‘Yes, they have plans to build here some very big project, called Kukovo, but also more interesting project for start I think, near to Sunny Beach. Near enough to give it name Sunny Beach anyhow.’ The Israeli laughed.’ Irish buyers are not so exact about location, no?’
‘They rely on us to tell them.’ Tom smiled at the thought; lambs to the slaughter.
The secretary opened the door and ushered in a small man in a pinstripe suit; Ehud stood up and introduced the man. ‘Tom, this is Andon, he is the Mayor of the town.’
Tom stood and offered his hand. The man looked nothing like the mayor of a small town; he was immaculately dressed in a very expensive suit and his hands were manicured. He turned to the door and called out something to the secretary.
The woman returned bringing a coffee for the Mayor, and she was followed by the deputy Mayor. The number two was a big man, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, and his extended hand revealed the appearance of someone who was not unused to hard work. He welcomed Tom and Ehud warmly.
‘I am Petar; I am deputy mayor of town. You will forgive my colleague, he speaks not English well, but I speak a little and Mr. Mamzer speak many language. We manage ok.’
‘I’m afraid I only speak English, and a little Spanish.’ Tom felt somewhat at a disadvantage in this linguistic tower of Babel.
The Mayor sat forward with his arms on the table and his fingertips together; he spoke for a few moments in Bulgarian, and Ehud translated.
‘He say, you are welcome to Bulgaria. Also he say, we have opportunity to make good business here and maybe to bring employment and prosper to this region. He say he have many good connection with the party in all areas, not only here but also in Sunny Beach and Varna. His colleague is excellent constructor, has built many school, road, apartment for social housing, many things for government. They have land here and also near Sunny Beach, and they have projects designed and ready for construct. Licence for construct, no problem, can get in one, two days maximum. First only need selling so banks can finance projects. This is where you can make business.’
‘So, are there any other foreign agencies operating in this area, apart from small players?’
The deputy Mayor interrupted. ‘Yes, one big English company is starting to do business in Sunny Beach, they want to sell two thousand apartment. They expect commence this in one month, maybe little longer but not much. We want to get to market before them, maybe not many buyers, we need to get the buyers for our project first.’
Tom was beginning to get the picture; these guys had lost out to some other outfit when it came to marketing through a big English agency, and they wanted to steal a march on their rivals and get a project on the table first. ‘So, what prices are they proposing for these apartments? Is there margin for us?’
Ehud translated for the Mayor; the deputy spoke directly to Tom. ‘I understand how system work, Mr. Mamzer explain; you must make margin on top of our price, but we do not worry about this. We make exclusive deal with you, so no person can come to Bulgaria and buy at lower price, we guarantee this. We pay Ehud a small percentage for introduction to you; you make your own profit. But if you do not sell fifty percent of project in six months we finish business and we make arrangement with another agency.’
‘So, how many apartments are you proposing for the Sunny Beach site?’
‘Not Sunny Beach exactly, but near. We will call it Sunny Beach North. We make a project with eight hundred apartment.’ The man sat back with a proud smile. ‘Is good, no?’
‘Yes, that’s big, but it’s the kind of scale we need. What’s the average price?’
Ehud unfolded some papers. ‘In Euros? Average is just over forty thousand, prices start at thirty thousand and some small amount of penthouse and larger apartments at fifty thousand. I think maybe you can make the same margin you make in Budapest, no?’
Tom was happy enough at what he was hearing; all the figures stacked up and these guys didn’t seem to care what profit he made as long as he moved the project on quickly. He looked around the room at his new partners. ‘So, maybe we can see the project, get an idea of the layout and location, and we can start to do some business.’
