site.btaBulgaria Ranked as Second Largest Juncker Plan Beneficiary in Terms of Funding Attracted as GDP Share

Bulgaria Ranked as Second Largest Juncker Plan Beneficiary in Terms of Funding Attracted as GDP Share

Brussels, November 30 (BTA) - "Bulgaria ranks second among all EU Member States as a beneficiary of funding attracted from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in terms of funding attracted as a share of its GDP," Bulgarian MEP Eva Paunova (GERB/EPP) was quoted as saying in a GERB press release on Tuesday. EFSI drives the Investment Plan for Europe, also known as the "Juncker Plan". "I am glad that our joint efforts and above all the initiative of commercial banks in Bulgaria produce quick results and make it possible to translate into practice SMEs' ideas."

In October, Paunova's proposals on the EFSI progress report were approved unanimously by the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. She was rapporteur on the EPP comments on the report, which were subsequently included in a proposal from the European Commission to extend the life of the EFSI.

"I am glad that my amendments were included in the Commission's proposal because they will optimize work on the Juncker Plan and will improve its geographic distribution. For example, we are calling for facilitated combining of EFSI with Structural and Cohesion Funds," Paunova added.

At this point, Bulgaria can benefit from more than 330 million leva from EFSI in soft loans for small and medium-sized enterprises in four projects. In this SME window, commercial banks apply under the Juncker Plan for financial guarantees to lend-finance innovative SME projects.