IBM Corp has established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Bulgaria, technically ending an enforced 23-year absence from the country. IBM first opened a company in Bulgaria in 1937 – a year after setting up shop in Hungary – but was forced to dissolve it in 1971, since when the company has been represented by business partners. The last of these was BBC&S, an IBM Alliance Company formed in 1993, whose head, Penko Dinev, will take over the position of managing director of IBM Bulgaria. IBM Bulgaria’s headquarters will be located at BBC&S’s existing office space in Bulgaria’s World Trade Centre building. IBM bought space on 200 billboards in the country carrying the message Good Luck, Bulgaria to announce its formal return to the country and also put out advertisements in newspapers and on television. On opening, IBM said it would equip 28 secondary schools with personal computers for students and a server for teachers, free, under its School’s Initiative.
