Borislav Bonev thought it would be hard to find a Bulgaria pharmaceutical manufacturing job. Now he’s working in Peshtera at Biovet, at a company backed by the EU bank.
Намерих си работа: Заетост в новите технологии в България
When Borislav Bonev was studying biotechnology at Sofia University in Bulgaria, he worried that it would be difficult to get work in his field because the opportunities for graduates were limited.
“If pharmaceutical manufacturing is your thing, like it is mine, it is hard to find a suitable job,” says Borislav, 26, who lives in Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria. “There aren`t many factories doing this work in Bulgaria or in other places around the world.”
Fortunately, the pharmaceutical maker Biovet, located in Peshtera, 120 kilometres southeast of Sofia, was expanding, so he took a job as a trainee in 2014, working as a shift leader and a “technologist.” He soon became a permanent employee and today oversees the technological needs of a new fermentation plant at the company’s headquarters in Peshtera.
“Every day, there is something new that I can learn and that raises my level of expertise on different topics,” he says. “I never wanted a normal desk job.”
Bulgaria pharmaceutical manufacturing gets EU bank support
Biovet’s expansion was supported by a €100 million loan from the European Investment Bank, the EU bank. The company, a unit of the global pharmaceutical firm Huvepharma, is a leader in animal medicines. Biovet was one of the first Bulgarian companies to benefit from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, a programme designed to accelerate investment in innovative companies.
Biovet has more than 2 000 employees and is adding over 200 jobs with the new loan. “Without the help of organisations like the European Investment Bank, I doubt that expansion projects like ours would be possible,” Borislav says.
His job is one of millions created with the European Investment Bank’s support. By 2021, investments signed by the EIB Group in 2017 alone are expected to raise EU gross domestic product by 1.1% and to create 1.2 million jobs. Even in 2036, EU GDP will be 0.7% higher as a result of the EIB's 2017 investments, and 650,000 extra jobs will have been added.
Borislav Bonev started at Biovet as a shift leader and a “technologist.”
Bulgaria pharmaceutical manufacturing key link in food chain
Animal medicines are an important link in the food safety chain. They help prevent infections and address health issues, such as flea and tick infestations, rabies, diabetes and cancer. Biovet is increasing its medicine production by building two factories: a fermentation plant to make nutritional supplements and medicines for animals and humans, and a second plant to make animal vaccines.
“One of our biggest challenges is to stay competitive and to keep the quality and quantity of our products high,” he says. “We have to constantly evolve and improve technologies, technical equipment, strains, etc. We have to learn new things and acquire new skills. These are the things I love about my job.”
