site.btaFlexible Implementation Key for Territorial Just Transition Plans - Stara Zagora Economic Development Agency Head

In a BTA interview, the Executive Director of the Regional Economic Development Agency of Stara Zagora, Rumyana Grozeva, identified as key the rule stating that the Territorial Just Transition Plans approved by the European Commission should be flexible in their implementation, especially when the external environment is highly variable. She added that the support provided through the Territorial Plans is crucial for the development of the Stara Zagora region, where the stage is set for an accelerated process of economic diversification and energy transformation.

Answering a question, Grozeva confirmed that these are the last possible corrections to the Territorial Just Transition Plans for the Bulgarian regions of Stara Zagora, Kyustendil and Pernik but did not rule out subsequent changes to be made towards more ambitious goals.

“The compromise the Government and the trade unions reached yielded a positive result: a basis to build on and develop in accordance with the developments at the international level, in a way that will positively affect Stara Zagora and the other two regions, especially their people and businesses,” says Grozeva.

"The main focus remains on the decarbonization of regional economies without economic and social shocks. The creation of new jobs and economic activities for a just climate transition in the three regions, the transition away from coal-fired power, retraining, skills upgrading and creation of new opportunities, land rehabilitation, and support for producing consumers, and the creation of renewable energy communities are all important matters not only for the three regions but also for the country as a whole," Grozeva added.

"This is a particularly important support for Stara Zagora. Besides, Stara Zagora has its own cluster of projects supporting the development of industrial symbiosis based on energy projects, including hydrogen technologies," she further noted.

Grozeva said that under the START mechanism of the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition, the Regional Economic Development Agency of Stara Zagora in consortium with the municipalities of Stara Zagora, Radnevo and Galabovo is involved in the preparation of a strategic framework for the diversification of the regional economy with a focus on three leading sectors: hydrogen, mechatronics and agriculture.

The Regional Economic Development Agency of Stara Zagora has begun implementing three international hydrogen projects. Other projects are on the hydrogen valley project, ZAHYR, led by Trakia University. In Grozeva’s words, the coal regions transition cannot be synchronized because regions are different both in terms of their stage and scope.

Grozeva added that once the plans are approved, implementation can proceed by opening a call for projects.