The seafront café was a pleasant place to sit and relax after the hectic pace of a very long day. It wasn’t up to the standards of the Costa del Sol, with its red plastic chairs and painted concrete floor, but the view from the terrace over the long sandy beach was spectacular. Tom loosened his tie and raised the cold beer in salute to Ehud Mamzer. He was beginning to like the Israeli; the man was nothing like his noisy and boisterous cousin in Budapest. He exuded calm; he seemed to be completely unfazed by the chaotic environment in which he did business. This was a man in control of his situation, and he inspired confidence.
‘So, to business.’ Ehud raised his drink in response. I tell you how it will be, it is not for negotiation. We both need to make profit, I will be fair, I don’t have a problem with the level of your profit.’
‘You probably know from Amir that we will want to make a substantial margin from this development. The market will stand a much higher price than what’s on offer, but we’ll have to make the market. There isn’t a market for this stuff anywhere as we stand. Scorpio must create it.’
‘I understand all this. I don’t have a problem. I want five percent from the sale price of every apartment, paid when the contract is signed and the first payment made.’
‘That’s a lot of money Ehud; we’re the ones doing all the work. In any case, we would prefer to pay you half at that stage and half on completion; that way you stay interested.’
‘Make it two thirds at the start and the rest at the end and we have a deal. For that I will take care of all business here for you, all problems that arise. I know from my cousin that you have great potential for selling; he was foolish in my opinion to get maybe a little greedy with you. I believe that we can make a great partnership for several years; we can make a lot of money here. That is between us, you understand; I do not want to be disloyal to my cousin.’
Tom extended his hand. ‘Ok, we have a deal. We can work out the exact details over the next few days, but in general I think that we have a good arrangement.’
‘Ok, Tom, I think that you and I understand each other. We can work well together.’
‘So how did you learn Bulgarian?’ Tom was curious at the Israeli’s command of the local language.
‘In my home, from my grandmother. She was Bulgarian, my grandfather was Romanian, all from this area here. My grandfather was from Vama Veche, just across the border, and my grandmother came from a small village close to the border, is not now any village there.’
‘I’ve never been to Romania, but I’m going there tomorrow. I can’t get a flight from Varna; I have to go to Bucharest. I think I need to get a taxi to Constanta and a train to Bucharest, is that the best way?’
‘I can take you in the morning; I collect you from your hotel at eight. I bring you to Constanta to the train and you get to Bucharest tomorrow afternoon for your flight no problem. With taxi will be difficult, is better if I go with you across the border. Maybe we find some business in Romania when we are there?’
‘Are there possibilities?’
‘I don’t think so, realistically. I don’t have a problem to pay people, you know, people with influence have to be given some small present if you want to do business. Problem in Romania is you don’t ever know if you pay the right person, maybe you pay ten people and still not get the one who can make things happen. In Bulgaria at least I know who to pay.’
Tom was intrigued. ‘So how did you end up in Tel Aviv?’
The Israeli smiled sadly. ‘You have one week? Is the story of many families in Israel; we are from Hungary, from Romania, from Bulgaria, from Poland. We are driven from these places one, two generation back, to our homeland in Israel. Now we come back to make business here, we come to places where we know how things work.’
‘Seems that you have a handle
on how things work here anyway.’
‘Yes, is not difficult when you know the place, is impossible for a stranger. When the Russians came, they put the most stupid persons in charge, and this system replicates itself you understand. So now with what is called democracy, still the most stupid persons control the towns, is easy to do business with such idiots.’
‘So the other developers, in Sunny Beach and these places, did they all make their money from government contracts, like Petar? Is that how they get big enough to get into major developments like this?’
‘Some, not all. Many of them make their money from the triangle.’
‘The triangle?’ Tom was puzzled.
The Israeli thought for a moment. ‘Sorry, wrong word; excuse my English, the pyramid. They make their money from the pyramid.’
Tom was still lost. ‘What is the pyramid?’
‘A few years ago, when Bulgaria got freedom from Russians, everyone wanted to be a capitalist. Some smart people, mafia types, they made a pyramid scheme, you know, every person puts in one hundred dollars, then they have each to get another ten persons to put in a hundred dollars and so on.’
