With a small majority, they refused to sell land to the German group Quartzwerke and thus blocked the construction of the most modern quartz processing plant in Europe.
With a minimum majority, the municipal council in Dulovo rejected at its last meeting the application of Kaolin EAD for the sale of several plots of land that are privately owned by the municipality.
The kaolin and quartz sand processing plant in Dulovo had the potential to become an anchor for attracting other investors in the industry. VISUALIZATION: Quarterly
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Refusing to sell the plots, the councilors of the small municipality in Silistra district stopped a key project of the major German investor in our country “Kvartswerke”.
The company has been planning for years
the construction of a new plant in Dulovo
for processing kaolin and quartz sand.
Kaolin planned to invest more than 80m euros in the region to develop two deposits of quartz-kaolin raw material, build a railway link and other transport infrastructure, including a 30km-long gas pipeline to Dulovo, as well as the construction of the processing plant itself. .
The realization of the investment would guarantee the creation of 250 jobs directly in the enterprise and several hundred more in ancillary activities. After the construction of the plant
a sharp revival of the whole region was expected
by attracting additional investment
in the fields of ceramics and glass industry.
“In recent years we have worked intensively for the implementation of our project in close cooperation with the municipality of Dulovo. This would be a huge step not only for our company, but for the whole region. We believed that by creating secure jobs and guaranteed payments of significant taxes and concession fees we will create a real and long-term perspective for the future economic growth of the municipality “, commented to” 24 Chasa “the Chief Executive Officer of” Kaolin “Dr. Wolf Harlfinger.
He did not hide his disappointment with the decision of the local parliament in Dulovo. From his words it became clear that
the German concern is waiting, but it will
reconsider its priorities
“We have potential for development, both in Bulgaria and abroad. We will now give priority to our other projects, “Harlfinger added.
With its investment in Northeastern Bulgaria, Kaolin planned to build the most modern plant for processing kaolin and quartz sand in Europe.
“The raw material from the Dulovo deposit is specific and not easy to process, which was a particular design challenge.
For our company group, this investment is a huge step. This is the largest single investment in a plant that we have made in the entire 130-year history of Kvartsverke. For our part, with this act we are literally committing ourselves to the Dulovo region and to Bulgaria “, said at the end of September for” 24 Chasa “Robert Lindemann-Burke, the managing partner of” Quartzwerke “and chairman of the Supervisory Board of” Kaolin “EAD.
For the construction of the plant the company received from the Ministry of Economy a certificate for investor class “A”.
“We intend to start with 120 employees and create at least as many jobs for subcontractors and suppliers. In addition, our history has proven that with our factories we are an anchor investor. Other factories are usually housed around our factories, especially those that use our products. It is no coincidence that Bulgaria has such a well-developed ceramic and glass industry, “Lindemann-Burke commented at the time.
He gave the example of Ukraine and Russia, where Kvartsverke is implementing similar projects in areas with high unemployment such as Dulovo. The result was that the surrounding settlements prospered and now belong to the group of towns and villages with the highest standard of living.
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