ELECTRONIC MACHINE ENGINEERING,
ELECTRICAL MACHINERY
AND EQUIPMENT, FINE MACHINERY AND GOODS
Machine engineering is one
of the leading sectors in the municipality. In 2000 it was
credited with 43% of the country's net sales revenues and
is represented by large, medium-size and small businesses.
TOOLS MANUFACTURING - Gabrovo
is one of the leading towns in the country with regards
to tool production. Along with CERATIZIT JSC, which is the
biggest metal-cutting instrument plant in the country, a
large number of small and medium companies have been established
in recent years. Together with the tooling departments of
the former military plants they are capable of producing
all kinds of high-quality products. Part of them has adopted
the ISO 9001 quality management system. The most outstanding
representatives of this sector are CERATIZIT JSC, REZBONAREZNI
INSTRUMENTI LTD. (thread-cutting instruments), SIE ENGINEERING
JSC, SIM JSC-GABROVO etc. Some of the start-up businesses
like TECHNOLES LTD.-GABROVO are also worth mentioning because
of their rapid development.
HOISTING MACHINES PRODUCTION
- Electric hoists made in Gabrovo are being used on five
continents. The town is famous as an electric hoist-engineering
center. Although the volume of its production has decreased
considerably in recent years, PODEMCRANE JSC-GABROVO is
still one of the leading European plants producing regular
and special electric hoists. Trans-pallet trolleys and other
elevating lifts are also produced in Gabrovo by TEXTILMASH
JSC.
INSTRUMENT ENGINEERING -
Having once been the center of munitions production, Gabrovo
district has excellent technological conditions for producing
fine instruments and parts. A large number of time-circuits,
staircase automatic machines and medical instruments are
produced here by IMPULS JSC and GAMA PROJECT JSC, as well
as various sensors by STS ELECTRONICS LTD., ZGPU LTD., APRONEX
LTD.-GABROVO, plotters by ZGPU JSC -GABROVO and other parts
used in assembling end products.
ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS AND
TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT - This industry is developed in
Gabrovo - supersonic plating and pickling baths, high-frequency
generators and thyristor converters, induction heating furnaces,
etc. (MEHATRONICA JSC, PROMISHLENA ELECTRONIKA ENGINEERING
LTD, DIMOV PRIVATE MERCHANT, etc. in GABROVO).
OTHER PRODUCTS - Along with
the above-mentioned products, the economy of Gabrovo is
characterized by some other industries too, namely: effective
yarn manufacturing machinery (TEXTILMASH JSC, KARDENATEXT
LTD-GABROVO), automatic embroidering machines (KOMTEXT LTD,
KOMELECT LTD, etc.), textile machine parts (SD PRECIZ-SK-GABROVO),
wood-processing machinery (SIM JSC-GABROVO), fence wire
production machines (TESPOM JSC -GABROVO) etc.
PRODUCTION OF GOODS FROM
NON-METAL MINERAL RESOURCES
Another important industry
is the production of glass based goods- mirrors veiling,
wadding ropes and glass fibre (SIMAT JSC-GABROVO).
TEXTILE, KNITWEAR, CLOTHING,
DRESS-MAKING PRODUCTS
Cotton and wool fabrics’
production - Traditionally, the textile industry is typical
for Gabrovo. Over the past 13 years there has been a considerable
decrease in cotton and wool fabrics production due to a
number of factors, such as change of ownership, decrease
of the agricultural resource production, unfair competition
by importers, etc. (MAK JSC – GABROVO)
Underwear and knitwear production
- Together with the already established companies both on
the Bulgarian and on the international market -, BURIA JSC
and KARTAL JSC-GABROVO / underwear, knitted outer garments
and track suits /, there are many small and medium-sized
companies of up to 50 employees which are involved in the
same type of production.
Overcoat and work clothes,
everyday dressmaking products - The newly founded small
and medium-sized companies have greatly increased the amount
of their production over the past few years. A large part
of them use materials supplied by their customers. Many
of the world -famous Gabrovian companies are experiencing
rapid growth; for instance OZEX LTD (men's trousers), ZALLI
LTD (Investments of Calzedonia group – Italy), CREATIONS
LTD.(Investments from UK), VEGEYA JSC (men's shirts and
working clothes), ERIDAN ² LTD (working clothes), VITEX
LTD (women's clothing and working clothes), DANIELA VALEVA
LTD (household linen) etc.
LEATHER PROCESSING, LEATHER
GOODS, SHOES AND FANCY GOODS
The leather and shoe industries
are also traditional for Gabrovo. In spite of some non-favorable
circumstances this branch is still one of the most important
in the region. Along with such long established leather
processing companies such as LAV JSC-GABROVO and RECORD
JSC, a score of new businesses were set up: FULMAX LTD,
DER-GA-MAX LTD., TECHI-GROZDAN STOYANOV PRIVATE MERCHANT,
MERCURY PARTNERSHIP, SHPITZ LTD, FLEX-01 LTD-GABROVO, etc.(shoe
production). Fancy goods production is new for the region,
represented by LOTOS-GH-GALINA HAJINIKIFOROVA PRIVATE MERCHANT,
PRINCE -91-SERGEY GUILIN PRIVATE MERCHANT, FULMAX JSC (production
of a variety of fancy goods-men's and women's handbags,
belts, etc.).
PLASTIC GOODS PRODUCTION
The biggest plastic goods
plant on the Balkan peninsula -KAPITAN DIADO NIKOLA JSC
-is in Gabrovo. Water pipes and fittings, everyday life
goods and disposable packages are produced there. Besides
this plant, there are 53 other companies in Gabrovo and
nearest municipalities of the region whose main activity
is plastic processing. Some companies located in Gabrovo
are developing rapidly and are beginning to play an important
role in the field. PLASTFORM LTD and TERRAHIM-97 LTD (pre-forms
and mineral water bottles, carbonated drinks, pharmaceutical
and cosmetics packaging), SARGE LTD and AQUAPLAST LTD (water
pipes and parts), ALFRIDA PEEV LTD (cosmetics and medicine
packaging), etc.
NEW HI-TECH PRODUCTIONS AND SERVICES
New productions - The development
of Gabrovo municipality over the past 13 years is characterized
by changes in the branch and product structure. Besides
the above-mentioned industries some absolutely new industries
have been introduced in the region. First, this is the cosmetic
product manufacturing (toothpaste, hair dyes, shampoos,
detergents, etc.) by STS HOLDING GROUP LTD-GABROVO. For
a very short time the company has become the biggest manufacturer
of toothpaste in Bulgaria and according to the company's
statistics research the company manufactures about 100 million
toothpaste annually. Chocolate goods production is also
not typical for the region but the products of STANCHO KOLEFF
LTD-GABROVO are already known on five continents and equal
in quality those of world leaders in the branch.
Hi-tech productions and
services - The Technical University in Gabrovo training
highly qualified workforce and the traditions in the research
field are the basis for the development of hi-tech businesses
and productions. The volume of production in that field
is not outstanding but it is constantly growing and is indicative
of the development tendencies in the region. A typical representative
of these new companies is AMK LTD (drive and control equipment),
which is a branch of the German AMK (a company specialized
in the manufacturing of modern machinery and equipment control).
The computer companies once trade companies and dealers
of foreign IT businesses, they have turned into producers
of applied software, computer networks and systems, PC design,
etc. STEMO LTD is the leading PC company in Gabrovo; it
is even of national importance in the branch and among the
top 10 businesses in the region by net sales revenues. It
has five branches in Bulgaria. LIREX COMPUTERS JSC and EDA
LTD are among the prominent ones too.
