PRESENTATION OF YAMBOL MUNICIPALITY 8600 Yambol city No.7, G. S. Rakovski Str. Phone: (++359) 46 662 266 Fax: (++359) 46 662 247 Web site: http://www.obshtinayambol.org General information and infrastructure Territory - 91 sq. km Number of population centers - 1 Population - 93,499 Administrative center - Yambol city (specific status) Yambol city is the administrative center of Yambol Municipality. It is located in the southeast part of Bulgaria, in Tundzha-Strandzha Lowland. The city has been built on both banks of Tundzha River, which is the fourth biggest river in the country. Yambol Municipality has a unique structure - it is a city- municipality, which borders on the towns and villages of Tundzha Municipality on all sides. There are a seaport and airport 92 km away from Yambol (in Burgas city). Varna seaport and airport are 189 km away from Yambol. The river port at Ruse is located 185 km north from Yambol. Lesovo - Hamzabeyli border control point with Turkey, which is located 60 km away from the city, is being built. After its opening this will be shortest way between Near East and Western Europe. The automobile and railroad transport is well developed and Trakia highway will be passing 5 km to north from Yambol. The structure of the transport connections favors the establishment and development of international business contacts. Yambol Municipality is served by three types of public transport: railroad, bus and taxis. The industrial zone and a large part of the city have been converted to natural gas, and the public administrative sector is almost fully converted to natural gas. The city has a central heating company with large capacity. 34 km electric power lines and 158 km cable net have been built in Yambol city. The Municipality water supply system is 283 km long. The telecommunication infrastructure is in excellent condition. There is 110 km primary and about 300 km secondary cable net laid in Yambol. More than 7,000 subscriber telephones are digital and the existing analogue Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) ones are being transformed into digital, too. All the territory of the city is covered by the three cell phone operators. Possibilities exist for new communication technologies - IP telephony. Yambol is the main center for providing Internet services for Yambol region. There is equipment for high speed Internet in the city and a large number of computer software and hardware companies operate there. Economy and business Production of food, beverages and tobacco products is a traditionally leading branch in Yambol Municipality industry and most of the entities operate in that branch. Yambol Hliab OOD, Hleboproizvodstvo i Sladkarstvo OOD, Hranitelnovkusov Kombinat AD, Globus - N. Vasilev ET and other companies produce bread and confectionary and sell their products in neighboring regions and municipalities. The companies for production of meat, sausages and other meat products Mesokombinat Yambol, Tagara ET and Bai Techo ET meet all current requirements. Chubra OOD poultry farm is the leader in chicken meat production in the Municipality. Papas - Olio AD - Bulgarian - Greek joint-stock company - is not only regional but also national leader in the production of refined butter, cooking oil and other oil products and it has branches in several regions of the country. Fruits and vegetables processing is especially important for the industry in the Municipality. Efeb OOD - frееzing of salted fruits and vegetables, Top Konserv AD - ground-onion powder and vegetable cans, Vidona AD - production of pepper relish, mayonnaise, tomato paste and cooking oil bottling, and the newly opened canning factory SATKO are leading in that branch. Karil i Tania OOD with Bulgarian - Italian participation is one of the biggest ice-cream factories on the Balkan Peninsula. The share of milk and dairy products raises - the companies in this branch are Sakarela, Bulgarian Yogurt, Kabile LB and others. There is a potential for developing the food and chemical industries and machine building in Yambol Municipality. Fifty companies work in Production of Textile and Textile Articles branch and Clothing Manufacturing in Yambol Municipality. Tundzha AD for production of cotton fabrics, Yasha EOOD, Nia Stile EOOD, Simona 13 EOOD and R & M Stile EOOD for outer garments manufacturing, Kabile EOOD for manufacturing of shirts, blouses and other underclothes, Cottons Industry Bulgaria AD and Kara - George Georgiev ET for child clothing manufacturing are leading in that branch. Seven companies for shoes manufacturing operate in Yambol Municipality. Dama Pika - Todor Slavov ET, TPK George Damianov, Stile OOD are the leading companies here. Stara Izba 1924 AD, Chateau Ruco AD and Vinprom Yambol companies have solid positions in wine and liquor production. There is a high increase of the investments in Production of Rubber and Plastic Articles branch. The leading enterprises are Izogomaterm - Gomaplast OOD, Zavod za Tehnicheski I Kauchukovi Izdelia (Technical and Rubber Articles Plant) - Yambol. Hidroelementi i Sistemi AD (Hydraulic Elements and Systems AD) is indisputable leader in Yambol machine building. They produce pumps and compressors, hydraulic cylinders - single-acting and double-acting piston ones, ram cylinders, as well as telescopic articles and systems. The leading companies are: Promishlena Energetika AD - manufacturing steam boilers, Kalibrovani Stomani AD - specialized in wire articles production and Vacuum El System OOD - design, manufacturing and trading of vacuum pumps, units and components for them, electrical equipment of structures, machines, buildings, electric control of processes, metal structures, body articles and parts; Hydrosystem EOOD - production of pumps and compressors; Sinter M AD and Metalokeramika OOD - manufacturing of articles using powder metallurgy method. The following companies have good positions on the market and relatively big volume of furniture manufacturing: Retrouyut - Sonya Georgieva ET, Yordan Mishev AD and Hegra D AD. Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry branch, where a very big part of the gross added value in the region has been generated, is of crucial importance for the region. This branch has exceptional strategic importance because it secures raw materials for the most important and mainstay industry branch - Food, Beverages and Tobacco Production. Agrotehimpex 98 AD, Kolhida AD, Reproductor po Svinevadstvo AD, State Game Unit companies, and others are leading in that branch. Yambol industrial zone is mainly urbanized territory with well developed transport, infrastructure and communications and availability of a lot of qualified workers. The geographic position of the city is favorable for the development of the business, one of the main advantages for the development of the companies being the fully gasified industrial zone, which provides alternatives for the selection of an energy source. More than ten municipal plots are available for purchasing in Yambol industrial zone. Most of them have area of more than 10 000 sq. m. The plots are detached in regulated land properties, have municipal property certificates and are suitable for building of production plants. The industrial zone offers all kinds of community and public utility services. Strategic projects and opportunities for foreign investments Yambol Municipality has developed several large-scale projects and looks for financial resources and investments for their implementation: Building of full water cycle in Yambol and waste-water treatment plant; Completing the building intended for hospital that was started 20 years ago; Repair and reconstruction of the road network; Completing the administrative building in the city center; Building a residential complex with one- and two-storey houses for the ethnical minorities; Entertainment complex in the city park. Five municipal companies are to be privatized in 2005, one of them being for bus public transport. Natural sights and monuments of culture There are two protected natural areas within the municipal boundaries: Ormana countryside, which is located 2 km away from Yambol, where Loddon Lily and meadow-saffron fields can be found; Forestry Park on Borovets Hill in the city. The History Museum in Yambol has a complex display that follows the history of the city and region from the Neolith till nowadays. The Drama unique exhibit with fragments of Mycenaean ceramics and clay seal with the so-called linear writing B can be seen in the museum. In Yambol Municipality one can see: a Roman Bath, Yambol Medieval Fortress, the single preserved covered market Bezisten from XV C., Eski Mosque Ottoman temple, one of the biggest art galleries with more than 3,500 pictures and sculptures, and in St George Church there is a unique wooden iconostasis mastered by Debar school icon-painters. The earliest relics from settlement life have been discovered in the tenths of prehistoric settlement mounds. Even in the contemporary Yambol city there are relics from the so-called Rashev and Marchev hills, which date back to the neolith, eolith and bronze ages. Some of the findings discovered there are kept now in the Louvre in Paris and in the Museum of Archeology in Sofia. Most of those valuable exhibits are in possession of the History Museum in Yambol. In the prehistoric hill next to Drama Village (30 km away from Yambol) fragments of Mycenaean ceramics and clay seal with the so-called linear writing B have been found. An ancient settlement existed within the boundaries of the contemporary city. It is presumed that in 293 Emperor Diocletian named the city Diospolis (the city of Zeus). Part of the impressive fortress walls and towers of mediaeval Yambol have been preserved till nowadays. Two architectural monuments from XV century - the Bezisten, which is the only one well preserved covered market in Bulgaria and Eski Mosque Ottoman temple have been preserved, too. St George and St Trinity churches are well preserved. St Alexander Nevski church - the first monument of the Bulgarian-Russian friendship in Bulgaria was built on Bakadjik Peak. In the first half of XX century Yambol was famous for its mineral water and mineral bath, for the unique rail tram pulled by horses, the famous pheasant farm, the huge Zeppelin shed of 1917 and others. Associations, memberships, twin-cities and partnerships Yambol Municipality is twinned with Villejuif city, France, the cooperation being in the field of education and culture and having 30 years of history by now. Other twin cities of Yambol are Berdiansk, Ukraine and Izhevsk, Russia. With the Polish Cheradz the connections go back to 1980. Yambol has a memorandum for cooperation with the Romanian city Targu Zhiu where the two municipalities stake on cultural and business exchange. Twinning with several municipalities from neighboring Turkey is forthcoming.