of the existing facilities or on the building of modern hotels in the capital cities and in other major towns.

Such slow development of the tourist business may change soon with the building of new recreation villages in Eastern Europe, aimed to attract western visitors all year long. The first project of this kind, called Marina Lipno, has been developing in the southern parts of the Czech Republic. The Dutch investor Ingenieursburo Arnhem B.V. has put so far in the project more than $15 million. The first phase which will open in October, will offer 94 apartments in seven buildings surrounding the bay of the nearby dam lake, while the rest of the apartments (the total number exceeds 240) and an aqua park will arrive at the end of 2001. Tennis courts and the other facilities are scheduled to open in 2002.

Ingenieursburo Arnhem B.V. has limited its role to developer and investor in the project, and apartments in Marina Lipno already built have been sold exclusively to Dutch citizens via property cooperatives in order to detour the Czech ownership laws. In Czech Republic only resident nationals can own and lease both land and buildings. The non-residents cannot own but can lease land and buildings. If a foreign national wants to purchase some property s/he must have a company already registered in the local Business Court. S/he also can purchase land or building if s/he owns a Czech company. In this case the local company itself will be the owner of the real estate. In Marina Lipno the investor has set up a separate company for each apartment building that has allowed the Dutch firm to invest in the project.

Operation of the whole complex was handed over to Dutch recreational parks operator Landal Green Parks. Landal already operates 10 parks in Holland and five in Germany, with annual revenues of $75 million. Lipno will be its first park in Central and Eastern Europe. Landal hopes that when completed, the Marina Lipno recreation park and subsidiary facilities will receive up to 225 000 overnight visits a year. That isn't a bad news if we take into account that the local population of the village of Lipno on the Vltava river dam numbers only 503 residents.

Construction works began in the middle of 1998, and for the greatest surprise of the investor, it took less than six months for him to sell the first 94 apartments, with the marketing campaign in the Netherlands beginning in November 1999. Depending on their size, the furnished apartments have been sold for $40 000-$80 000 each and some Dutch customers bought as many as five of them. Only four of the apartments are expected to be occupied directly by the owners, with all of the remaining owners hoping to benefit from renting the properties to tourists all year long. Most of the 152 apartments that have to be built in the second phase are already reserved, even though construction works for them are scheduled to begin only later this year.

So far the project is doing well and the Dutch investor wants to use it as a showcase for building a similar town on Lake Balaton in the other East European country - Hungary.

Such projects can not only attract foreign tourists but also to solve some huge social and economic problems of the former communist states in Eastern Europe. The major of these problems is depopulation of rural areas. In the different countries of the region the population occupied in the farm sector can attain almost 30 percent of the total working force. In the European Union (EU), where many of the East European countries want to enter before the turn of the next decade, the average percent is 2-3 times lower. It's unbelievable that EU could allow new members with so big farm populations to benefit from its generous agricultural funds.

It's always easier to find out some problem than to find out how to solve it. If Eastern Europe diminish its farm population by half, that will mean millions of new unemployed who will have to choose between migration to the local cities or abroad. The newly built recreation parks and villages in the region can solve at least some of the most acute social problems related to the farm population diminishment. The cities will be saved from further overcrowding. The former farmers will remain in their villages. They will develop the local tourist infrastructures and alternative income sources. The businesses will be clear by ecological standards so the next step will be that the new tourist facilities will attract skilled workers from the bigger cities.

--------------------

See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Europe.