Who owns ZAGORKA BEER?

ZAGORKA BEER is owned by

HEINEKEN N.V.

Website

Zagorka is a popular beer brand that was created in 1902 in the city of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria by Dr. Konstantin Kojuharov. Kojuharov had recently returned from studying medicine in Prague, and was inspired by the Czech brewing tradition there. He worked with the Future Company, a local conglomeration that was focused in the banking and industrial sectors. Future became the main shareholder in the new enterprise, which was originally known as Future Brewery. They achieved success early on, but a lack of demand brought on by World War I caused the brewery to go bankrupt in 1918. Its assets were acquired by the Zlatevi brothers, who restarted the brewery and named it Trakia. It was established as a joint stock company, with the city of Stara Zagora as a major stockholder.

In 1927 a cartel was formed amongst Bulgarian breweries to limit supply, and the brewery in Zagora was shut down. It sat dormant until 1954, when the Bulgarian state took the brewery and began brewing there under the Zagorka name. The company thrived as a state owned entity, and by 1965 over 27 million liters of Zagorka was being brewed a year. By 1990, production nearly hit 70 million liters.

The company remained state owned until 1994, when the end of the Soviet era brought pressure on Bulgaria to privatize its state owned assets. The consortium Brewinvest purchased 80% of the shares of Zagorka for $21.7million when they were listed publicly. At the time, Brewinvest was equally owned by Heineken and a greek Coca-Cola bottler known as Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Companies. Later, Heineken took over majority control of the enterprise. Today, Zagorka holds over a 35% share of the Bulgarian beer market.

Popular Beers by this Brand

• Zagorka
• Special
• Gold
• Reserve
• Fusion

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