Bulgaria's Deputy PM Tomislav Donchev and BICA Discuss How to Effective Invest EU Funds in the Bulgarian Economy

In a discussion with the members of the National Council of the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria (BICA) today, the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria Tomislav Donchev stressed the need to urgently determine the priority areas and mechanisms to invest funds from the Next Generation EU program.

These decisions must be taken by September, and the intervention horizon is shorter than under the operational programs, as the investment of anti-crisis funds will be possible within the next four years.

For the next programming period, Bulgaria will have access to financial resources amounting to over 29 billion euros.
In addition to the funds under the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, which will amount to a total of 16.9 billion.
The new plan with EU anti-crisis measures - Next Generation EU, with a budget of over 12.3 billion euros, is expected to work.

"Although we have not yet reached a general agreement, I believe that the Next Generation EU will work. With this plan, the European Union has a chance not only to recover economically after the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to develop. We are currently working to update the approach, reduce the number and better focus the objectives, and revise the programs for the next programming period to keep them relevant to the challenges posed by the coronary crisis and the Green Pact. I expect that by the autumn we will be ready with the new proposals ", said Tomislav Donchev.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria highlighted several important accents, including future measures in the direction of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and development of energy storage technologies as directly related to the European Green Pact; innovation, including the development of industrial zones and the digitalisation of the public and private sectors, education and science.

He emphasized the need to combine grant funding with financial instruments, as well as to significantly expand the scope of beneficiaries, by proposing horizontal measures in support of important priorities and activities for business, the population and public services.