Today, Stanislav Popov represents the second generation in EL BAT — a generation that not only inherits what has been built, but actively participates in shaping the company’s next phase of development. But his story does not begin with a position, a title, or a managerial role. It began much earlier — in a time when the plant still looked nothing like the industrial structure people know today.
“I remember the beginning, even though I was very young. My father and Nikоlay truly started from zero, and it showed. Their efforts were immense, and you could feel it within our families.”
When he speaks about those early years, there is no romanticizing in his words. No attempt to turn hardship into mythology. What comes through instead is realism — the memory of a time when everything was built slowly, painfully, and with far more uncertainty than security.
“At the beginning, EL BAT didn’t exist. The first name of the trading company dealing with batteries and metals was ‘Stelth.’ I still keep advertising materials from that time.”
Then came “Bulmet.” Different stages. Gradual expansion. But in his memories, the company was never really a “company” in the corporate sense of the word.
It was “the base.”
“Back then we used to call the plant ‘the base.’ I remember my mother asking me in the mornings during summer vacation:
‘Stanislav, are you going to the base with your father today?’
And yes, I went there often because even as a child I found it interesting and enjoyable to be around them.”
The word appears several times throughout the conversation with him, and probably not by accident. There is something deeply different about it compared to the industrial image the company has today. “The base” does not sound like an enterprise. It sounds like a place around which an entire life was gradually built.
That is one of the reasons his relationship with EL BAT feels different. He did not enter an already established structure from the outside. He did not join a finished business. He grew up inside it — among the people, the machines, the conversations about work, and the constant feeling that something around him was always being built, changed, and developed.
“There were lots of green fields, a fence, a few concrete areas, one or two forklifts, a small office building, and a single hall.”
Today, that image feels almost unreal considering the scale at which EL BAT operates. Yet those early memories remain the strongest in his mind because they give him a clear understanding of how much time and effort stand behind every next step in the company’s development.
“Those were not easy years. There were sacrifices, and people worked incredibly hard.”
When someone witnesses such a process from childhood, their relationship with business inevitably becomes different. The company stops being just an economic structure. It becomes the result of years of persistence, risk, and decisions made during moments when nobody could guarantee success.
That is exactly why, even back then, he began to feel that this place carried the potential for something much bigger.
“Even then, I understood that if we played our cards right, we had a future.”
That thought stayed with him for years — not as a childhood fantasy, but as a gradually forming belief that EL BAT could outgrow the limitations of the local market and become something far larger.
The transition toward active involvement in EL BAT did not happen suddenly. There was no single moment when he decided he would become part of the company. The process happened naturally and gradually — almost as if he had always belonged to that environment and simply started taking on more responsibility over time.
After university, he began spending more and more time within the company. First came the meetings, conversations, and everyday tasks. Then came deeper involvement in operations, logistics, and international business relationships.
At that time, EL BAT still looked very different from the organization it is today.
“We spent time in our office in Sofia — a small office near the city center where it was just me, one of my close friends, and my wife, although at the time we were still just dating.”
There is something very characteristic in this description of the early stages of growth in any company — the feeling that everything is only just beginning. No large departments. No complex international structures. Just a small team, a huge amount of work, and a constant drive toward the next level.
“Back then we were only starting to develop departments and teams for purchasing scrap batteries abroad, selling metals internationally, and so on.”
It was during that period that his way of thinking about EL BAT’s future also began to take shape. While the company was still operating primarily on a local level, he was already thinking internationally.
“Only ten years ago, we probably had one or two battery suppliers from abroad. We relied on the Bulgarian market for 70–80% of our operations.”
At the time, that seemed normal. Bulgaria was the main market. Production volumes were different. The company was still building its international presence.
But according to Stanislav, the future of EL BAT was never meant to remain limited to the local market.
“Even back then I knew we could do it and that we would do it. Although some of the older colleagues often laughed at my bold statements, I believe they secretly trusted me.”
There is no arrogance in his words. What comes through instead is the kind of confidence that is born not from a desire to impress people, but from an internal conviction that the company was capable of far more.
“People were being realistic, while I was dreaming out loud.”
That phrase probably describes his role in the next stage of EL BAT’s development better than anything else. Not as someone who changed the company’s philosophy, but as someone who began expanding its horizon.
Today, much of that vision has already become reality. EL BAT works with international partners, builds long-term supply chains, and operates in a far more competitive and complex environment. Yet when Stanislav speaks about international growth, he almost never describes it as “success.” Much more often, he talks about the difficulty of building trust.
“Building a supply network is one of the hardest things in our business.”
In an industry like this, trust is not earned quickly. It is built over years — through consistency, fulfillment of commitments, and the ability to remain stable even when the market itself is unstable.
“Ten years ago, many foreign companies still had reservations about working with Bulgarian firms.”
This remains an important topic for him even today because positioning a Bulgarian industrial company internationally requires far more than just product quality. It requires long-term proof.
Meetings.
