Sofia Mayor: There is no Obstacle to the Construction of a New Facility in Place of the Bulgarian Army Stadium

There is no obstacle for CSKA-Sofia to build a new stadium in place of the Bulgarian Army, said Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova. The topic was one of the key issues when discussing the plan of Boris Garden.

On Friday, CSKA-Sofia sent a letter to Sports Minister Krasen Kralev, expressing his concerns about the Bulgarian Army. The Reds said they had met good intentions but expected real action from the state, emphasizing that they did not want financial help but assistance in getting the green light for construction.

Kralev responded by commenting on a Facebook post that he expects the club to present his investment intentions.

"This is really a manipulation - there is no such thing (that there is an obstacle). We have announced and are ready, and the chief architect has stated that within the cup - this is the desire of the club owners as long as they are ready with the projects and funding - there is no obstacle to renovation or construction. Again I will say - we all agree that this can be done within the existing borders for the time being and there are no limits for that, "said Fandakova.

The club's owner Grisha Ganchev told Capital a month ago that he has already secured financing - EUR 10 million of own funds and EUR 20 million from a Danish investment fund. The Reds have presented on their site several projects made by different architectural studios on how the stadium would look like.

Currently, the Bulgarian Army is owned by Serdika Sports Properties EAD under the umbrella of the Sports Ministry, and CSKA-Sofia has a ten-year lease agreement (hoping to be extended) for BGN 62,000 per month, and compulsory investment program of BGN 1.1 million (excluding VAT).

Fandakova said that the priority of...