Bulgaria Hotel Owners Set up Own Bank to Deal with Crisis

The President of the Bulgarian Association of Hotel and Restaurant Owners, Blagoy Ragin, believes the only way to deal with the negative effects of the economic crisis is to create a hotel owners' bank. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian hotel owners are planning to set up their own bank as a way to escape the high interest rates at times of economic crisis.

The news was announced by the President of the Bulgarian Association of Hotel and Restaurant Owners, Blagoy Ragin.

The idea belongs to the hotel owner in the Black Sea beach resort “Golden Sands,” Georgi Shterev, and had received the support of over 100 counterparts from top Bulgarian tourist destinations such as “Golden Sands,” the other major beach resort “Sunny Beach,” the winter resorts of Bansko, Chepelare, Smolyan and Ribaritsa, the SPA centers of Velingrad, and Sandanski, the cities of Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Dobrich.

All hotel owners, who wish to become members of the new financial institution, will have to deposit BGN 50 000, so that with 200 of all 1 000 members of the Association, the bank can reach the minimum required capital of BGN 10 M, Ragin explains.

The plan is for the new bank to buy out the default loans and grant new ones with interest rate 2% lower than the commercial banks.

Ragin believes that those reluctant to join and transfer their credits are doomed to succumb to the crisis.

The hotel owners are further negotiating with the Bulgarian Construction Chamber, which also announced plans to establish their own financial institution.

 

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