From sludge research to agricultural products
The history is a pivot, not a straight line.
Atlas began with a distinctive wastewater-sludge technology. The public record shows real progress, a regulatory dead end, grant-backed survival and then a different regulator-compatible product family.
Evidence-backed timeline
Dates come from university, company-registry, patent, regulator, financial, institutional and archived-web records.
The scientific origin predates the company
Diya Dermendzhieva completes doctoral work on the ecological and agro-ecological characterization of wastewater and wastewater-treatment sludge. This is the clearest public origin of the later technical concept.
University recordAtlas Agro Science is incorporated
Five legal founders establish the company with BGN 1,000 capital. Nikolay Mitkov Mitkov is the first manager.
Registry deedSludge-conversion patent application
BG/P/2020/113066 is filed. It does not become a granted patent until August 2024.
Patent OfficePrototype and innovation-program visibility
Atlas wins the Bulgarian EIT Food RIS Innovation Prize and audience award, becomes an international finalist and presents a production prototype.
Program evidenceUtility-model application
BG/U/2020/5127 claims a liquid multicomponent plant biostimulant and defined composition ranges.
Patent OfficeManagement, environmental and waste milestones
Aleksandra Velkova becomes manager. The utility model is registered. The Hrishteni proposal passes environmental screening and receives a waste-treatment registration.
Multiple primary recordsThe actual waste authorization is small
The decision allows 36.5 tonnes per year of municipal wastewater sludge, waste code 19 08 05. It does not authorize 1 or 25 tonnes per day.
Signed decisionAtlas Universal product family is visible
Archived site material shows Aquapon, Flora, Grass, Green and Orchids variants. The use case is primarily landscaping, floriculture and pilot activity.
Wayback captureNorway Grants project begins
The company discloses a EUR 92,661 project budget and EUR 78,700 grant for testing, end-user work, marketing strategy, management, audit and publicity through October 2023.
Beneficiary disclosureThe regulatory and commercial reality becomes explicit
Company representatives say the processed-sludge product cannot be registered for agriculture under the available Bulgarian procedure, the company is not self-sustaining, and founders’ other businesses keep it alive.
Attributed admissionAtlas Terra enters the agricultural register
The signed order lists 42% molasses and 3.3% leonardite. It does not list sewage sludge.
Product orderThe sludge patent is finally granted
BG 67650 becomes a granted Bulgarian patent. The company can accurately say “patented” from this date.
Patent OfficeNitro and Amino are registered
Both are organo-mineral products based on molasses/leonardite, with Amino also listing free amino acids.
Product ordersAtlas Terra enters EIT Food Test Farms
Selection establishes intended real-farm validation. No Atlas-specific public final result was found by the research cutoff.
Selection, no outcomeTerra’s doses are amended downward
The regulator refers to field reports submitted by the company, but those reports are not attached publicly.
Amendment orderOwnership and management change materially
Nikolay Nikolaev Minkov becomes manager and 55% owner. Aleksandra Velkova retains 25%; the scientific shareholders retain 10% each.
Current deed
Four capacity stories that must not be merged
Marketing and media references use numbers with different meanings and time horizons.
| Metric | Number | What it means | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype / public ambition | Up to 25 t/day | A hoped-for future scale in early presentation material. | Ambition |
| Environmental proposal | About 1 t/day | Input described for screening of the proposed Hrishteni installation. | Proposal |
| Waste authorization | 36.5 t/year | The legally documented annual sludge quantity. | Authorized |
| Company-reported history | ~50 t sludge; >20 t product | Cumulative development-period quantities reported in the 2023 interview. | Unaudited admission |
| Strategy target | 100 t/year product | A future finished-product target; not directly comparable with permitted sludge input. | Target |
Why “pivot” is the best-supported interpretation
No single source uses the exact analytical phrase. The conclusion comes from three facts that converge.
- 1. The admission
In 2023 the company says the sludge product lacks an agricultural registration route and is limited to landscaping.
- 2. The company’s current wording
The agriculture page acknowledges the prohibition and describes creating a product acceptable to regulators.
- 3. The signed compositions
The current orders list molasses/leonardite formulations, unlike the sludge feedstock required by the patent.
What remains possible: the sludge patent may still have landscaping, waste-management, licensing or future-regulatory value. Public evidence simply does not establish it as the manufacturing basis of the current agricultural line.