[size=75:199ly4ls]novinite 28 January 2010

Tough times? Car Dealer Flogs Bulgarian Land with Big Sales

Businesses all over Cyprus have developed their own marketing schemes to lift profits during the global recession but a Nicosia car dealer’s unique offer of a car-and-land package must be among the most creative.

Costas Petrou has an imported car yard on in Spyros Kyprianou Ave in Nicosia and is advertising that with every purchase of an imported car worth over €10,000, he will also hand over donum (1,338 m2) of land in Bulgaria for free.

The land is located in a non-residential area around 5km outside the city of Yambol, where Petrou owns 30 donums of land. Yambol is the capital of the Yambol Province in southeastern Bulgaria, about 304km east of Sofia.

According to Petrou, when a customer purchases a car worth over €10,000, they will receive the title deeds to one donum of land through a lawyer in Bulgaria.

There’s a catch: Bulgarian law states that a building or residence can only be built on a minimum plot of three donums.

If a new car owner wants to exploit the offer, they must either buy the adjacent two donums or enter into a partnership with the owner of abutting land.

“Of course,” Petrou explained, “the amount of a plot a buyer gets depends on the price of their purchase.

If someone buys a €12,000 car, he gets one donum but if he buys a more expensive car worth around €60,000 he gets a whole plot.”

According to Petrou, he has sold the equivalent of ten donums of land and his clientele and profits have substantially increased.

He added that his goal is not only to increase his sales but to help upgrade the area where his land is located.

“This is not just for my personal interest but for the interest of all other investors in the area. When I first bought the land it was worth €200 a donum, now it is worth €500-800 and the more the land is exploited, the higher its increase in value.”

Petrou hopes his plan will help him survive the recession.

“Hopefully the area will be upgraded and the value of my land will be increased along with my car sales. If that happens, I may even go into the real estate business,” he mused.

With a population of around 85,000, the city of Yambol is 200kms inland from the Black Sea. No mention was made of the exact area or zoning of the land on offer.

Can't see this working the people who are buying the cars will obviously be living in Cyprus so what good is a bit of land in Bulgaria and I wonder who pays for the transfer does anyone know hwere this is I know its in Yambol but where?