BalREc Programme 

*the programme may be subject to change

 

8:30 – 9.30 Registration

 

9:30 – 12:20 Morning Session: Economy and Investments – Bulgaria and SEE

 

 

9:30 – 09:55 Pre-opening session: Economy 2018-2019 – forecasts, risks and perspectives

9.30 - 9:45/Macroeconomic framework

-What are the expectations for the economic growth and which are the drivers to determine it?

-What are the indications for the interest rates – can we expect an increase in 2019 and what are the risks for the real estate market? 

Christopher Pavlov, Chief Economist, Unicredit Bulbank

9:45 - 9:55/ Investment climate

-Sectors with potential: Which sectors will be the economic growth engine? 

-Labour market specifics 2019 – what should we expect? 

10:00 – 11:00 Panel 1: Investments and development: market environment – Bulgaria 2018

-Favourable economic environment, ease of financing, accelerating urbanisation process, growing industries: which are the factors that are providing investment appetite to the real estate industry in Bulgaria and the region? What are the risks?

-Bulgaria is leading the charts in the industry reports as a destination for investors seeking higher yields than the average available for the EU markets: What is the investment product that Bulgaria is offering to the capital markets? What is missing?

-The evolution of the real estate market in Bulgaria: Where will the equity be allocated in the next 3-5 years? Which are the attractive segments and types of projects, where do the leading players see potential and how are they going to take advantage out of it?

-Financing 2018/2019: What is the approach of the banking sector in Bulgaria towards financing real estate projects?

 
Atanas Garov, Managing Partner, Garitage Investment Management 

Sergey Koinov, CEO, Lion’s Head Management

Levon Hampartzoumian, CEO & Chairman MB, Unicredit Bulbank

Cedomir Jokanovic, Asset Manager Bulgaria, NEPI Rockcasle

George Kirov, Director Investment and Valuation Advisory Services, Colliers International

Moderator and Key-note: Mihaela Lashova, CEO, Forton | Cushman&Wakefield 

 

 

11:00 – 11:20 Coffee break

 

11:20 – 12:20 Panel 2: SEE Real Estate Investment markets 2018/2019: Where is SEE on the European investment map?

-What investment products are the SEE markets providing? What is the expected transaction volume for 2018 and what is the profile of the active investors?

-SEE Property lending: What are the trends in financing of transactions and new developments in the real estate sector in SEE? Which are the preferred asset classes for financing and which are holding more risk?

-Romania: macroeconomic dynamics and attractive yield levels – what should we expect for the future development of the market?

-Serbia: construction activity and growing market- what are the demand and supply specifics and where is the potential? 

 

 

Andrew Peirson MRICS, Managing Director SEE, CBRE
Zorana Burlich, CEO, Delta Real Estate, Delta Holding Serbia
Richard Clegg, Partner,CEE, Wolf Theiss
Catalina Toma, Development Executive for Bulgaria and Romania, AccorHotels

Adina Welsh, Board Member, ACBO

Juliana Mateeva, Partner, KPMG

Yavor Kostov, Manager Capital Markets, Forton | Cushman&Wakefield 

Moderator: Georgi Dimitrov, Director Advisory Services & Capital Markets, MBL

 

 

12:20 – 13:20 Lunch

 

 

13:20 – 17:50 AFTERNOON SESSION – MARKET SEGMENTS (2 streams)

 

Alfa hall – Offices, Retail, Logistics

 

 

13:20 – 14:20 Panel Alfa – 3: Offices market – projects, drivers and market challenges

-2018/2019 trends: What is the current situation on the office space market in Bulgaria as of the end of 2018 and what should we expect from the upcoming year? 

-What are the mid-term and long-term perspectives towards the office market? Where is the potential – is the office segment going to be as attractive as it is now in view of the expected significant increase of the supply of modern office spaces throughout the following years? 

-What are the challenges before the IT/BPO industry in Bulgaria? How are the labour market forecasts going to affect the plans of the future office tenants? Are the secondary cities providing opportunities when it comes to human capital? 

 

Adina Welsh, Executive Director, Raiffeisen Property Management 

Olga Stoichkova, Deputy Chair of the Management Board, The Association of commercial building owners in Bulgaria (ACBO)

Anton Slavchev, Asset Manager, Serdika Offices

Todor Kavrakov, CPM, Property Manager, Trade Center Europe

Todor Breshkov, Member of the Board of Directors, Bulgarian Real Estate Fund, REIT

Ivaylo Slavov, Chairman of the Management Board, Bulgarian Outsourcing Association

Moderator: Stanimira Pashova, Head of Office Space Department, Forton | Cushman&Wakefield

 

 

14:30 – 15:30 Panel Alfa – 4: The future of workplace 

-Healthy environment, design, technologies, flexible space, more amenities – how does the contemporary office look like. Are there no boundaries for the office area?

-The office environment as a factor in human capital competition. Employer branding, corporate culture and office space.

-How is the co-working trend affecting traditional office market? Do we expect much dynamic penetration of the co-working trend on the Bulgarian market?

