Sozopol municipality plans major sea resort development

Dnevnik News

The strip of land between coastal city Sozopol and its adjacent village of Chernomorets will be developed into a beach resort, said newly appointed Sozopol mayor Panayot Reizi.

The proposals for the construction in the area of beachfront villas, aqua park, three golf courses and a small runway for charter planes have been included in the revised general zoning plan of the city and should be presented to the municipal council within the next two weeks.

Reizi said there is also considerable interest on the part of investors towards the St. Ivan and St. Kirik islands off Sozopol.

The projects will be implemented on private unzoned agricultural land. Construction will be limited in size to small farmstead-type house with on more than 2-3 floors.

The land earmarked for development includes the Gradina and Kavatsi camping sites.

Under the revised zoning plan, the Sozopol area should have no more than 150,000 population during the peak of the summer season.

The planned air strip will be built on municipal land between the villages of Ravna Gora and Izvor. Reizi said the municipality is looking for an investor to implement the project as a public-private partnership.

The existing Sozopol fish port will be signed over to a concessionaire and developed as a yacht marina.

The municipality sees potential to develop the St Ivan island into a tourist destination on the strength of its archeological heritage.

The local government is also trying to get its hands on the St Kirik island which is a decommissioned military base. It has been declared a national heritage site.

The municipality said projects are underway to raise financing for the infrastructure upgrade that the area will need in light of the large-scale development plans.

Austria's EVN, which owns the regional power distributor, also has a serious investment program for the area.

The municipality expects the construction of two area dams - Rakov Dol and Indzhe Voivoda, to kick off soon.