Cee Region To Have 6b Euro New Malls In 2009

Shopping malls are booming in Central and Eastern Europe, where projects worth a combined three billion euro will open doors by the end of 2008 and a further sic billion euro next year, an analysis by market research firm PMR Research showed.Bulgaria is tipped for the second fastest growth in the region with its shopping mall market seen rising seven-fold to 760 million euro next year.Malls in Slovenia will top 99 million euro only to rise nine-fold to 882 million euro in 2009.Bulgaria's rentable shopping space will surge 350 per cent from 2007 to 2009, and Slovenia will see an 800 per cent boost.The report is silent on the toll that financial turmoil will taje on the segment, but analysts have warned that the credit squeeze may kill some of the planned mall projects.Almost half of the CEE's shopping mall space lies in Poland with Bulgaria holding a humble two per cent of the total. Romania now has 10 per cent of the total but is set to rise to second place on the back of the current construction boom, analysts have said.