site.btaIdeal Standard Vidima Sanitaryware Company Celebrates 90th Anniversary

Ideal Standard Vidima, a leading industrial company in Bulgaria, marked its 90th anniversary on Saturday with a ceremony in Sevlievo, where the country's President Rumen Radev and First Lady Dessislava Radeva were special guests, the President's press secretariat said.

The company started as a metalworking cooperative in 1934. After the communist takeover in Bulgaria in 1944, it was converted into a sanitary fittings plant. In 1992, it became part of a joint venture majority-owned by US company American Standard. In 2007, as American Standard underwent complete restructuring, its European operation was transformed into a Belgian-headquartered company named Ideal Standard International, which has been owned successively by a number of US investment companies.

Today, Ideal Standard Vidima operates two factories in Sevlievo, for sanitary fittings and sanitary ceramics. It develops Eastern European markets for Ideal Standard International. It employs 3,000 people and exports to more than 100 countries worldwide.

President Radev said in a speech that a business can be successful only if it implements strong social policies for its employees and if every one of them feels well. He noted that the transformation of the Sevlievo company into a high-tech, export-oriented business as a successful model for the Bulgarian economy. He also noted the successful implementation of green and circular-economy policies, the innovation, product development and investments in high-tech manufacturing and the modern management, owing to which the company has found new international partners and markets.

"Keep on doing what it takes to make the young people of Sevlievo and the surrounding area stay here instead of seeking a livelihood in other towns and countries," Radev said. According to him, the sanitaryware company has set an example with its support for the education and the development of local young people. "Your success makes a difference in addressing the greatest challenge of our society, the demographic crisis, which calls for solutions to regional imbalances," he said.

The celebration was also attended by Sevlievo Mayor Ivan Ivanov and Gabrovo Regional Governor Maria Basheva.

President Radev received an anniversary badge of honour from the company. He was shown around the sanitary fittings factory and talked with the management.