History

  •  Slavic, Bulgar and Thracian tribes lived on the territory of the Bulgarian state before its foundation.
  •  The Bulgarian state was founded in 681. For its founder is considered Asparouh khan.
  •  During the reign of Khan Krum (803-814) in Bulgaria were created the first written laws.
  •  864 Christianity was adopted as an official religion in Bulgaria during the reign of Boris I.
  •  886 The new script (Glagolitic) created by Cyril and Methodius came in the Bulgarian lands. In the early tenth century was developed a new alphabet called Cyrillic.
  •  893 – 927 Bulgaria bordered by three seas - the Aegean, Adriatic and Black during the reign of Tsar Simeon I the Great.
  •  Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218-1241) was the first Bulgarian ruler, who is known to have minted gold coins with his face.
  •  1396 Bulgaria became part of the Ottoman Empire.
 
  •  “Fish Primer”, written in 1824 by Petar Beron is the first Modern Bulgarian textbook.
 
  •  January 2, 1835 The first Bulgarian secular school was opened in Gabrovo.
 
  •  1836 The first Bulgarian factory (for textiles) was opened in Sliven.
 
  •  1860 The first steam mill in the country was built in Svishtov.
  •  1866 The first railway line Ruse-Varna was opened.
  •  1874-1876 The first of its kind indoor bridge in the Balkans was built in Lovech by Nicola Fichev.
  •  March 3, 1878 The San Stefano peace treaty was signed which put an end to the Russo-Turkish War and restored the Bulgarian state.
  •  1882 - Franz Milde, helped by a group of enterprising residents of Shumen, started one of the oldest breweries in Bulgaria: Shumensko Pivo.
  •  1897 The first sugar factory of Solvay was opened.
 
  •  1894-1899 More than 120 industrial enterprises with Bulgarian and foreign funds were established as well as more than 600 km railways were built.1901 – One of the first foreign investments in the country - the shoe polish factory in Ruse, the current Orgachim.  1937 Bulgarian physicist Georgi Nadzakov found the so called photoelectric effect, lately used for the creation of the photocopying equipment.   1954 – Franz Milde, helped by a group of enterprising residents of Shumen, started one of the oldest breweries in Bulgaria: Shumensko Pivo.
  •  December 14, 1955 Bulgaria became a member of the UN.
  •  1963 – The petrochemical complex was opened in Burgas – now Lukoil – Neftochim - Bourgas.
 
  •  1965 - began the bottling of Coca-Cola.1967 - the first Factory for Computing Technology in Bulgaria.
 
  •  1967-1970 In Plovdiv began the assembling of Renault 8 and  Renault 1
 
  •  1974 The first nuclear reactor in NPP "Kozloduy“was put into operation in Bulgaria.
 
  •  1984-1988 - “Pravec 8M” was made – very modern for its time with more memory and 2 microprocessors.“Pravec 16", made in 1985 was an analog of IBM PC XT released in late 1981.1989 Began Bulgaria's transition from socialism and planned economy to democracy and market economy.
 
  •  1990 Bulgaria was the world's largest exporter of rose oil used for the perfume industry.
 
  •  May 7, 1992 Bulgaria became a member of the Council of Europe.
 
  •  1993 Festo AG & Co.KG establishes sensor manufacturing facility on Sofia; EPIQ starts its manufacturing Bulgarian operations.1994 Nestle bought the largest manufacturer of chocolate and confectionery "SHZI Sofia" ; first entered the Bulgarian market of Kraft Foods has made substantial investments in its existing plants in the towns of Svoge and Kostinbrod.  1994 DANONE Group opened a branch in Bulgaria - "Danone Serdika". It is currently the absolute leader on the Bulgarian market of fresh dairy products.   1996 ABB acquires the state owned electronic component company Avangard.   1997 "Heineken" and "Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company” acquired the control share of brewery Ariana and Hyundai heavy Industries Privatized the largest Bulgarian manufacturer of power transformers and tap changers.   1999 Lukoil acquired 58% in Neftochim – Burgas which remains the biggest oil refinery on the Balkans; The US Acid & Fertilizers bought the majority share in Agropolychim. Today, the company exports phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers to five continents.   2000 Melexis established their Bulgarian operations for microelectronic components and Liebherr opened its refrigerator manufacturing facility in the Marica industrial zone near Plovdiv.   2001 Johnson Controls entered Bulgaria. Major Clients of the division are BMW, Peugeot and Ford.   2002 Sensor Nite opened manufacturing facility for the production of sensors and high value added electronic and electro- mechanical products.   2003 Euroccor was the first foreign outsourcing company, which opened an office in Bulgaria.  
 
  •  April 2, 2004 Bulgaria became a member of NATO.
 
  •  2005 Coca-Cola HBC opened its outsourcing center in Bulgaria, which serves 26 countries; The Turkish Sisecam Group built a new glass factory near Targovishte. By 2010, Sisecam increased its factories to four, manufacturing products that are unique to the region.2006 HP Opened its Global Delivery Center in Sofia. The location was chosen in a competitive selection process involving fourteen countries; Montupet entered in Bulgaria with its factory in Ruse.
  •  January, 1st 2007 Bulgaria became a member of the EU.
 
  •  2007 Yazaki builds its plant for wire harnesses in Yambol; IBM extended its Sofia Global Delivery Center, providing end-to-end business process services for IBM needs around the globe.2008 German companies IXETIC and Witte Automotive opened their plants in Rakovski Industrial Zone and respectively in Ruse for production of automotive  components; German company Lufthansa Technik opened maintenance facility for repair and overhaul of aircrafts like Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 737 series.  2010 Yana Intermodal Terminal opened near Sofia, at the crossroad of 3 pan-European corridors, serving the European and the Central Asian markets.   2011 Unilever acquired Bulgaria’s ice cream maker Darko, the second largest ice cream company after Nestle; Three Bulgarian IT companies (E-card, Telerik and Investor.bg) were included in the "Deloitte“ ranking of the 50 fastest growing  technology companies in Central Europe.   2012 Start of the production in car manufacturing plant established by Litex Motors Corporation in cooperation with the Chinese Great Wall Motor Co.