Engstroyengineering SPLTD - Varna - Short Company profile

One of the largest construction companies in Bulgaria - "Bitumina GmbH Bulgaria", officially changed ownership in November of this year. The new owner is Viktor Zhelev, son of businessman Veliko Zhelev, who is the official owner of "Hidrostroy", VDH and "Patstroy VDH" with total revenues of over 400 million leva. Until a month ago, "Bitumina GmbH Bulgaria" was owned by Dubai-based HPMC Holdings, and Hugo Caldwell was listed as the ultimate owner. The company has been managed for years by Hristo Atanasov, a municipal councilor from GERB in the Aksakovo municipality, Varna region, who until the end of 2024 was listed as the actual owner of "Bitumina" through the Vienna-based Alpha Bitumina Beteiligung. Now Zhelev Jr. is declaring himself as the ultimate owner of Dubai-based HPMC Holdings. The change in ownership should have gone through the Commission for the Protection of Competition, as Bitumina's turnover exceeds the statutory threshold of 25 million leva. However, such a request for permission has not been submitted and considered. Bitumina GmbH Bulgaria is involved in the implementation of public procurement, mainly in the road sector, and is among the companies that had contracts with the state-owned company Avtomagistrali for Lot 1 of Hemus, which is located between Boaza and Dermantsi, and for which they had received a 5 million leva advance before the end of 2020. A separate company had received payments of as much as 82.8 million leva for the supply of materials for section 8 of Hemus from the state-owned company. The eighth lot in question is not yet under construction, although impressive advances were paid to the company in question at least five years ago. Shortly after these payments, in 2021, Bitumina GmbH Bulgaria also purchased the land in the center of Sofia, on which Teatralna Park Residence, a gated complex next to Zaimov Park, is being built. It also owns the company Bitumina Management, which manages the construction of the complex. In September 2024, Bitumina became the property of Dubai-based HPMC Holdings, and according to the contract in the Commercial Register, the price of the transaction was 1.98 million euros. According to the Dubai register, the holding company was registered in April 2024 with the sole shareholder Viktor Zhelev, and Caldwell is a director. This makes Zhelev the owner of the third largest construction group in Bulgaria after GBS and Trace. In 2024, Bitumina GmbH Bulgaria had 57.5 million leva in revenue, almost 6 million leva in profit and over 130 employees. Shortly after the transfer of over 80 million leva from "Avtomagistrali" - in January 2021, the company bought two land properties and 12 auxiliary buildings in the center of Sofia for a total of 23 million leva, according to data in the Property Register. This is a plot of over 12 acres near the "Zaimov" park - at 2 "Prof. Milko Bichev" Str., which is owned by "Avtotransserviz". Currently, housing is being actively built and sold there. The Teatralna Park Residence project is being built next to the "Zaimov" park on 12 acres on the site of the former garage of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The company is also participating in the construction of the section of the "Europe" highway between Dragoman and Kalotina together with "Shtrabag". The 2018 contract was concluded for 137.5 million leva, but 51 million leva of indexations were received for the 15 kilometers, bringing it to nearly 190 million leva. "Bitumina" is part of a consortium with a four-year contract for repairs in the Razgrad region under the road maintenance program of the road agency. In a consortium with "Inzhstroyengineering" it is repairing 32 km between the village of Gyulovtsa and the intersection with the I-9 Sunny Beach - Burgas road for 84 million leva. It is also part of the consortium that is building the Elin Pelin - Kostenets railway section for 113 million leva.