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Summary of Project Information (SPI) |
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| Project number | 9995 |
| Project name | Florina Bulgaria S.A. |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Sector | Food & Beverages |
| Department | Agribusiness |
| Company name | Florina Bulgaria S.A. |
| Environmental category | B |
| Date disclosed | April 19, 2000 |
| Status | Completed |
| Previous Events | Invested: April 11, 2001
Signed: September 28, 2000
Approved: June 30, 2000 |
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The project sponsor is Florina-A. Honeos, which owns 93% of the shares of Florina Bulgaria S.A. Florina-A. Honeos S.A. is a medium sized family owned Greek company with over 40 years of experience in the fruit and soft drinks industry.
- Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment
Total project cost is estimated at $12.9 million. The IFC loan of $3.6 million will finance 28% of the investment.
Location of project and Description of site
The facility is located on a 37,000 mē site located in a light industrial neighborhood on the outskirts of Sofia.
- Description of Company and Purpose of Project
The project will support the establishment of an integrated fruit juice and carbonated drinks company in Bulgaria. Established originally in 1993 as an importer of high quality juices from its Greek partner Florina-A. Honeos, Florina Bulgaria S.A. (Florina) is today Bulgaria's third fruit juice producer by size and the local market leader for premium quality juices with its existing strong brand name and extensive distribution network.
In order to take advantage of a steadily growing fruit drink market, Florina Bulgaria S.A. started the project by acquiring a redundant bread factory in 1998, through privatization, and converting it into a juice packing plant equipped with a Tetra Pak juice filling line operational as of mid-1999. In a second phase, Florina Bulgaria S.A. will integrate peach and apricot purees production using local fresh fruit, and create a soft drink production line in order to achieve economies of scale and optimize assets utilization. The project will also involve an orchard development program with expected support from IFC/Greek Trust Funds, and financing of additional delivery vans and working capital needs.
Given that Bulgaria remains a difficult environment for foreign direct investment, IFC’s participation in the project provides comfort to the sponsor in its first major plant investment outside of Greece. In addition, IFC will provide Florina Bulgaria S.A. with long-term funding that otherwise would not be available at reasonable terms, and is helping the company mobilize funding to complete the financial plan. IFC has also been instrumental in reviewing with the sponsors the risks and issues in particular related to local raw material supply. As part of the project, IFC will assist Florina Bulgaria S.A. in structuring a technical assistance program for orchard development, in particular, peach and apricot production, to deter the gradually decreasing orchards production in Bulgaria following ten years of agricultural neglect.
The project is expected to have strong developmental impact on the Bulgarian agricultural sector and economy. It will help create and maintain about 135 direct and indirect jobs. In addition, it will contribute to the rejuvenation of the fruit sector in Bulgaria by creating a consistent level of demand for local fruits, and encouraging, through an orchard development program, private small farmers to further develop and expand their orchards after many years of neglect. It also promotes the production of value added products capitalizing on Bulgaria's traditionally strong fruit production sector, and supports local entrepreneurship as well as technology transfer by importing the latest fruit processing and packaging equipment and training Bulgarian nationals to international standards in quality control, operational, and marketing skills.
- Environmental Category and Issues
This is a category B project according to IFC's environmental and social review procedure and the following potential issues were considered during appraisal: potential contamination of the site from past uses, pesticide residues, labor practices, sustainability of water supply, liquid effluent treatment and solid waste disposal, air emissions, use of CFCs in refrigeration systems, fire prevention and emergency response, and general workplace health and safety.
The project is located in an industrial area and prior use of the site was for a bakery. Detailed site and plant investigation has confirmed that there is no risk of prior contamination and the development of the site complies with local and national planning controls and requirements. The sponsor has established operational procedures that monitor the use of pesticides and the company will develop contracts that specify details of pesticide use and management. Water supply for the plant is sustainable and abstraction from the company's on site well will not affect others. The treatment and disposal of waste effluents, solid waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials conforms with WBG requirements.
The site has a health unit and on site medical facilities and staff. Additionally, the company is developing an Emergency Response Plan and a fire safety and evacuation plan has been introduced as per Bulgarian legal requirements.
Based on its review of available information regarding potential environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures, IFC concludes that Florina Bulgaria's proposed project is designed to meet World Bank Group's environmental, health, and safety policies and guidelines as well as host country requirements.
- The is from the InfoShop.
Host country location of environmental documentsAt the Company's factory in Sofia:
20 Mann Drinov Str.,
1504 Sofia,
Bulgaria.
Date SPI sent to InfoShop April 19, 2000
“This Summary of Project Information is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of consideration of the proposed transaction by the Corporation’s Board of Directors. It is provided for the purpose of enhancing the transparency of IFC’s activities and should not be construed as presuming the outcome of IFC Board consideration.”
For Additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -
Telephone: (202) 473-7711
Fax: (202) 974-4384 |
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| Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org/projects and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html). |
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