site.btaBalkanton Building to Be Preserved, Says Sofia Municipality

The Balkanton building will be preserved, Sofia Municipality said in a press release on Monday following a meeting between Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev and the property owner.

At Terziev’s initiative, a meeting was organized within the Architecture and Urban Planning department to clarify the owner's intentions. The mayor also reviewed documents related to the case, the municipality’s press release further said.

During the discussion, the CEO and owner of Balkanton reaffirmed his commitment to preserving the building and agreed to make adjustments to the previously submitted documentation in the Architecture and Urban Planning department. Following this step, Terziev has the legal grounds to amend the order approving the detailed development plan, ensuring the building’s preservation and preventing new construction on the site, Sofia Municipality also said.

At end-January, dozens of musicians and residents of Sofia’s Lagera housing estate gathered in protest against the owner's initial plans to demolish the historic Balkanton building. The protest was supported by the Lagera Association NGO, the mayor of the Krasno Selo borough, Tsveta Nikolaeva, and Sofia Municipal Council members.

Balkanton is a formerly state-owned company which had a monopoly on the Bulgarian recording industry during the communist era.