The honey plant of “Aurubis Bulgaria” near Zlatitsa and Pirdop made a new investment for BGN 800 million. This became known during an official ceremony, at which the beginning of the construction of the expansion of the capacity for the production of cathode copper and the construction of two new photovoltaic parks on the territory of the plant was given.
The cathode (refined) copper production capacity will be increased from 230,000 to 340,000 tons per year. The construction of two new photovoltaic parks – “Auribis-2” and “Auribis-3” is also starting. With the addition of a fourth next year, our green energy capacity will reach 41 megawattpeaks (MWp). The projects are part of the largest investment program of “Aurubis” for Bulgaria so far.
“This is an important day for Bulgaria and for Bulgarian-German relations,” said the Acting Minister of Economy and Industry Petko Nikolov during the official ceremony. He emphasized that the government focuses precisely on investments like this, which generate greater added value in Bulgarian industry and production. He is convinced that the investment process will not stop here. According to him, such an investment is important for Bulgarian-German relations. He pointed out that more than 30 percent of the investment process in Bulgaria is due to the presence of German companies in our country. “Aurubis is one of the most important of them,” the official minister pointed out.
The economic attaché at the Embassy of Germany in Bulgaria, Moritz Seiler, pointed out that the turnover between the two countries amounts to 12 billion euros per year. “With this significant investment, we are proving that huge results are far from the limit and that this commercial relationship has the potential to grow,” Seiler noted. According to him, the BGN 800 million investment proves that all the rumors about the recession of the German economy are greatly exaggerated.
Bulgarian MEP Tsvetelina Penkova drew attention to the fact that this week the key legislation under the Regulation for industry with zero net emissions was voted. In her words, the legislation on critical raw materials, plus the regulation on the Net Zero Emissions Industry Regulation, create the framework and the opportunity to begin this re-industrialization of Europe. She added that today’s event is a clear example that European policies in this direction are not impossible and are not something that cannot be implemented.
The executive director of “Aurubis Bulgaria” Tim Kurt said that the plant in Bulgaria has been present in Bulgaria for many years and has achieved good results. He noted that today’s investment is the largest so far in the 66-year history of this plant in Bulgaria. “Today is the biggest investment we’ve made here and we hope the best is yet to come,” said Tim Kurth.
Aurubis Group CEO Roland Harris added that since 2008, when the group acquired the Pirdop plant, there has been continuous investment in the production base, in the material base, as well as in the development of people and the team. “With today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of our production, we are starting a new big wave of large-scale investments in Aurubis Bulgaria”, emphasized Roland Harris. According to him, today’s first sod is the beginning of an investment program amounting to EUR 400 million in the expansion of copper production, with which “Aurubis” takes care of the sustainability of the plant’s activity, improvement of operational efficiency, as well as care for the environment. He noted that this is a major investment by a German company in Bulgaria. He indicated that with today’s investment, Aurubis will expand production by 100,000 tons of cathode copper, which is more than 50 percent of the plant’s current production capacity. The overall investment program of the “Aurubis” Group amounts to 1.7 billion in production sites in Europe, as well as in copper recycling facilities in the USA. Roland Harris pointed out that the way copper is produced has the lowest carbon footprint.
European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said in a video message that this project will leave a lasting environment and solve many of the issues that will bring the European economy to a competitive position and contribute to the goals of sustainable and ecological ecological economic development. The European Commissioner noted that in the new geopolitical situation, the demand for copper will be extremely important for reducing dependence on various suppliers outside Europe. In addition, the production of cathode copper on European territory will increase the competitiveness of the European industry. According to him, the demand for copper will increase twice in 2025. He noted that the new act of the European Commission on raw materials and materials clearly states that copper is also a specific metal that needs to be supplied sustainably. Breton pointed out that the raw materials act is important and has been approved by all EU members.