Tom had heard of the concept. ‘Only the people at the top can ever benefit. We had a scam like that in Ireland, it was aimed at women, called it ‘women enriching women’ or something like that.’
Ehud took a sip from his drink. ‘It is the oldest trick in the book as they say. I see many such scams on the internet, as little as one dollar you have to send and they promise that you will get back one hundred thousand dollars in six months. Of course many people still fall for it.’
‘So what happened in Bulgaria?’
‘It was different here, much more serious. Almost everybody in the country was involved, and everybody’s savings were sucked into the pyramid. Even the banks did not escape, the national bank collapsed. Also the farmers, they put the money that was for the seeds into the scheme, and there were no crops the next year, there was actually a famine. It was crazy, really crazy.’
‘So a few people made a lot of money.’
‘Of course, the usual story; the people that started the scheme made a lot of money. There were about twelve developers that came out of that scheme. Now they are just about six.’
Tom nodded. ‘Amalgamations, mergers?’
The Israeli smiled sadly. ‘No, they are dead, the others are dead. They kill each other, now there are just six. It is necessary to be very careful in Bulgaria, Tom; do not try to make business without friends.’
The Lada cruised along the country road, speeded through towns and villages by the ever present Nikolai, the cheerful motorcycle policeman. The sun was shining and the countryside looked its best under the hot sun. The road ran through rich farmland, with large fields of sunflowers and corn that reached right to the edge of the road. The road itself was shaded with rows of nut trees, their trunks whitewashed to a couple of meters from the ground.
‘Your family comes from near here? It’s a very nice part of the world.’
Ehud lanky frame was hunched over the wheel, his eyes on the road as he flogged the old car along. ‘Is beautiful this time of year, but in winter…’
‘It gets cold?’
‘Yes, very bad winters, sometimes the Black Sea freezes, ice.’
‘Hard to imagine now, it reminds me of Spain when I look at the blue sky, although the fields are green and beautiful. Spain is a lot more arid.’
‘Maybe you can make this a marketing idea. Call it ‘New Spain’. Sell Bulgaria like an alternative to Spain, you know, for holiday all year round.’
‘But it’s hardly Spain really; if it gets very cold here in wintertime, we can’t really call it the New Spain.’
‘Look, Tom, in three years maybe we are already finished working here, maybe less. We make a lot of money, we can retire or go someplace else, and the buyers maybe will have a property that they will enjoy for holidays in summer. Is beautiful in summer, as you can see. It will not be a problem for us if they are complaining then; we will not be working here then.’
‘I guess so, Ehud, ‘buyer beware’ as we say in the business. It’s just our job to sell the stuff; it’s their job to look where they’re going.’
The car slowed as they approached the frontier. Nikolai slowed and motioned them to stay behind him. He would get them past the Bulgarian border police; that would be half the battle in getting across this notoriously slow border crossing.
The border post was like something from an old cold war spy movie. A huge concrete structure spanned the roadway, and a line of cars and trucks was pulled in along the side of the road. A rusting red and white barrier blocked the thoroughfare, manned by a policeman who looked bored and disinterested.
Their escort blipped his siren and the policeman raised the barrier and allowed them through. The motorcyclist pulled off the road and entered a police compound, waving them on as he slowed. Ehud drove past through the no-man’s land to the Romanian crossing.
A smaller queue waited at the Romanian side. They parked the car at the back of the line and they both got out and stretched their legs. A line of people waited at small hatch where Tom could see a large policeman with a bushy moustache just inside the glass.
‘Give me your passport. You have some small euros notes?’ Ehud spoke quietly out of the side of his mouth.
Tom turned his back to the window and opened his wallet. ‘How big?’
‘Maybe two twenties, you have this amount? Not bigger.’
Tom passed the two twenties surreptitiously to the Israeli. The tall man folded one note into each passport and approached the window. He slid the documents in through the hatch and Tom saw the officer examine them, and heard the bang of a stamp being applied to each one. In a moment Ehud was back. ‘We go, all is ok. Welcome to Romania.’
