site.btaGovernment Approves Bill Amending 2024 State Budget Act

At its regular sitting on Wednesday, the Council of Ministers approved a bill to amend the 2024 State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria Act, the Government Information Service reported.

The need for the changes arises from the provision of Article 107, Paragraph 14 of the State Budget Act for 2024, which allows the National Assembly to make amendments to Annex No. 3 to Article 107, Paragraph 13. This annex outlines priority projects under the Investment Programme for municipal projects. The changes are proposed by the Council of Ministers, based on proposals from municipal mayors, by March 31, June 30, and September 30, 2024, respectively.

The amendments to the municipal Investment Programme were drafted by the Ministry of Finance based on proposals from mayors of municipalities. Within the specified deadlines, letters were received from the mayors of 131 municipalities, with a total of 753 proposals for changes to the annex: replacing specified projects with new ones (15 proposals), removing specified projects (48 proposals), adding new projects to the specified ones (397 proposals), and changing the parameters of already specified projects (293 proposals). The number of projects in the annex has increased by 349, rising from 2,536 approved projects to 2,885.

With the proposed changes, the estimated budget for the projects for 2024 decreases by BGN 37.0 million, while the total estimated value of the projects for the period January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2026, increases by BGN 1,115.6 million.

The Investment Programme supports the implementation of the municipalities capital programme for the period 2024-2026. The projects’ financing is based on agreements between the minister of regional development and public works and the mayors of the respective municipalities, with a completion and commissioning deadline of December 31, 2026.