Pernik, Bulgaria

🇧🇬 Pernik (Перник) is a town in western Bulgaria, situated about 20 km (12 miles) south-west of Sofia. Pernik is the most populated town in western Bulgaria after Sofia. It is the main town of Pernik Province and lies on both banks of the Struma River in the Pernik Valley between the Golo Bardo Mountain, Vitosha Mountain, Lyulin and Viskyar mountains. Pernik is the principal town of Pernik Province – a province in western Bulgaria, which is next to the Serbian border.

Originally the site of a Thracian fortress founded in the 4th century BC, and later a Roman settlement, Pernik became part of the Bulgarian Empire in the early 9th century as an important fortress. The medieval town was a key Bulgarian stronghold during Bulgarian tsar Samuil's wars against the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century, when it was governed by the local noble Krakra of Pernik, withstanding Byzantine sieges a number of times.

From 1396 until 1878 the town was under Ottoman rule. In the 20th century Pernik developed rapidly as a centre for coal mining and heavy industry. During the Communist rule of Bulgaria it was called Dimitrovo between 1949 and 1962 after Bulgarian Communist leader Georgi Dimitrov.

The Surva International Festival of the Masquerade Games (simply called Surva) is held in the town every January. Surva is an International Kukeri Festival in Pernik, Bulgaria and is one of the biggest masquerade festival on the Balkans and Eastern Europe. It is held in the last three days of January each year.

Economically Pernik is an industrial town. Industry is of vital importance for the economy of the province. Pernik is the major manufacturing centre, one of the largest in the country with the Stomana steel complex; heavy machinery (mining and industrial equipment); brown coals, building materials and textiles being the most important. Near Pernik there is an enormous plant for heavy machinery in smaller town Radomir which produces excavators and industrial equipment, but is currently not working at full capacity. Pernik has two football teams, PFC Minyor Pernik and FC Metalurg Pernik.

Manufacturing Manufacturing companies: • Stomana Industry – Large enterprise for the production and marketing of steel and steel profiles • Opencast coal minеs – Pernik /Otkrit Vagledobiv Mines EAD/- production and trade with brown coal • Heat - electrical central /TEC - Republika/ – Pernik – generation of electricity and steam • Air Liquid Pernik – part of World leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health • Lemi Trafo – produce three phase oil-immersed transformers • Sami M- specialised meat processor for semi-ready products from red and white meats • Prim – production of meat products • Bluepoint – factory for Swim and Beachware. • Central enrichment factory – Pernik /Centralna Obogatitelna Fabrika/ – enrichment brown coals • ZGMM Corporation – manufacture for metal cutting machines • Colhida Metal – manufacture of other fabricated metal products • Ading Pernik – part of Ading – ADING is a leading company in South East Europe in production and sale of construction chemicals • Silcotech Bulgaria Ltd – Pernik – benefits from Swiss management and is part of the multinational Silcotech Group – specialized in two-component liquid silicon and engineering (technical) plastics molding. • Puratos Pernik, Belgium company – Food, Food products, Bread, Bacery products. • "Welding Machines" – is the successor of the former factory welding machines "Krakra" based Pernik. The production program of the company covers more than 25 welding products – welding transformers, welding rectifiers, Argon- arc welding, Burners and burners mini kit, Oxygen cutting torches and Set burners and oxygen cutting torch.

Several companies declared bankruptcy after failure Privatization are: glass factories – "Crystal", for building panels DF "Concrete" /Beton/, for steel profiles "Blagoj Popov" /"Kamet"/ SA, for the production of pectin – "Pectin" AD, first Bulgarian machine-building plant "Struma", the older thermal power plant "TPP – Pernik". and other companies. Because of this, the city has a lot of empty factory buildings and infrastructure areas.

Commerce Some of the biggest stores in the town: • City department store (GUM) Pernik • Billa - 2 stores • Kaufland - 2 store • CBA - 3 stores • T Market - 2 stores • Lidl – 2 stores • dm – 1 stores • Technocommerce 3 stores • Technopolis – 1 store • Technomarket – 1 store • Yavor – big furniture store • Fantastico – 1 store • a shopping mall is being built to host famous and international brands.