The EC is expected to make the assessment of the second payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan in the middle of this year, after which Bulgaria has a six-month period to submit information on the reforms carried out, said caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova during a hearing in the National Assembly together with caretaker Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov regarding the prepared proposals for amending the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Petkova pointed out that if after this period this country does not present information about the reforms carried out and the bills passed related to them, a financial correction will be imposed, and Bulgaria cannot claim to be reimbursed after that.
Minister Petkova noted that the second payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan is included in the 2024 budget.
She pointed out that on October 7 last year, Bulgaria submitted a second request for payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is among the largest requests from all EU countries, including a large share of key reforms. The request is for EUR 653 million.
In order for the entire amount to be paid out, all reforms and investments related to the second stage must be implemented, Petkova said. In principle, there could be a financial correction if not all reforms are implemented, she said, adding that there are some reforms that have not yet been implemented. She commented that she could not say what size this correction could be, since, in her words, this means saying in advance which of the reforms will not be implemented. "But it is certain that if we do not implement all the reforms, the EC will adjust the amount of the second tranche," the Minister explained.
Petkova recalled that the the Council of Ministers introduced bills to the 49th National Assembly, which were then discussed in the parliamentary committees and proposals were made, but due to the closure of Parliament, these bills were not adopted and were archived. The process will now start from the beginning in 50th National Assembly, noted Petkova, listing the bills, which include bankruptcy of natural persons; protection of whistleblowers or publicly disclosing information about violations; procedural rules for electing members of the Anti-Corruption Commission; the Climate Neutrality Roadmap, changes to the Code of Ethical Conduct of Bulgarian Judges and the Code of Ethical Conduct of Bulgarian Prosecutors and Investigators.
/MT/
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