site.btaCaretaker Innovation Minister to Work on Drafting New Bulgarian Development Bank Strategy

Caretaker Minister of Innovation and Growth Rossen Karadimov said that he has the ambition to prepare in the next two months a new strategy for the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB). Speaking on Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday, he explained that the BDB strategy expired at the end of 2023. The drafting of the new one has to go through the Council of Ministers and a working group involving deputy ministers from all ministries.

In his words, developing this strategy will enable the caretaker cabinet, without exceeding its constitutional powers and horizons, to set policy priorities. "Because when you say that the bank will have to service the military industrial complex as strategic to the country, you unblock a huge sector of the Bulgarian economy," he said. He specified that at present, the BDB cannot work with a single commercial bank because the parent companies of those banks have internal rules not allowing them to work in that field. "And for several years now, the BDB has been generating a huge percentage of Bulgaria's GDP," the Minister added.

Karadimov said he had been invited to the caretaker government by caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev in his capacity as chairman of the BDB Supervisory Board, which is one of the main structures in the Ministry of Innovation and Growth. In Karadimov's words, over the past year and a half the BDB has become one of the most transparent institutions in Bulgaria. The Minister noted that he has been able to form an advisory board to the bank, pointing out that besides supporting small- and medium-size enterprises, the BDB is also supporting public policies and reducing regional disparities.

"My understanding is that the minister has to organise the machinery to work, he has to create the environment; he cannot be an advertising person or a salesman from that point of view," Karadimov said when asked how he would run the Innovation Ministry. He said he has cancelled his international engagements, except the urgent ones, and is cancelling all protocol appearances in the country. Those duties will be delegated to his deputies.