Forklift parts manufacturer Balkancar G Mihaylov Co (Balkancar GM) is looking to diversify with a business partner as its traditional markets shrink.

Company spokesman Valentin Stoev tells Forkliftaction.com News in an exclusive interview that the Knezha-based manufacturer produces spare parts for Bulgarian electric forklifts, which are sold in large numbers in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

"The market for this production is shrinking every year," Stoev explains. "The company is now looking to diversify through finding [a] manufacturer or strategic partner to start producing parts for [their] needs or for distribution in the EU or its traditional markets."

Established in 1968, Balkancar GM exists in its original form and site in Knezha, Bulgaria as a forklift spare parts manufacturer, years after the disappearance of the Balkancar Company, which once claimed to be the world's largest forklift producer.

At the moment, Balkancar GM only makes parts for Balkancar forklifts and faces virtually no competition "except (for a) little import from China and Turkey, but the quality of these products is not as high as the production of Balkancar GM", Stoev says.

"There is a technical ability for an annual production in the range of about EUR5 million (USD6.3 million)," he adds.

The company also maintains and repairs electrical products for industrial vehicles, especially forklifts, and customises parts for its customers.

Balkancar GM is one of the few remaining original plants of the old Balkancar Company. Depending on market conditions and current orders, there are 50 and 250 people working there. The sole owner of Balkancar GM, Teodor Osikovski, is also the CEO of Energoremont Holding and the chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Welders.

According to Stoev, Bulgaria, an EU member, is attractive to foreign investors because it has a 10% flat corporate tax rate and the lowest production costs in the union.

"At the moment Bulgaria is extremely stable financially, and, together with Sweden and Estonia, has the lowest public debt in the EU - for Bulgaria it is 16% of GDP," Stoev says.