2024-08-23 00:15:34
Ahmed Nasser explained his concept in a meeting with the head of the BCPP, and according to the Commercial Register, Georgi Gergov is still the owner of the emblematic building in the heart of Sofia
An Egyptian museum, which will have a sarcophagus with a mummy, a rose oil museum, a luxury spa and a 5-star hotel of an as-yet-unknown hotel brand will be housed in TSUM to revive the legendary building.
This will happen, if the picture that was described to the chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC) Tsvetan Simeonov Ahmed Nasser, founder and director of Antika World, is to be believed.
The company, unknown in our country until now, has undertaken to lead the transformation of the emblematic building for the capital and has even created a website on which it presents the concept.
It has no Bulgarian section and is peppered with key economic data for Bulgaria, presumably intended for investors.
The concept will be made public on September 19, and the purpose of the meeting with the head of the BTPP was to arrange the presentation of Bulgarian manufacturers with stands or in another way in the transformed building.
TSUM is owned by Plovdiv businessman Georgi Gergov, who is also the honorary consul of Russia in Bulgaria and, until recently, a member of the senior management of the BSP. He bought the building in 2004, claiming at the time to have paid €30 million for it.
According to the Commercial Register, the property is held by the company “Central Department Store” AD, in which
holder of almost 99% of the shares
is the wife of Gergov Velichka Gergova. There has been no recent movement in the company’s account in the Commercial Register, i.e. there is no evidence that it changed ownership or that the building itself was sold, donated or replaced.
Ahmed Nasser is an Egyptian citizen who registered the company Antika World on August 1 with a capital of BGN 5,000. Its ultimate owner is the company BDS Holding BV registered in the Netherlands.
Georgi Gergov himself did not pick up his phone throughout the day on Thursday, nor did he answer questions sent as messages.
The head of the BCPP, Tsvetan Simeonov, told “24 Chasa” that the ownership of the building did not interest him at all during the entire conversation with the Egyptian.
“He offered cooperation and I listened to him politely. When the time comes to conclude a contract, I will be interested in what is going on,” explained Simeonov.
The cooperation was expressed in the BTPP appointing native companies to fill the commercial part of the future transformed building. According to Simeonov, the idea of having something like a “Made in Bulgaria” corner in the Central Market was very old and even during the time of Stefan Sofianski as mayor of the capital, i.e. 25 years ago, there were talks about it, he explained.
On the Antika World website, there is almost no substantial information on what exactly the transformed building will be. There are only visuals in the form of photos and one video, which however does not show anything from the inside of the building.
The facade remains the same, but TSUM is a cultural monument
with national importance and the facade could not be changed.
This is not the first attempt by Georgi Gergov to stir up the TSUM, which is increasingly deserted by shops and visitors. Initially, he claimed that he would turn it into a modern office and commercial building with luxury shops, of which only two or three remain on the ground floor and a few restaurants.
Then he came up with the idea that the building was the most suitable place for the National History Museum and wanted to exchange it with the state for other properties or be compensated, but neither of these ideas came to fruition.
Meanwhile he
became the majority owner of the Plovdiv Fair
Recently, Georgi Gergov acquired almost 80% of the shares of the exhibition, and the state was left with less than 20%. This happened after the municipality of Plovdiv, which is a partner of Gergov in “Paldin Turinvest” – one of the shareholders in “Plovdivski Panair” AD, refused to appeal a court decision that allowed a change in the capital of “Paldin Turinvest”.
Before that, the businessman also acquired the shares of Varna municipality in the fair.
Already in 2006, the Plovdiv businessman acquired the company “Ancient Plovdiv” with a promise to invest money for the renovation of the ancient houses in the architectural ensemble. However, he subsequently began to sell off the properties one by one and failed to fulfill any of his promises to invest in them.
According to realtors in the capital, one of the reasons why TSUM has been empty for years is that the rents are not in line with reality at all. At the moment, the rent for 1 square meter of commercial space in any mall in the capital does not exceed 35 euros, while in the Central Market, merchants are asked for 70 euros a month and above.
In addition, any mall has at least 200-250 parking spaces, and TSUM does not have any and never will because of its location in the very heart of the capital. There is no way to make it underground, since the TSUM was built on one of the walls of the ancient fortress and it is a well-known fact that when its foundations were poured in the 1950s, the archaeological remains were concreted.
TSUM is an emblematic building designed by arch. Dimitar Pisinov in 1956 and opened a year later. It is aligned with the other buildings of the ensemble known as the “Triangle of Power” – the Council of Ministers, the Presidency and the National Assembly. For a long time it was the largest shopping center in the Balkans and the first escalators in our country were installed in it.
Its commercial area is 19,000 square meters, spread over six floors. The office part is over 11,000 sq. m on three floors.