KOSTAL, the largest employer in the district of Smolyan, with more than 1 000 employees. KOSTAL is an independent family business established in 1912 in the German city of Lüdenscheid. The international management is based in the town where Leopold Kostal founded the company. In Bulgaria, Kostal operates through its subsidiary KOSTAL Bulgaria EOOD, established on 21 March 2011 as a subsidiary of the German holding company. The company produces and supplies components for more than 5 million cars worldwide. The largest world-famous automotive plants are among the customers, such as Daimler Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Fiat, Audi, Volkswagen, etc. The production in Smolyan started on 2 May 2011 in the reconstructed building of the former tobacco warehouse. Initially, the Bulgarian factory produced only handles for lights, flashers and wipers. In June 2011, they opened a small injection moulding plant for manufacturing plastic parts intended for installation, and since September 2011, they introduced a tampoprint process (stamping of various symbols on plastic parts). Thanks to this, KOBU-SL can produce plastic pieces from the first injection moulding to the final installation.
Devin EAD — leader of the bottled water market in Bulgaria. The water springs and the bottling places are located in an ecologically clean area near Devin. The company was founded in 1992 as a limited liability company between individuals and the Municipality of Devin. Since 1999 the company has been a public limited company with 100 % private capital. From August 2007 to June 2010, DEVIN was a public company with shares for free trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, and since 2010 it has been owned by the International Equity Investment Management Fund "Advent International". In March 2017, DEVIN became property of the Belgian company Spadel. The company holds a concession of wells 3 and 5 in the region of Devin. Devin also has a permit for water use of the spring Baldaran, where they bottle the unique for the Bulgarian market spring water: sparse mineralised (82 mg/l), poor in sodium (6.2 mg/l). The combination of low mineralisation and an insignificant amount of sodium ions is scarce, and it is thanks to it, spring water DEVIN is suitable for both newborns and the elderly. The product range of DEVIN includes mineral water, spring water, carbonated water, fruit juices Granini, and the Red Bull energy drinks. Devin also holds leading positions in the business of gallons with the brand DEVIN OFFICE. The company has a well-developed national distribution network, including more than 85 partner companies and its trading base in Sofia. Together with its partners, DEVIN delivers its products to over 35,000 retail outlets in the country. For 2019, the company has BGN 150 million in revenue, paid BGN 13 million in salaries, produced 19 million BGN taxes and fees to the state budget and employed 505 employees.
"Gamacabel" — one of the largest manufacturers of cables and wires in Bulgaria. The enterprise was established in 1975 on a total area of 70,000 square meters in the northern industrial zone of Smolyan. The company's production is well known in Germany, Russia, Belgium, France, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Finland, Austria and other countries in the Middle and the Far East, Africa and Asia. Exports to these countries represented more than 50 % of the company's total sales. In 2019, the company generated sales revenue amounting to BGN 62 million.
Rubella Buty AD is a leading Bulgarian producer of cosmetics. The company continuously expands its market share and holds key positions in both domestic and international markets. It is the most significant Bulgarian exporter of cosmetics and hygiene products to the CIS countries, Cefta, the European Union, the Balkan region, Asia, etc. The trademarks "Dental", "Deva" etc., are well known and sought after as an optimal combination of good quality and attractive price and compete successfully with established world brands. Rubella is the only Bulgarian cosmetic company that provides a complete technological cycle in producing toothpaste and creamy products in laminated tubes. By creating its laminate film and packaging, the company makes the product competitive and guarantees quality and security. As a result of the modern management system, the great potential of the technological base and the successful product policy, which follows the global trends in the development of the cosmetic sector, the annual production volume increases by about 20 %. The company develops and consistently implements significant investment projects in terms of implementing new technologies, reconstruction and modernisation of technological equipment in the main productions. The company is a permanent partner of reputable global companies — suppliers of quality raw materials for the cosmetic and hygienic industry such as Quest, Haarman & Reimer GmbH, Degussa, Lowenstein, etc. It is a regular participant in prestigious international exhibitions such as Cosmoprof, Private Label, Intersharm and others.
"Festo Manufacture" Ltd., Department "Manufacture of tools and details". As a partner and client, Festo has been present in Smolyan since 1999. Thanks to their traditions of instrumental production, and the well-established specialists, Festo has decided to establish an instrumental workshop in the region. In 2006 the group purchased the machine park of EME and established a department, "Manufacture of tools and details". For more than 15 years, the department has been developing at a rapid pace in the field of tooling and non-standard equipment design, production of tools for injection moulding of plastic parts, serial production of plastic parts, as well as devices for assembly of the products, repair and maintenance of tooling equipment, assembly of components. Today, the department employs 70 people — almost three times the number of employees since 2006. Since 2008 the department has also produced a series of plastic parts and currently produce 152 types of details.
Amer Sports Bulgaria Ltd., the world's largest ski production plant. In 2019, the largest Chinese sports company Anta Sports, in a consortium with FV Fund, Anamered Investments (owned by billionaire Chip Wilson) and Tencent Holdings Limited (who invest through Mount Jiuhua Investment Limited as a limited partner in the FV Fund), acquired the Finnish company Amer Sports. The transaction scope also includes the ski factory in Chepelare; Amer Sports Bulgaria EOOD was registered on 23 June 2008 by Amer Sports Holding GmbH — Austria after purchasing the Pamporovo Ski factory, Chepelare. It is part of the global concern Amer Sports, founded in 1950 in Finland. In Chepelare, the company employs about 750 people, who produce the brands Atomic and Salomon, and since 2018 - carbon bicycle rails Mavic.
Arexsim Engineering EAD — a leading manufacturer of plastic components and injection moulding tools. The start of Arexsim Engineering's EAD main activity goes back to 1991 in Smolyan. The company is leading in the production of technical plastic products and tools for them. In 2004, the production base moved to a new significantly more extensive area, modernised and fully equipped. Since 2011, the production arsenal has been enriched with state-of-the-art technology for the multi-component casting of parts, and since 2014 a Central Material Supply System has been put into operation. The main customers of the company are SCHNEIDER, BOSCH, LIEBHERR, Kostal, GRAMMER and Witte. In recent years, three large companies from the automotive business CASCO Automotive, KAYSER Automotive and Sensata Technologies were attracted to Arexsim Engineering EAD. Arexsim Engineering EAD currently employs 550 employees and 100 injection machines. For 2019, sales amounted to BGN 52 million.
