Bulgaria and Romania head the list of European countries with the highest percentage of shopping centre space coming on the market, with both countries recording increases of more than 150%, according to a new report by international property advisor Cushman & Wakefield. Romania has 470,000 m[sup]2[/sup] of new schemes due to open before the end of 2007 and Bulgaria has 98,000 m[sup]2[/sup].

Bulgaria and Romania head the list of European countries with the highest percentage of shopping centre space coming on the market, with both countries recording increases of more than 150%, according to a new report by international property advisor Cushman & Wakefield. Romania has 470,000 m2 of new schemes due to open before the end of 2007 and Bulgaria has 98,000 m2.

The report emphasises that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union (EU) in 2007 will give retailers and developers from western Europe the opportunity to reach an additional 30 million consumers. Romania, with a population of 22 million, is the second largest country in the Central and Eastern European region after Poland.

'Romania has one of the lowest provisions of shopping centre space in Europe, with the country's first shopping centre, Bucuresti Mall, not opening till 1999,' said Razvan Gheorghe, general manager of ACTIV Consulting, Cushman & Wakefield's associate office in Romania. 'Given this and the size of the consumer market, the country presents a tremendous opportunity for international retailers and investors.'

He said some of the key schemes due to open in 2007 include the 55,000 m2 Baneasa Shopping centre in Bucharest by Romanian developer Baneasa Investment; 33,000 m2 of retail space by Austrian develoepr Raffeisen in Bucharest and the 62,000 Polus Centre by central European developer TriGranit Developement Corporation in Cluj-Napoca.

The first shopping mall openings in Sofia have been bouying consumer and investor enthusiasm for the retail market in Bulgaria, according to Valeri Valchev, the managing director of Forton International, Cushman & Wakefield's associate office in Bulgaria.

Some of the largest projects announced recently in Bulgaria have been outside Sofia. The biggest is Mall Varna with 33,000 gross lettable area in the Sea Capital of Bulgaria. Another 100,000 m2 of retail area is being built in Sofia as part of the major mixed-use Sofiiski Akropolis project.