Italcementi said it plans invest some US$20m (EUR 15.4m) in its two plants in Bulgaria by 2006 to improve quality and reduce environmental impacts.
The new investments will come on top of the $160m Italcementi has put in the plants since their acquisitions in the late 1990s. The investments will be made to meet the commitments made during the privatisation of the two companies, Italcementi CEO Carlo Pesenti told SeeNews.
Italcementi bought the Devnya cement plant near the Black Sea port of Varna in 1998 and cement maker Vulkan in southern Bulgaria a year later. The plants produce around 2.5Mta.
"There will be no significant improvement of the capacity production into the two plants, but we are looking to increase the level of integration in the sector of ready mixed concrete and aggregates," Pesenti said.
The two plants boosted their combined turnover by 21.9% to 83 million euro last year. Italcementi claims a 40% share on the Bulgarian market.
