Bulgaria's greatest football player ever, Hristo Stoichkov, has become popular in another context - as an investor in renewable energy in the small settlement of Zaburdo in Rhodopi Mountains, where he plans to establish a wind farm.
Local folk group Evro Babi (European Grandmothers) have even devoted a national song to him. The Evro Babi wrote new lyrics for song, about Stoichkov, his wife, and even their life in Barcelona.
On October 12 2008, the football legend visited the village together with Spanish investors, Zaburdo mayor Valentin Cherpokov said in an interview with private broadcaster bTV.
The Spanish investors want to invest in wind energy in the village and they were currently in negotiation with him. They propose building a solar panel station and wind generators over 40ha around the village.
Cherpokov said that the village would accept the investment, as it would create more employment for the area.
The mayor said his strategy for developing the village was to invite popular people to visit it. He has already invited French president Nikola Sarkozi and his wife Carla Bruni to see the village's historical ferris wheel. A member of Evro Babi claims the ferris wheel was invented in Zaburdo. The tradition tells that when there was a feast in the village, the girls sat on the wheel and the boys threw apples at the girls they liked.
