site.btaSMEs Can Apply for Vouchers with Which to Start Capital Market Entry Procedure

October 15 (BTA) - A 1.5 million leva scheme was launched
 on Monday to provide vouchers to small and medium-sized
enterprises with which they can start a procedure for entry into
 the capital market. The scheme is financed through the
EU-backed Operational Programme Innovation and Competitiveness.

There are 30 vouchers worth 50,000 leva each. The scheme is
expected to raise an additional 15 million leva, Deputy Economy
Minister Luchezar Borissov said. Micro enterprises may also take
 part in the bidding. Bids may be submitted within 24 months
from now. They will be evaluated on the first-come-first-served
principle.

If everything goes well, the scheme will be augmented with an
additional 2.4 million leva. According to National Assembly
Energy Committee Chair Delyan Dobrev, the new scheme could be
launched at the beginning of next year to provide an additional
50 vouchers.

Dobrev noted that 200,000 people in Bulgaria belong to the
middle class but only 1,000 of them operate as individual
investors through the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. "The rest prefer
 to buy an apartment so they can rent it out," he said.

Operational Programme Innovation and Competitiveness has so far
provided over 800 million leva in funding to more than 1,900
beneficiaries. RY/VE