site.btaCouncil of Ministers Adopts Amendment to 2025 Government Investment Loans, Guarantees

At its meeting on Wednesday, the Council of Ministers decided that in addition to already approved state guarantees under new loan agreements with Bulgartransgaz EAD in the amount of up to BGN 625 million for the financing of an investment project for the expansion of the gas transmission infrastructure of Bulgartransgaz  in line with the Vertical Corridor initiative of the gas transmission operators in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova, the 2025 State Budget Bill will include the possibility of issuing state guarantees under new loan agreements with the National Electric Company EAD for financing an investment project on the modernization and rehabilitation of Chaira Hydro Power Plant in the amount of up to BGN 155 million.

The Minister of Energy's proposal is conditioned by an increase in capital costs due to an update of the scope and objectives of the Chaira Hydro Power Plant project. The project was changed after a thorough assessment of the plant's modernization and rehabilitation strategy, imposed by the results of external and internal analyses of damaged hydro units and the need for a significant adaptation of the facility to an energy mix with an increased share of electricity production from renewable energy sources.