site.btaInvestor Goes ahead with Plan to Build State-of-the-Art Quartz Sand Plant in NE Town of Dulovo

An investor has gone ahead with plans to build a state-of-the-art quartz sand plant in the northeastern town of Dulovo. The local Town Hall told BTA that the municipal council has delayed the construction of the factory by refusing to sell the necessary land to the investment company, but the investor is determined to go ahead with the plan and has submitted the investment proposal to the competent environmental authorities.

The eco-inspectorate has yet to decide whether an Environmental Impact Assessment is necessary.

The company plans to invest more than EUR 80 million to develop two deposits of quartz-kaolin raw material in the Dulovo region, to build a rail link and other transport infrastructure, including a more than 30 kilometres long gas pipeline to Dulovo, and to build the processing plant itself.

The investment is expected to create several hundred jobs at the plant and associated activities. It should lead to the revitalisation of the whole region by attracting further investment in the ceramics and glass industries, said the Town Hall.

Once kaolin mining starts, about BGN 1.5 million a year are expected to flow into the municipality's budget in the form of concession fees.

The described plans match a project announced by Kaolin EAD. CEO Wolf Harlfinger said in a late 2021 interview on Bloomberg TV that his company intends to build a quartz sand plant in Dulovo, which he said would be the most modern and efficient one in Europe or perhaps in the world. He also said the company intends to invest around EUR 80 million and create between 220 and 250 jobs in the region.