site.btaBulgaria Uses Tried Techniques Proven to Accelerate Cohesion Policy Funds Absorption Process, Deputy PM Donchev Says

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev said in Parliament that by the end of 2025 Bulgaria should certify and submit to the European Commission expenditures of no less than BGN 400 million and by the end of 2026 over BGN 2 billion.

"The system should work at maximum speed, I think it is already close to this state," Donchev said in response to a question from the There Is Such a People (TISP) parliamentary group on the planned actions of the cabinet to speed up the implementation and avoid loss of funds under the cohesion policy programmes in the 2021-2027 programming period and whether it is envisaged to redirect funds from one programme to another.

He said the funds negotiated in the last month alone amounted to nearly BGN 860 million, using a number of tried-and-tested techniques to ensure full and adequate use of the funds. As an example, he gave the list of backup projects.

"When it comes to heavy infrastructure, this is a good practice because we cannot know in which of the infrastructure projects a problem will arise related to the stringent requirements around environmental appeal. We need to be able to take one project out of the programme and put another one in," the deputy prime minister reasoned.

As for financial instruments to support businesses, Donchev reported the Thursday decisions of the Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprise Programme (CIP) Monitoring Committee on "business finance schemes moving at a higher than usual speed".

Donchev expects schemes based on the same approach to be announced this spring - simplified costs, a flat rate for digital solutions that every company needs, as well as for installing solar collectors, photovoltaics, heat pumps and others that improve the energy efficiency of businesses. With relatively low ceilings, respectively BGN 50,000 for digitalization and BGN 100,000 for energy efficiency, but with the aim of reaching as many enterprises as possible, Donchev pointed out and reiterated the importance of the speed with which companies can access the financial resource.