site.btaCabinet Decisions Highlights

The Council of Ministers adopted the Annual Report on the State of National Security in 2022. The secretariat of the Security Council at the Council of Ministers will present the report to the National Assembly. The main purpose of the report is to present the executive branch's assessments of the risks, dangers and threats, the effectiveness and efficiency of the national security policy in 2022, the actions that the institutions of state power plan to take in the next period.

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The Council of Ministers approved the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria in the International Green Week Berlin 2024, which will be held from January 19 to 28, 2024. The event will take place on the 28th and 28th of March, Berlin 2020, Germany. Bulgaria will participate for the 33rd time with a national stand. The costs of the preparation and participation shall be covered by the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, except for those that will be covered by the State aid "Aid for participation in exhibitions".

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The government adopted a list of datasets by priority area to be published in an open format on the Open Data Portal by the end of 2023. It is planned to upload 21 datasets identified as high value. These include the register of persons carrying out economic activities related to petroleum and petroleum products; the register of licensed banks and branches of foreign banks in Bulgaria; the register of credit intermediaries; the register of licensed electronic money companies in Bulgaria, as well as their branches and representatives, etc. The publication of the list of datasets is expected to increase transparency and accountability, improve the use of published data, and facilitate access to published information for citizens and businesses. The Open Data Portal is available at https://data.egov.bg/. It currently contains 11,153 datasets from 540 organisations.

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Cabinet adopted a decree on the approval of additional transfers to the budgets of municipalities for 2023 to compensate the costs incurred by parents for the month of June 2023 for the upbringing, education and training of children who are not admitted to municipal nurseries or nursery groups in municipal or state kindergartens due to lack of available places. The additional transfers are for other earmarked expenditure in the total amount of BGN 872,475 allocated to the budgets of the municipalities.

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Cabinet approved additional expenditures amounting to BGN 160,100 in the budget of the Ministry of Justice. The amount is intended to reimburse the costs incurred by the ministry in paying compensation to citizens and legal entities that have suffered from slow justice.

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The government approved BGN 3,991,237 for physical activity, sports and sports-tourism activities of children and students for 2023. The funds are allocated based on projects developed by kindergartens and schools. They finance activities related to the preparation for and participation in educational and competitive sports. The aim is to motivate children and pupils to engage in regular exercise and sport.

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The National STEM Centre at the Ministry of Education and Science will be set up in Sofia's Tech Park, next to the Supercomputer. The Council of Ministers decided that within one month the Minister of Innovation and Growth, who is the principal of Sofia Tech Park, should instruct the company to establish a free and perpetual right to build the National STEM Centre on its land. The company, which has 100% state participation in the capital, is a full member of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) and the British Bulgarian Business Association (BBBA).

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The Council of Ministers adopted the report on the results of Bulgaria's participation in the regular meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, held on October 17 in Luxembourg. The proposal for a regulation to improve the structure of the energy market has been presented by the Commission as part of the EU electricity market reform. The aim is to improve consumer protection from excessive price volatility, while supporting access to secure and clean energy and contributing to the development of a more sustainable market in the EU.

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The government approved an additional BGN 32,500,000 to improve the material and technical base of vocational schools in different regions of the country. The funds will help renovate and modernize the regional educational infrastructure in Bulgaria, which was launched under the Operational Programme "Regions in Growth" 2014-2020.

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Cabinet adopted a decision approving a draft note on the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the Agreement on the Coordination Committee within the framework of the South-East Europe Defence Ministerial (SEDM) Process. The SEDM Process Coordination Committee (SEDM-CC) shall be responsible for the coordination, management, proposals, validation, oversight, implementation of all activities and initiatives that take place in the context of the SEDM Process and for the preparation of relevant documentation to be submitted to the SEDM Process Ministers for approval. The Republic of Moldova becomes the sixteenth member of the SEDM Process Steering Committee.

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The Council of Ministers adopted an updated sectoral postal policy. The document defines the guidelines for the development of the national postal sector, with the strategic objectives of ensuring sustainable development, creating conditions for the functioning of an economically stable market and providing efficient and quality postal services in line with European and global requirements. Emphasis is placed on the link between the postal sector and environmental protection. Postal operators, according to their capabilities, can contribute by using electric vehicles, LED lighting, 'green' recyclable packaging, alternative options for parcel delivery through automated terminals.

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The Council of Ministers approved a draft law amending and supplementing the European Investigation Order (EIO) Act, which will allow Bulgarian judicial authorities to refine the issuance and execution of European Investigation Orders as an instrument of judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

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The government adopted the decision taken at the extraordinary meeting of the Security Council at the Council of Ministers held earlier on Thursday regarding the risks of early termination of the derogation granted by the EU Council for the import and processing of oil and oil products of Russian origin from the Lukoil Neftohim Burgas refinery. The decision will be submitted to the National Assembly for information.