Coca-Cola HBC To Invest 20 mln Euro in Its Production Factory Near Sofia
Industry: multinational beverage corporation, and manufacturer, retailer, and marketer of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups
In Sofia since: 1992
Employees: 2 100
Investment: 550 million euro
since the establishment of the company in Sofia
The Bulgarian unit of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC) announced it will invest 20 million euro by early 2019 to expand its factory operations located 15 km away from Sofia, in Kostinbrod. The new investment will increase the company’s production capacity by 30%. Coca-Cola also revealed its plans to open an IT development center in the capital. The intelligent technology development centre will develop data analysis and training solutions, mobile applications and software products for information security, marketing, financial and technical activities of the manufacturer. The products of the development hub in Sofia will be used globally, with the main focus on the markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The investment comes shortly after the company made the decision to relocate all its Finance and HR working places from Weimar, Germany to Bulgaria. The aim of the new investment is to make the Sofia-based manufacturing plant a regional center and to export production to other countries in the region and to more distant countries.
Coca-Cola in Bulgaria
The conglomerate celebrates its 25th Anniversary on the Bulgarian market, but the soft drink has been manufactured in Bulgaria since 1965, being the first communist country to produce Coca-Cola. The 750 ml glass bottle is fully designed by the Bulgarian team of the company and the production of Cyrillic bottles range of the soft drink is a complete precedent. The HBC investment for the years of presence on the local market is close to 550 million euro. Currently, the company employs some 2 100 people. Annually, Coca-Cola HBC produces over 320 million liters in its factory near Sofia.
