Balkan (factory)

Balkan AD (Bulgarian: „Балкан“ АД) is a private joint-stock, machine-building company plant located in Lovech, Bulgaria, established in 1938.

The following vehicles were assembled in the factory: When a 20-year restriction imposed by the Neuilly Treaty was lifted in 1938, the Bulgarian army was given the right to own fighter aircraft.

With consistency and perseverance, the mayor convinced the citizens that such a plant will create jobs and will raise the intellectual level of the city.

As a result, many of the young specialists, engineers, technicians and well-trained workers in Plant 14, who chose to dedicate their lives to aviation, were put in an almost hopeless situation.

Towards the end of the 1950s, in an atmosphere of high technical professionalism, which was prevalent at the time in Bulgaria, the idea of developing a Bulgarian car was born.

The forging of the individual components of the sheet metal bodies was done entirely by hand, with the help of wooden hammers on leather cushions filled with sand.

The last stage of the work is related to the cutting of the wooden model into separate parts, from which the metal stamps for the external forms of the body are cast.

In September 1960, models of cars and a pickup trucks were exhibited in an open area on the International Fair in Plovdiv, with a "Made in Bulgaria" sign.

Damyanov began preliminary preparations for this task, and the initial group included Ivan Savov, Vasil Valev, Bogdan Hambardjiev and Eng.

The goal is to complete the prototypes of a light truck and a minibus with an identical front part within 6 months, which will be presented at the jubilee 20th consecutive sample fair in Plovdiv.

In 1962, the efforts of the design department were focused on the creation of a light truck with a payload of 800 kg and a minibus with 7+1 and 11 seats on the basis of the Soviet cars Volga and Moskvich.

A model of a minibus and a light truck was shown in Plovdiv in September 1962 under the name Balkan T800, and their presentation was a huge success, supported by several enthusiastic articles in Bulgarian and foreign specialized publications.

In 1967, the Plovdiv Fair showed the prototype of the Rila 700 - a minibus based on the Moskvich 408, whose body was designed by Hristo Hristov - who was among the prominent architects in Lovech.

The main activity of Balkan AD is the production of forklifts and bicycles, hydrodynamic transmitters, drive axles, spare parts.