site.btaInaugural Information Day on Energy Efficiency for SMEs Held in Vratsa

Inaugural Information Day on Energy Efficiency for SMEs Held in Vratsa

Vratsa, Northwestern Bulgaria, June 13 (BTA) - Economy Minister Bozhidar Loukarski on Monday took part in the inaugural Information Day for a new Energy Efficiency for SMEs procedure under Operational Programme Innovation and Competitiveness here. The meeting was opened by Vratsa Mayor Kalin Kamenov and was attended by business representatives from Bulgaria's Northwestern Region.

Loukarski said that the economic incentives extended in the Northwestern Region have shown to be efficient and these include awarding additional points during evaluation to projects implemented in the region. Under an already closed procedure for the introduction of innovation by enterprises 166 project proposals had been submitted from the region, accounting for 30 per cent of all proposals. Under another procedure for innovation development by start-up businesses, a total of 363 proposals from the Northwestern Region had been submitted, or 42 per cent of the total number. A total of 61 contracts have been concluded in the region for the implementation of projects to improve production capacity of SMEs, added Loukarski.

The new procedure for energy efficiency of SMEs will make available a total of 90 million euro to applicants from the extracting and processing industry, the production and distribution of electricity and heating, water utilities, waste management and construction. Projects should have a preliminary energy audit.