Why did you make a choice to destroy buildings, instead of construct them?
There is a need for builders, as well as a need for people that dismantle and destroy the old buildings and industry equipment.
First the old building have to be demolished in order to build something new in its place. When I started my job in early 90's,
there existed a niche in this branch and though I had never dealt neither with construction, nor with demolition,
I decided to take a risk. Initially we disassembled only equipment and installations of chemical industry.
As the industrial construction made a progress, investments for demolition of entire plants increased rapidly. The business I am doing now
is merely an extension of the work I did some five or six years ago. At that time I was dealing with transportation only, and now I am doing it in my main activity -
demolition, destruction and dismantle of industry equipment and plants.
In the last few years a peak in the new construction can be observed. Did it increase the amount of sites to be demolished?
Yes, the amount is increasing. As the city expands, the plants from former industrial zones now get into residential quarters
and it enforces their demolition and translocation. The terains beneath them are very valuable, too.
Both building and demolition require investments.
What is the course of a demolition process and what are its prerequisites?
At first, demolition, clearing and transporting of building refuse have to be organized and executed.
Then excavating earthworks and building preparatory activities are done. In "Vincom-Bourgas" we blew up just one of the chimneys,
and all the others had to be destroyed mechanically. In order to safeguard the site, we separate in advance
all the electrical and water-supply installations. To accomplish that, we use one of our largest machines, in terms of its height scale -
a chain excavator with a 28 meters long arm, hammer, metal cutter - all these necessary to take down concrete constructions, allowing for
work up to 33 meters above the ground, wheel loaders, dumpers designed for three direction of unload etc.
The waste concrete can be reused in the construction process after being recycled.
In fact, it is infused into a special machine, then ground into little pieces and finally the metal is separated
from the concrete, which is recycled for future building purposes. Thus we avoid its disposal.
However, recycling is a time-consuming process. Three months are not enough. That is why we did not make recycling in "Vincom-Bourgas".
Instead, we transported the refuse materials to the municipal scrap yard.
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How many capital investments are needed in order to demolish a building?
In my opinion the investments amount to a rate between 1 and 3 percent of the money, necessary to construct the new building in the same place.
Compared to this, a significantly higher rate is being allocated for that purpose in West Europe -
about 15-20 percent of investments for new construction. In our country, if 25 million euro are necessary to
build a shopping mall, between 270 000 and 600 000 will be allocated for demolition of the old building,
whereas about 5 million should be spent in Germany, for example. That's according to my investigations.
Do you have any plans to expand your activity abroad?
I have received some offers, which did not prove to be good enough. I believe my company could manage
working in other countries, such as Austria and Germany. Until now I have worked together with foreign investors from Belgium - "Inbev - Belgium",
the owners of Kamenitza. We also had a good partnership with "Lukoil - Bulgaria". It happened in "Lukoil Neftochim Bourgas",
where our company in its capacity as subcontractor dismantled two cast-off installations - ISKO 2 and oil purification equipment.
A demolition of normal paraffin instalation is now in progress, which is also perfomed by our company.
What is requirable to start up such a business ?
First, you need a good equipment. A well-trained team to operate it is also a must.
The machines are very expensive. At the present moment we have over 20 vehicles (excavators, trucks, loaders etc.)
What qualification have the people working with up-to-date technology?
It is an open secret that the greatest part of construction workers are low qualified.
I was building my team for 17 years yet, being particular in my choice of employees.
I do invest much in training the machine operators, because the equipment is expensive
and one shouldn't place it at disposal of undertrained people.
Recently delivered machines are provided with satelite control systems. When either an overloading or
a technical hitch occures, we instantly receive an appropriate information from the producer
who keeps under observations the working status of the equipment. Even people dealing with manual labour
should have qualification and experience. A well-trained staff is a must in all respects.
How do you select the projects and partners, you are working with?
The projects are dealt by tenders. We work mostly with private contractors, there are no public commissions available,
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yet the projects are let by contract. This means that an assignment is announced by a given enterprise,
whereupon 3 or 4 companies participate in the tender. The evaluation depends on
the demands of money and time for execution.
The project has to be defended in the municipality, documents from a variety of institutions are extended:
from Regional Inspection for Environment and Water, Regional Fire-Precaution Service, District Labour Department.
The whole lot of documents is then deposited in the municipality and a demolition license is issued,
whereupon a permission for deposit of refuse materials is required. Thereafter the work may start.
The acquisition of the required permissions and plans for the upcoming construction takes about 6 months, during which inspections are made,
funds are granted and all these procedures take more time than the demolition itself.
How much time does the demolition process take?
Normally it takes about 90 days, including the preliminary paperwork and institutional procedures concerning
the project ratification, which in its part draws the deadline nearer. Paperwork, as a general rule
implicates a kind of personal attitude. As a matter of fact, I am afraid of all that bureaucracy
rather than the work itself.
Is there a cut-throat competition in your business?
Yes, there are many reputable companies in Bourgas and the competition is serious, really.
Is it a profitable business?
We work with extremely expensive equipment. I can hardly earn any profit,
because I reinvest it all. When we buy a new machine, a need of another one appears and so on.
At this stage we are about to acquire a concrete recycling machine.
It is a good idea to recycle the refuse materials in order to use them in the construction process,
because it all costs a lot of money. The price of the new machine is about half a million euro and the whole
investition costs a lot of labour and nerves.
In the last few years the romas firmly took place in your field. Do they dump your business?
Our work is very risky and I can not afford to employ a low qualified staff.
Romas may well be our rivals, as far as small buildings are concerned and no special equipment is needed,
but when the case in point is demolition of industrial installations where safety and quality really matter,
then qualified experts and modern technology are indispensable.
The dynamism of our business and the high demands of our customers are beyond the abilities
of a group of romas. To demolish a factory, a special equipment is necessary,
because the deadline must be observed and it in turn requires a good selection of qualified staff.
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