A Canadian company announced it acquired 150,000 acres for cannabis production in Bulgaria, Dnevnik reported. At the end of last year, International Cannabis Corp announced that it acquired 100% of the assets of the Balkan Cannabis Corp, which claims to own the land in Bulgaria and the necessary licenses for production of hemp and cannabis for medical purposes. Balkan Cannabis Corp was founded by two Montenegrins who visited Bulgaria a month before the deal and were impressed by the qualities of the land and the production infrastructure. According to their presentation, the local area can even be developed as the world's largest producer of hemp for industrial purposes.



Stevan Tafra and Milorad Bozovic are the two Montenegrin co-founders of Balkan Cannabis Corp who announced in a presentation that they visited Bulgaria in the end of November 2018 to look at the opportunities here, Dnevnik reports. During their visit, the two looked at of farmland 35 km from Sofia. Their company was founded in Toronto, its chief financial officer is the former British Sea Terrier Lawrence Pemberton, and the Russian businessman Andrei Kretjiev is in charge of the operation.



The company claims to own 100 in a Greek company, 67% in Macedonian and 50% in Bulgarian. The remaining 50% of us were an unnamed "famous leader in the Bulgarian business community". According to the presentation, the company also holds all necessary licenses for hemp and cannabis cultivation for medical purposes in Bulgaria. In addition to the current 150,000 acres, Balkan Cannabis Corp claims that after the Canadian acquisition procedure by International Cannabis Corp, they plan to acquire an additional 15,000 hectares of Bulgarian land.



The newly-established company would launch no later than March this year, and in the next 3 years it planned a serious penetration into the Western Balkans, Germany and the Czech Republic.



In the announcement of the deal, the World Bank is quoted as saying that about 1/3 of the territory of Bulgaria is very fertile and represents "a unique opportunity for hemp cultivation". Over 1/3 of the Bulgarian population was over 55 years of age and suffered from a disproportionate amount of diseases such as arthritis. Medical cannabis and its products helped to alleviate these conditions, which accounts for 2.3 million Bulgarians directly on the accounts of the company.



The company adds that the initial investment in this venture would be approximately 12 million Canadian dollars.



In our country, the issue of cannabis cultivation licenses depends directly on the agricultural, domestic and finance ministry. Later that day, the health ministry denied the Canadian company wanted official license for hemp cultivation in Bulgaria.