Italian cement group Italcementi will invest some EUR 20m (US$24.1m) in the construction of a new research centre. The group will invest in a research and innovation centre to support its economic growth, Italcementi’s chief executive officer, Carlo Pesenti, said. The project will also support the cultural and social development of the group, Pesenti added.

Italcementi plans to invest EUR10m (US$12.1m) in its two plants in Bulgaria in the next five years to expand its production range of dry building mixtures and introduce new products, SeeNews newswire reported on March 10, 2006. Italcementi owns the Devnya cement plant, located near the Black Sea city of Varna, and cement maker Vulkan in southern Bulgaria.