Holding Varna Acquires 2 Hotels of Bankrupt Tour Operator The controversial Holding Varna, which is connected with Varna-based security group TIM, has acquired two hotels formerly owned by Alma Tour, a Bulgarian tour operator that went bankrupt in 2011. Holding Varna, which is part of Chimimport, a major Bulgarian business operator, has thus became the owner of Hotel Atlas in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort Golden Sands and Hotel Astera Bansko (formerly known as Templar) in the ski resort of Bansko, Dnevnik reported citing an announcement of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Holding Varna has made the acquisitions through its subsidiaries MC Food Varna and Canisto Matti, which paid off Alma Tours debts to UniCredit Bulbank, Central Cooperative Bank, and the Bulgaria Air airline, the last two also known to be connected with TIM. Alma Tour was declared bankrupt in 2011 at the request of UniCredit Bulbank and Central Cooperative Bank because of failure to pay back its debts, amidst a diplomatic crisis as Bulgaria Air refused to carry out Alma Tour's charter flights and hundreds of Russian and Finnish tourists got stranded at Bulgaria's Black Sea airports. Secret US diplomatic cables from the US Embassy in Sofia leaked on WikiLeaks have mentioned TIM as one of the major organized crime groups in Bulgaria. None of TIM's activities has been investigated or prosecuted to date. Holding Varna has been notorious with its plans for resort construction in Varna's Maritime Garden, one of the largest parks in Bulgaria considered a national tourism attraction, which spurred civic protests in Varna, Bulgaria's largest port and Black Sea city.
Source: Capital (02.01.2013)

Bulgaria’s Holding Varna acquired Alma Tour’s hotels Holding Varna Plc, part of the Chimimport Group, officially acquired two hotels of bankrupt tour operator Alma Tour. In an announcement to BSE-Sofia on Friday the holding said it is the new owner of the Atlas Hotel in the Golden Sands summer resort and the Astera Bansko Hotel (the new name of the Templar Hotel) in the ski resort of Bansko. The two hotels were acquired by subsidiary companies of the holding - MS Food Varna and Kanisto-Mati, which covered the outstanding debts of Alma Tour to UniCredit Bulbank, Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) and Bulgaria Air. By request of the two banks, a year earlier Alma Tour was declared insolvent due to non-performing loans. The sale of the Templar Hotel was defined by private enforcement agents as the top deal of 2012 due to the record high price offered by its creditors – BGN 22 million. The buyers were two companies from the Chimimport Group – Finance Consulting and Chimimport Invest that undertook debts for BGN 13.9 million from the initial creditors of the travel company – UniCredit Bulbank and CCB. The price paid was slightly less than BGN 18 million, probably due to the penalties accumulated. The Atlas Hotel was acquired following a similar scheme. The situation around it was slightly more complicated due to Alma Tour’s attempt to transfer the hotel to Alpis Engineering and Hidrostroy Invest. However, the real estate was sold at a public tender in September, 2012, and is now officially owned by the Chimiport Group. The price paid on the hotel was BGN 20.3 million. According to the announcement to BSE-Sofia, with the new acquisition Holding Varna is planning to expand its investment portfolio in the field of tourism.
Source: Standart (03.01.2013)