Serta Bulgaria inaugurated the third extension of its Kardzhali plant. The investment worth BGN 15 million will create 100 new jobs.
The caretaker Minister of Economy and Industry, Nikola Stoyanov, who attended the ceremony, said that the company is one of the many positive examples in the French-Bulgarian economic relations. He pointed out that in two decades the enterprise has become the second largest in the sector and today employs 700 people. "This investment is the most definite proof that the company's development plans are linked to Bulgaria and the Kardzhali region," Stoyanov said.
Products from the plant in Kardzhali are exported to the EU, Brazil, Argentina, China, and the United States.
"The growth of Bulgaria's GDP in 2022 is mainly due to the increase in the Gross Value Added of Bulgarian industry by over 17% year-on-year," Stoyanov said, adding that the value of the industry sector is more than BGN 11 billion, and most of the production is export oriented.
The event was attended by Kardzhali Municipality Mayor Hasan Azis, the Regional Governor Daniel Delchev, the French Ambassador to Bulgaria H.E. Joel Meyer, the Economic Counsellor to the French Mission in Bulgaria Emmanuelle Boulestreau, the Chair and the Executive Director of the French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Stephane Delahaye and Vessela Todorova-Mosettig, the CEO of Serta-Group Cyrille Clement, the representative of the shareholders of the Serta Group Gregoire de Castelnau.
Serta Bulgaria AD has been operating in Bulgaria since 2003, when it acquired the Bulgarian company Pnevmatika, founded in 1964. Currently, the Kardzhali plant produces components for agricultural and road construction machinery.