al product in Bulgaria. In the summers, which are hot and
dry, beer consumption increases spectacularly. In winter,
when the country is covered in a thick blanket of snow, red
wine and vodka are popular drinks. "It's not that no beer at
all is drunk in the winter", says Iavor Todorov. "Especially
the younger consumers aged between 18 and 25 like to
drink a glass of beer in the bars in the winter months."
The Bulgarian beer market had a volume of 2.8 million hec
tolitres in 1997. In the previous year that had been 4.2
million hectolitres! For 1998 a total consumption of 3.6 mil
lion hectolitres is expected. That is an increase of almost
35%. But, says Mr Todorov, the explanation is simple: "Last
year it rained almost constantly throughout the summer
and then there was, of course, the recession as well. The
summer weather in 1998 was first-class again, the economy
has become more stable and the World Cup football in
France also had a positive effect on consumption."
Fifteen breweries share the Bulgarian beer market. In volume
terms the significance of imported beers is negligible.
Given the price differences, this is not surprising. For an
imported beer like Heineken in the 33 cl bottle you usually
have to pay twice the price of a 50 cl bottle of the most
expensive local beer brand. For a country with an average
monthly disposable income of 104 US dollars, therefore,
an imported beer is very expensive. The chief reason for the
price difference is formed by the staggeringly high import
duties of 90%. Mr Todorov therefore looks forward eagerly
to his country's future membership of the European Union
when import duties will no longer apply.
J.J. Murphy's but the pub's management is in the capable
(Irish) hands of Mike Hennessy, who was specially recruited
for this project by Iarov Todorov. During the months of
preparatory work Mike travelled to Ireland, searching for
suitable bar personnel. He also contracted musicians to
perform live Irish music. "This will become the topmost
location in Sofia", says Mr Todorov enthusiastically. "I firmly
believe in the Irish Pubs concept and I am convinced that
J.J. Murphy's will be a resounding success."
GOLDEN SANDS
A five-hour drive from Sofia takes you to the Black Sea
coast, Bulgaria's tourist magnet. Hundreds of thousands of
holidaymakers travel each summer to the Black Sea which,
despite its name, is in fact just as blue as the Mediterranean
in summer. The tourists come from all sorts of countries,
but mainly from Russia, the U.K., Germany and Scandinavia.
Not far from Varna, Bulgaria's third-biggest city with
around 350,000 inhabitants, is a stretch of beach called
Golden Sands. It is a succession of (five star) hotels, apart
ment complexes and luxury resorts that stretch for kilo
metres along the coastline. There is plenty of entertainment
on and just behind the beach, from early in the morning
until late at night. In terms of ambiance and prestige
Golden Sands can measure up to the Cöte d'Azur in the
South of France.
SOFIA
The capital Sofia, with more than one million inhabitants,
is the lively heart of Bulgaria. The city centre has a lot of
churches (mainly very many Greek Orthodox churches, but
also a mosque and a synagogue just a stone's throw away
from each other) and many old buildings, most of which are
renovated. Those historic buildings house many popular
outlets, such as the Tequila Bar, Swinging Hall with live
music, discotheque Yalta, the Library (a cellar bar under
neath Sofia's university library), and in the summer months
the open air discotheque Aliby, where some 2,000 dance
enthusiasts flock together each evening during the week
end. Apart from bars, Sofia also boasts a lot of restaurants,
including toppers like 33 Chairs and Golden Fish, located in
a quiet area in the mountains just outside Sofia. And
Heineken bottles are available in all those outlets. From the
beginning of November they were joined by a new outlet:
J.J. Murphy's, the first real Irish pub in Bulgaria with
draught Murphy's Irish Stout and Heineken.
Its proud owner is Iavor Todorov. On the basis of the Pubs
of Ireland concept (see article elsewhere in this issue of The
World of Heineken) he has had a genuine Irish pub built in
a side street off one of Sofia's main shopping streets. "The
location is perfect and the architect who was commissioned
by Murphy's to design the interior feels that J.J. Murphy's is
one of Sofia's top establishments as regards atmosphere
and interior décor." At the time of our visit to Sofia the
room that was to house J.J. Murphy's was still a big dusty
space filled with pieces of rubble and so it was difficult to
imagine that a top-class outlet would be created there
within a couple of months. Iavor Todorov is the owner of
