Bulgaria to Build F1 Circuit with Abu Dhabi Money

The desire expressed last year by Bulgaria to host a Formula 1 event lives on, despite the roadblock hit in November 2009. According to reports in the local media, the plan has been revived this week by the signing of an agreement between the Bulgarian economy minister and the Emirates Associated Business Group, an Abu Dhabi-owned company.

The agreement between the two, as revealed by Bulgarian publications Standart News and Novinite, calls for the Arab company to come in with the money and the state with the land required to build the circuit.

The news was apparently confirmed by the Bulgarian economy ministry to the aforementioned Bulgarian sources, cited by GMM, with the most likely date for the first race being 2012.

Bulgaria confirmed its interest in hosting a Formula 1 race in September last year. Back then, the plan was to schedule the first race for 2011, 2012 at the latest, with the circuit to be located near the capital, Sofia.

All the Bulgarian plans went down the drain two months later, when the budget for the track was found to be pretty much nonexistent. The track was supposed to be built by the Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation, who had just secured a MotoGP venue, but the economic crisis left the Federation with only the land, and no money.

The construction of the circuit is already a long way behind schedule, as it was supposed to be ready in January this year. The money coming from the Emirates Associated Business Group should be enough to revive the project.