Industrial Park Sliven

The territory of Sliven municipality is 1366 km2 and covers 45 settlements – the towns of Sliven and Kermen and 43 villages. In the municipality of Sliven there are two regions in relief terms: to the north – semi-mountainous and mountainous, and to the south – flat. The town of Sliven is situated at the foot of the southern slopes and hilly branches of the Sliven Mountain (1181 m), which begins the Eastern Balkan Mountains. To the south and southeast it is open to the Sliven field. The winter is mild, the summer is relatively hot. Sliven is characterized by the local wind Bora.

Sliven Municipality is located in an ecologically clean environment with preserved ecosystem and biobalance. There is no pollution of soils and water with heavy metals and no air pollution above the EU standards. The main water resource for the municipality is the Tundzha River. On the Tundzha River, 25 km from Sliven is built dam “Zhrebchevo”, which has a volume of over 400 million m3 and is mainly used for irrigation. Sliven is crossed by the rivers Asenovska, Selishka and Novoselska. Along the Asenovska River is built dam “Asenovets”, which is the main water source for the city. In the region of Sliven municipality there are also mineral springs. The water has proven qualities in the treatment of gastrointestinal, biliary and liver diseases and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and the peripheral nervous system.

The place of today’s city has been inhabited for thousands of years. History goes back to the time of the Thracians and then layer upon layer the presence of Romans, Slavs, Greeks is revealed, the spirit of the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdoms is felt.

Sliven occupies a special place in the economic life of Bulgaria. Here were made the first steps of the Bulgarian industry, thanks to circumstances of geographical and historical nature, combined with the entrepreneurship of Dobri Jeliazkov from Sliven. In 1834 he established the first textile factory on the Balkan Peninsula. This had a huge impact on the later development and modern appearance of Sliven.

An indispensable sign of the long history of the city is the spirituality. Sliven was among the most important spiritual centers in Bulgaria during the Renaissance. It is the birthplace of the first Bulgarian poet Dobri Chintulov, the first Bulgarian artist who received academic education, Dimitar Dobrovich, many prominent Bulgarians whose names are related to the development of Bulgarian and European science and culture, education and economic development in the Bulgarian lands. Today’s contribution of Sliven to the cultural treasury of Bulgaria is also remarkable.

Cultural heritage is continued in the life of today’s Sliven. Three state cultural institutes work here – the Drama Theater, the Puppet Theater and the National Museum of the Textile Industry. The Historical Museum houses over 80,000 exhibits. The Art Gallery has one of the richest collections in the country with over 6,000 works and 3 permanent exhibitions. In the cultural life of the city, an important place is also occupied by the Symphony Orchestra and the Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances. The Club of Cultural Activists is an attractive center for professional-creative associations.

In Sliven are held the International Children’s Dance Folklore Festival, the National Children’s Book Festival, the folklore fairs “Feast of masquerade games”, “At a fair near Tundzha”, “Kermen”, “Winter holidays – Mechkarevo”, the National Fair of the Karakachans, the Autumn Theater Hall, the Arts Festival “The Magic of the Wind” and others. Since 2010 Sliven has also hosted “Sofia Film Fest”.

Young people in Sliven have the opportunity to receive education in 30 schools, including a High School taught in Western languages, a High School of Mathematics and Science, a Humanitarian High School, 7 vocational high schools (textile, construction, catering, economics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical technologies, transport).

More than 2300 students study in the city – at the Engineering and Pedagogical Faculty – a branch of the Technical University of Sofia, the Technical College, the Medical College, Burgas Free University (outsourced training in Sliven), the Training Center at the University of Veliko Tarnovo, the Local Center for Distance Learning at the Technical University of Varna.

“Industrial Park Sliven” has an area of 2 684 decares, one of the largest projects for industrial development on the territory of Bulgaria, the third largest industrial park entered in the Register of Industrial Parks. The park is 100% private municipal property, urbanized territory with a detailed development plan. Its unique transport connectivity includes a road connection with road II-53 of the national road network along the Sliven-Yambol axis, providing direct access at a distance of 17 km from the Trakia highway, the possibility of building a railway terminal in the park, coordinated with the National Railway Infrastructure Company, preserving the existing airport with a runway with a length of 2.5 km and an area of nearly 1,600 decares. The territory of the park covers a group of properties on the north and south sides of a former airport, which allows the development of the park to be divided into stages.

Conditionally, the park is divided into 17 neighborhoods located in 4 zones: “Zone North” with an area of 452 decares; ” Zone South-East” with an area of 533 decares; “South-West Zone” with an area of 38 decares; “Airport and Motopista Zone” with a total area of 1 660 decares. In the “Airport and Motopista Zone” a terrain of 6 decares has been provided to the Ministry of Health for the construction of a helipad, which will be part of the system for providing emergency medical care by air. It is planned that the development of the park will start with the construction of a “Zone North”, which is borderline with the existing industrial zone of the town of Sliven and with direct access to the national road.

For the provision of the incoming engineering and technical infrastructure, technical designs have been prepared, and for “Zone North” are available projects for the internal infrastructure accessible to each plot, providing power supply, water supply for drinking and production needs and sewerage, gas supply, internal road infrastructure and construction of optical electronic communication networks.