History - About us

OPTIX JSC was founded.

The company built its first and private production facilities. On February 5th, the first optical element was produced.

The workshop for "Spherical and micro-optics" was built. In October, OPTIX JSC launched in exploitation the first machine for optical coatings.

A plant was built for conventional optical components in Popintsi village. Started a modernization of "Spherical optics" workshop. OPTIX JSC mastered the crystal processing technologies of Ge, Si, CaF2.

OPTIX received a quality certificate ISO 9001:2000.

The single tube night vision goggles DIANA were certified by the Executive Agency "Testing and measurement control of armament, equipment and property" to the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria.

The company won three international competitions for supply of equipment for night surveillance.

A new workshop "Flat optics" was opened. OPTIX JSC developed night and day sights for small arms.

The workshops "Preparation operations" and "Micro optics" were fully modernized. A new workshop "Mechanical processing" was built.

OPTIX JSC won a competition to build an experimental system for monitoring and early warning of the approaches to site of strategic importance. OPTIX JSC started a development of a set of devices for ophthalmology.

OPTIX won:

- a complex tender for equipment of the Bulgarian army with single and twin tube night vision goggles, night and day sights;

- two contest of PHARE program and developed the monocular Diana M, along with a new day sight, night sight, and a collimator sight.

The company established a joint venture firm within the company`s territory for production of endoscopes in collaboration with two leading German companies in the field of optics and medicine.

The modernization of workshop "Finishing operations" was finished. OPTIX introduced a management system ABAS ERP. That same year the company developed the mobile thermal imaging system TERMA-04 and won the national competition for "Innovative enterprise of the year".

OPTIX is one of the first companies in Bulgaria with a certification in accordance with NATO standards AQAP 2110. The company won the contest of the "Agency of the investments" for "Investor of the Year" in category "Investments in high technologies".

For second consecutive year OPTIX Co won the National competition "Innovative Enterprise of the Year" and received Diploma from the President of the Republic of Bulgaria for the implemantation of innovative technologies.

OPTIX implemented an integrated management system comprising five international standards: ISO 9001:2000 – Quality management, ISO 27001:2005 – Information Security, ISO 14001:2004 – Environmental protection, AQAP 2110 – Military Standard NATO, OHSAS 18001 :1999 – Healthy and safe working conditions.

For the third consecutive year the company won the award for "Innovative enterprise of the year".

OPTIX celebrated its 10th anniversary on a corporate gala cocktail party at the Military Club.

OPTIX became the first Bulgarian company that received the Japanese Prize "Bosei - striving for the stars". The top prize was given for efficiency of the applied system for Total Quality Management /TQM/ in OPTIX JSC manufacturing. In the same year the company also was awarded with the Grand Prix of the Bulgarian Industrial Association for its contribution to the development of the Bulgarian economy and honorable sign - plaque for cooperation from "Artillery weapons and ammunitions".

OPTIX received a "Certificate of excellent practices" in support of the workplace health, given by the European program "Promotion of the health in the workplace".

The Bavarian representation in Bulgaria supports OPTIX JSC as a Bulgarian company with the largest contribution for the year in bilateral economic relations.

Dipl. eng. Ivan Cholakov won the National Award "Man of the 21 century".

In January 2010, OPTIX as a part of the international consortium ATO, signed a contract for building an integrated surveillance system monitoring of the Bulgarian Black Sea border. At the heart of the project is envisaged to cover the Schengen requirements set by the European Commission.

The Executive Director Ivan Cholakov was awarded with a golden anniversary award and a Diploma in the category "Manager" in the annual awards IN-5 of the Bulgarian Chamber of commerce in April.

On 03.02.2011, the Republic of Bulgaria officially launched its strategic project for monitoring and protecting the Black Sea frontier, known as the "Blue" border. Built and maintained by the ATO consortium, including OPTIX, the integrated system equips the Bulgarian Border Police to detect, identify, and track maritime vessels and intruders within their territorial waters and exclusive zones, while cooperating with similar EU and NATO systems.

OPTIX won for fourth time first place in the competition "Innovative Enterprise of the Year".

On 06.02.2012 OPTIX JSC officially opened "IR and UV objectives" - a new facility, built with an investment of 5.8 million BGR. Its construction was a project that the company has won funded under the procurement "Competitiveness" and the amount of subsidy is 50%.

On 18.12.2012 OPTIX JSC received another award in the contest "Innovative Enterprise of the Year" in the category "Independent innovation lifecycle."

OPTIX wins the Republic of Serbia border security project under the IPA program, which includes the modernization of 22 checkpoints on the territory of the Republic of Serbia and the development and delivery of 10 mobile surveillance systems.

In 2014 The Integrated system for perimeter security, video surveillance and control of access to the territory of the Military Formation 52370 - Negushevo was built, the sub-systems was assigned to NATO Commodity Numbers. 

On January 18 2016, the Directorate for Innovation and Industry of the European Commission officially informed the Bulgarian company OPTIX JSC that it has won funding for a proposal for security innovations. Thus, OPTIX becomes the only company in Bulgaria that has won a Horizon 2020 project in the field of security.

In 2016 OPTIX opens a new industrial building on the territory of Technological Park OPTIX.

OPTIX marked the signing date of February 5th with the opening of a new production area in Strelcha.

The company received the "National Champion" award for Bulgaria from the European Business Awards.

In the same year, OPTIX built, integrated and commissioned three number of technical monitoring stations for the needs of the National Police Service at the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria.

On February 5th, OPTIX opened a new investment area - OPTIX Shooting Complex.

On May 25th OPTIX has participated in the first SafeShore demo event at the North Sea, attended by end-users, European Commission members, and media. The Safeshore detection system, which includes components from OPTIX, successfully tracked vessels, swimmers, and drones approaching the shore.

OPTIX JSC celebrated its twentieth-year anniversary!

On February 5th, OPTIX opened a new production facility on the territory of the Municipality of Panagyurishte. The tradition of launching significant investment projects for OPTIX on February 5th this year was dedicated to the rapidly growing company within the OPTIX group – "Micro Optics Europe".

OPTIX participated in the International Exhibition for Defense Products and Services "Hemus 2020." At the forum, the company presented its latest technical solutions for border surveillance, night vision, thermal imaging devices, and systems, suitable for fulfilling the operational tasks of military and police forces.

OPTIX became the only Bulgarian company member of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC). The organization is a not-for-profit association with headquarters in Paris, France.

OPTIX is registered partner for the new calls for proposals of the European Defence Fund. The European Commission adopted a package of decisions supporting the competitiveness and increasing the innovation capacity of the EU's defense industry.

OPTIX officially opened a new R&D and production center in Plovdiv. The management team upheld the company tradition and on February 5th, officially opened a new production and development center in the Southeast Industrial Zone "Trakia" in the city of Plovdiv.

OPTIX JSC – Employer of the Year 2022.

On February 5th, OPTIX JSC opened its most significant investment in Panagyurishte under the sign of its 25th anniversary. The large-scale investment facility is directly related to the long-term strategy of OPTIX for sustainable development, and the company's goals are to gather all optical production from the various technological areas in one place.

OPTIX JSC has achieved a top ten position in the Low Flying Object Detection Contest, organized by FRONTEX, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

OPTIX celebrated its 25th anniversary.

OPTIX JSC received the award for Innovative Enterprise for 2023. 

OPTIX unveils its first green energy investment. The investment in green energy includes a transformer station and equipment for production processes. Additional investments are planned for another 900 kilowatts.

OPTIX has officially become a member of ONVIF^®, a global organization with over 450 members dedicated to standardizing interfaces for seamless interoperability between IP-based physical security products.