Travel.
Audits.
Negotiations.
Building reputation.
“It’s a process that takes years to build.”
According to him, consistency is one of the most valuable qualities in this type of industry. International partners are not looking for loud promises. They are looking for reliability, predictability, and the ability to work together long term.
That is exactly why EL BAT thinks differently today. More globally. More structurally. With a much longer horizon.
“We are no longer a regional player — we are a global one.”
Interestingly, the phrase does not sound boastful. It sounds more like an awareness that the responsibilities are now different. When you work with international partners and major manufacturers, the standards themselves become international.
As the company grew, the sense of responsibility also changed.
“For me, the responsibility is enormous. I clearly understand that I am responsible for more than three hundred families.”
This is a theme Stanislav returns to repeatedly because for him it represents the real weight behind every decision.
In industries like metallurgy and recycling, production cannot simply be paused. Logistics never stop. Markets change daily. And behind all of it stand people whose lives depend on the company’s stability.
“My responsibility is different — very large — and I always have to be available for anything that may arise.”
That means constant operational pressure. His days begin early and move through nearly every level of the company — supply chains, sales, production, logistics, market analysis, and coordination between departments.
“I monitor current raw material deliveries and finished product sales, personally follow key supply chains, and oversee the daily issues connected to them.”
That operational depth is important to the way he sees leadership. He does not position himself as someone standing above the processes, but as someone who must understand them in detail.
“I receive information about the current condition of the machinery, production quality, and other matters related to our manufacturing operations.”
According to him, industry cannot be managed remotely.
“The most important thing is to learn the technological processes — separation, metallurgy, and refining — in detail.”
One of the most difficult periods in the company’s development came during the COVID crisis.
“All supply chains were interrupted literally overnight.”
For companies operating on international markets with continuous production cycles, this meant a sudden loss of predictability. Markets collapsed. Logistics stopped. Uncertainty became part of everyday life.
“Exchange prices collapsed, we were left without completed sales, with large amounts of finished production in storage, and with a large team of people we didn’t know how we would keep employed.”
This was the moment when many companies froze operations. Waited. Reduced risk.
EL BAT made a different decision.
“We had two options — to stop all expenses and wait for the economy to recover, or to continue operating at our own risk and accept the possibility of bankruptcy.”
From the inside, that decision did not feel dramatic. It felt heavy. Practical. Loaded with uncertainty.
“We took the risk of continuing to work with reduced costs and reduced capacity.”
What followed were months of difficult negotiations, renegotiated conditions, and attempts to preserve both production and the people within the company.
“We committed ourselves under extremely unprofitable pricing conditions.”
And yet it was exactly during that period that trust with international partners became even stronger.
“We managed to turn that risk into an advantage — we fulfilled our commitments and built long-term cooperation.”
For him, this became one of the most important lessons in business: sustainability is not proven during easy times. It is proven when conditions are against you and you remain stable anyway.
Despite the strong focus on growth and international development, the most important subject for him remains people.
“The most important thing for me is working with people, because they represent the company.”
He speaks about the team almost in the same language he uses for family.
“The team is my second family.”
This is where the connection between the first and second generations in EL BAT becomes most visible. For both the founders and Stanislav, sustainable growth has never been an individual process.
“There is no ‘one man show’ here.”
In an industry like this, everything depends on synchronization between people, production, logistics, and the team’s ability to work together even in the most difficult moments.
“The line between efficient and inefficient production in our industry is very thin.”
That is exactly why the people he values most are the ones he can rely on.
“They are loyal, hardworking people I know I can count on.”
Working alongside his father also remains an important part of the story, yet it never sounds like tension between generations.
Quite the opposite.
“It is the greatest success and gift a person could receive professionally.”
In his words there is deep respect for the experience and path of the first generation. But there is also a clear understanding that the next stage of EL BAT requires new thinking, new technologies, and a different scale of development.
“What we need to combine is my father’s experience and knowledge with the new ideas and modern approaches that come from me.”
That sentence describes the transition between generations in EL BAT very precisely. Not as conflict or a change of direction, but as continuation and expansion.
The first generation built the foundations.
The second generation is expanding the scale.
Today, EL BAT is working on new production lines, infrastructure projects, logistics optimization, and the implementation of technologies from different parts of the world. Yet when Stanislav speaks about the future, he does not begin with numbers, capacities, or production indicators.
He begins with an idea.
“Our dream is to one day see EL BAT — a company from Bulgaria, more specifically from a small town like Dolna Banya — withstand the test of time and continue developing.”
And perhaps that is the most important thing about his story.
Because it is not a story about inheriting a business.
It is a story about continuing something built through decades of work, risk, trust, and perseverance.
The first generation created the foundations.
The second generation adds new scale, new rhythm, and an even more global perspective.
But the philosophy remains unchanged — to build something sustainable, long-term, and meaningful.
“Once you choose a direction, don’t change it. Just keep moving forward, and sooner or later success will come.”