The English tourists in the queue were indignant. ‘We’ve been waiting here for an hour, these locals get preference, it’s not right.’ The woman was speaking loudly to her male companion, deliberately loudly enough for everyone to hear. ‘What do we have to do to get into the bloody country? What’s the problem here?’
Her pleadings fell on deaf ears; the policeman closed the hatch with a snap and went away from the window. Ehud put the Lada in gear and moved off through the now raised barrier. He looked at Tom and ventured a wry smile.
‘She complain and complain but nobody is interested, maybe even she makes more delay for herself.’
‘Cash is king here so.’ Tom was impressed by the way that Ehud had eased their way across the border.
‘Yes, but I told you last night, you have to know who to pay. That is the problem in Romania; maybe you pay, and pay again, and you still not find the person who it is right to pay. Here is simple, just one stupid policeman who makes small increase on his salary; if you want to make business however it is more difficult. You have to know who to pay.’
Tom sat back in silence and took in the sights on the road north from the border. Although they were in a different country, the style of buildings, the rusting steel and concrete fences in the villages, all bore the same stamp as the environment in Bulgaria. They slowed as they passed through a small seaside village.
‘This is Vama Veche, from where my grandfather comes; his home was here along this road, but the house is no longer here. It was just here I think.’ Ehud slowed as they left the village and pointed out a spot to the right hand side of the road where some flat land stretched to the cliff tops. The place was pretty, with stunning views out over the Black Sea.
‘Vama Veche is a very much loved seaside town, for holidays, very traditional holiday village. It was a place where many dissident gather for holiday, intellectuals, but was tolerated by communists. You understand the word dissident?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘It never made developments like other seaside towns, but maybe in the future it is possible. I have made application for the return of our family lands here; maybe we will succeed, maybe not.
If we succeed, maybe we make a project here, what do you think?’
‘Looks nice, and anything is possible. How far are we from Constanta?’
‘About half hour, you will see.’
He speeded up the car again and headed north; huge cranes loomed on the horizon. The sight looked to Tom like a shipbuilding facility; it reminded him of the gigantic cranes in Belfast.
‘This is the big shipyard of Mangalia, was belonging to the state, now belongs to the Koreans. It was an important place for ship building in the old days; they still build ships but now I think it is mostly for repairing.’
They crossed over a big bridge and Ehud pointed out a dockyard on the left. ‘This is the naval dockyard, the Romanian navy. If we look at this place maybe ten, fifteen years ago we are spies.’ He laughed. ‘Was nothing to see really, just some small ships.’
Ehud seemed to be very relaxed in Romania; he knew his way around and he was a mine of information on the places that they passed. ‘Here is Efforie Sud, next is Efforie Nord, they are important resorts on the south side of Constanta. On the north side of course is Mamaia, biggest resort in Romania, very busy in summer.’
‘Any business possibilities for us in any of these places?’
‘I think not. Prices of land are too high, and we don’t have information from the right people. I visit here maybe every month; I am always looking, maybe in time we will make a project here. We will see.’
They slowed as they hit heavy traffic on the outskirts of Constanta. The city limits were defined by a small ship, probably a decommissioned patrol boat Tom reckoned, that was mounted on concrete supports beside the highway.
Ehud joked as they passed the marooned ship. ‘Was a big storm maybe, bring the ship so far from the sea. You want some lunch before the train? There is time.’
‘Ok, that would be good. You know someplace?’
The Israeli turned down a side street and drove through several back streets; the surfaces of these minor roads were badly rutted and potholed. It seemed as though the authorities in Constanta only maintained the roads that were on view to passing motorists; the locals had to put up with a lesser standard. He skidded to a halt in a grand cobbled square that was surrounded by some old and attractive buildings, as well as a few derelict sites.
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