 

David Davidov, Managing Partner, Garitage Park
Bernd Steingruber, Project Manager, RPHI

Dimitar Ivanov, Head of Tenant Representation, MBL
Boyko Iaramov, Co-founder and CEO, Campus X and Telerik Academy
arch. Vessela Valtcheva-McGee, Managing Partner, Triple Green Building Group, Bulgaria

arch. Alexander Daw, Regional Director, Stephen George International
arch. Tsvetomir Pavlov, Cache Atelier
Moderator: Verka Petkova, Director Business Development, Colliers International

 

 

15:30 – 15:40 Coffee break

 

15:40 – 16:40 Panel Alfa – 5: Logistics and industrial space market: potential and perspectives 

 

16:50 – 17:50 Panel Alfa – 6: Retail space market – a transformation in process

 

Beta Hall – Residential, Hospitality and Proptech

 

13:20 – 15:10 Panel Beta – 3: Residential market 2018: how to provide a better living environment ?
-Trends: Where is the residential market going? What are the challenges before the residential developers as of the end of 2018? What are the risks and the expectations for 2019?
-Demand: Is the profile of residential buyers changing? How is the new generation of buyers (the millennials) transforming the residential product?
-Supply: Luxury, mid-class, affordable, large-scale, boutique, niche, exclusive – do we observe a clear segmentation of the residential market and which is the segment with higher potential given the actual supply and demand levels? Are there enough options for the modern residential buyer?
-Financing: Is there a change in mortgage loans terms as an important factor on the real estate market?
-Safety, professional management, a healthy environment, facilities and services – what makes the so-called “gated community” projects a preferred place for living?
--Investment: Which are the zones, that (will) provide the best opportunities for development of residential projects in Sofia? And for the other cities? Are the locations and the infrastructure capacity the major factors?


Rumen Velichkov, Commercial Director, Residential Park Lozen
Eng. Plamen Andreev, CEO, Planex invest
Ivailo Mishev, Head of Bulgarian Development unit, Arco Real Estate
Konstantin Bobchev, CEO, Smart Consultants
Bogomil Nikolov, Managing Director, GORA project
Oren Bar Noy, Director, Nova City Group
arch. Radko Todorov, RT Consult

Bistra Harizanova, Senior Consultant, Unique Estates

Moderator: Svoboda Kodjamanova, Manager Residential Space Department, Colliers International

 

 

 

15:10 – 15:40 Coffee break

 

 

15:40 – 16:40 Panel Beta – 4: Urban and holiday hotels – trends 2018

-Is 2018 a successful year for the hotel business in Bulgaria, what is the profile of the hotel guests and how is the industry assessing the achieved financial results and major indicators (RevPAR, ADR, occupancy rate)? What are the expectations for 2019?

-What are the growth factors, the challenges and the threads for the industry? Is AirBnB the major disruptor for the hotel market? 

-How is Sofia attracting the interest of the international hotel operators? Where are the secondary cities in their plans? What are the preferred operation formats – management contract, franchising, leasing or any other, and why? What are the major requirements of the international hotel operators and what should the local developers be aware of before they get into negotiations? 

-Are the hotel assets in Bulgaria generating investment interest? Is there a potential for hotel transactions in the short term and what is the profile of the investors? 

 

Lachezar Todorov, Executive Director, Terra Tour Service

Dilek Sezer, Director Development South Eastern Europe, Orbis Hotel Group

Adriana Angelova, Marketing and Sales Director, BT Hotels Collection

Jivko Ivanov, Asset Management Director, Galaxy Investment Group
Raicho Diankov, CEO, FairPlay Properties, REIT 

Rosen Grigorov, CFA, Head of Valuations and Consulting, MBL

Moderator: Deyan Todorov, Senior Consultant, Forton | Cushman&Wakefield

 

 

 

16:50 – 17:50 Panel Beta – 5: Proptech: Digitization and the Real Estate Industry – a talk about technologies and innovations

-VR, AI, IoT,  – which are the innovations, that will determine the technological trends in the Real Estate sector? 

How do digital technologies create value for the industry?

-How to successfully convert the technological investments into added value for the projects and the services? 

Where is the balance? Which are the successful models to adapt?

-Showcase: Successful models and good practices
-What is the best way for the assets, that do not correspond to the latest technological requirements, to actualize their market presence with optimal capital and operational resource? What is the time cycle, through which a building is considered as technologically trendy?
- AirBnB, e-commerce, Coworking, millennials – are there other transformation drivers and which are they? Is the global digitalization and proptech trend a threat or an opportunity for the real estate industry?

 

 

Georgi Brashnarov, CEO, Nemetschek
eng. Alexander Stoyanov, Country Devision Manager Building Technologies Depratment, Siemens

Georgi Belyov, Buidling Segment Manager, ABB
Boyan Bonev,Co-founder, Gaida.ai
Momchil Andreev, Director of Marketing, Strategy, and Growth, OfficeRnD
Georgy Palpurin, Consultant, Foundation Interactive Bulgaria

Moderator: Georgi Pavlov, Executive Director, Address