site.btaAutomation Technology Leader Festo to Put Lv 20 Mln in Sofia Plant

Leading multinational automation technology supplier Festo will invest 20 million leva in its Sofia plant in 2022. This transpired during a meeting between Bulgaria's Innovation and Growth Minister Daniel Lorer and Georgi Atanasov, General Manager of Festo Production EOOD, the Bulgarian subsidiary of German-based Festo AG&Co. KG.

The Festo brand stands for innovation and technology. The company's research and development centre in Bulgaria is one of its most successful worldwide. The centre's staff will be increased by over 30 per cent this year, to make it the second-largest one in the Festo group after the R&D centre at the company headquarters in Esslingen am Neckar, in the south of Germany.

Lorer and Atanasov discussed Festo's plans. Atanasov pointed to administrative barriers facing the company at the municipal level and spoke about staff shortage.

Festo Production EOOD manufactures process automation components, flow and pressure sensors, connecting cables and electric actuators. The plant employs a staff of over 1,200, more than 250 of them hired during the last year. The local R&D centre has over 100 employees working in the field of computer software and hardware, mechanics and laboratory testing.