site.btaCaretaker Cabinet Reports on Its Performance

Reporting on its performance, Dimitar Glavchev's caretaker Cabinet said on Wednesday, quoted by the Government Information Service, that, acting "professionally and transparently" it fulfilled all its commitments for the preparation of the October 27, 2024 early parliamentary elections "in an excellent dialogue with the Central Election Commission". The size of the voting machines sample that was verified for compliance (3,306 units) was unprecedented, the report says.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Border Police has prevented over 44,000 attempts at illegal crossing into Bulgaria.

Thanks to the Government's timely reaction, all Bulgarian citizens and their families wishing to leave Lebanon were successfully evacuated.
The sustained efforts to provide humanitarian, political, diplomatic, military and socio-economic support to Ukraine continued, including efforts to prepare the country's recovery with an emphasis on cooperation in key areas, the Cabinet reports.

Purposeful efforts pressed ahead in search for a solution to the case of two Bulgarians held by the Houthis in Yemen as members of the cargo ship Galaxy Leader.
Under the National Pediatric Hospital project, a plan for the structure and capacity of the medical-treatment facility was adopted, providing for 440 beds in 26 clinics and wards, including psychiatry, genetic laboratory, nuclear medicine, and physical therapy and rehabilitation. The hospital is to go under construction within several months.

A Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) system started during the past year, with over 40 successful missions so far.

An overhaul of the Danube Bridge between Ruse and Giurgiu began - the first in the facility's 70 years in operation. Construction of a 52 km stretch of the Hemus Motorway was resumed. Rapid progress is being made in building a new first-class road between Vidin and Botevgrad (Northeastern Bulgaria).

Urgent measures were taken to address the water shortage countrywide. A decision was adopted to relaunch a project for the construction of the Cherni Osam Dam. The Luda Yana Dam was completed, along with a drinking water treatment plant, and the reservoir started to be filled.

The Government is taking action to ease traffic across all border crossings. The Kalotina Checkpoint underwent its first major repair in 30 years. Action was taken to expand the checkpoints at Malko Tarnovo and Kapitan Andreevo. In the long term, all border checkpoints are to be remodelled.

Nearly BGN 1.6 billion were disbursed in farm subsidies. Project proposals are now invited for financing of over BGN 1.278 billion in total, of which BGN 1 billion-plus will go for the development of municipalities in rural areas.

A plan has been prepared for restoration of the woodlands destroyed by fires in 2024. State forestry enterprises will prioritize such areas near settlements and such affected by soil erosion.

Work is under way on a project for building 25 launch pads for hail suppression rockets with a view to setting up an entirely new hail suppression zone in Northern Bulgaria. On a pilot basis, ground generators of silver iodide will be implemented in two areas where hailstorms cannot be suppressed by rockets and aircraft.
The LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, in which Bulgaria's Bulgartransgaz holds a 20% share, went into commercial operation in early October. The terminal ensures competitive supplies for Bulgarian customers, the report says.

The first 43 nuclear fuel assemblies, manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Company of the US, were loaded in the Kozloduy N-Plant Unit 5 in May - the first non-Russian fuel in the plant's 50 year history.

The repair of Unit 2 of the Chaira Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant (Southwestern Bulgaria) was completed in late December.

Financing was provided for the coal miners of the Maritsa East Complex under the policies of smooth and just transition to a low-carbon economy.
BGN 640 million contracts were signed with Skoda for the delivery, within two years, of 25 new electric multiple-set units, of which 20 are financed under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and five under the Transport Connectivity Programme 2021-2027.

The capital of Bulgarian Posts EAD was increased by BGN 50 million, as a result of which the company is no longer a business in difficulty and qualifies for state aid to reimburse the actual costs incurred for the performance of services of general economic interest. The European Commission has been notified of state aid for the provision of the universal postal service.

Bulgaria has met the requirements for accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development vis-a-vis the environment.

Sofia welcomed 112 national delegations to the 61st Session of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. At the COP29 Conference in Baku, the country confirmed its strong position on climate action.

State-owned dairy company LB Bulgaricum started setting up a state-of-the-art research laboratory jointly with Japan's Meiji company.

The National Company Industrial Zones (NCIZ) subsidiaries have attracted investments aggregating BGN 450 million-plus, which will open nearly 1,300 new jobs. Along with that, the NCIZ has launched projects for the modernization and development of state-owned industrial zones worth a little under BGN 9 million.
The budget of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth is extending support exceeding BGN 40 million to companies whose investments approximate BGN 350 million and plan over 850 new jobs. A total of 531 companies are receiving BGN 218 million in grants to implement innovations under the Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises Programme.

Contracts for setting up STEM labs have been signed with 2,168 schools and personal development support centres. Bulgaria is the only EU Member State that has contracted funds for the creation of an educational STEM environment in 100% of its educational institutions under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

For the first time, the Ministry of Education and Science took over entirely the training of the Bulgarian teams for international Olympiads. To this end, nearly BGN 1 million were allocated for organizing and holding international, European and Balkan Olympiads, at which Bulgarian entrants won more than 90 medals.

With the BGN 234 million allocated to increase staff remunerations and doctoral student grants, the resources budgeted to public higher educational establishments topped BGN 1.041 billion.

The monthly minimum wage will be increased by BGN 144 or 15.4% to BGN 1,077, effective January 1, 2025.

A BGN 554 heating allowance has been granted to nearly 340,000 households for the present winter, 15,000 more than last year. A total of 330,000 pensioners received a BGN 100 Christmas supplement to their pensions.

The caretaker Cabinet laid before the 51st National Assembly a 2025 State Budget Bill, a 2025 National Health Insurance Fund Budget Bill, and a 2025 Public Social Insurance Budget Bill.

Institutions continued the vigorous preparation for the adoption of the euro as Bulgaria's national currency. The country is meeting three of the four criteria for joining the eurozone and does not fulfil only the price stability criterion.

Work has started on essential revisions to the Judicial System Act. The Ministry of Justice has summarized all opinions received at the working group drafting the bill.
Applicants for military service have increased, and the consistent policy for increasing the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP has been carried on. As from November 1, 2024, the monthly meals ration allowance was increased from BGN 200 to BGN 300. As from January 2025, a 30% pay rise is expected in the military, and the rise will be even higher for certain categories of the enlisted personnel.

A record 10.7 million foreigners entered Bulgaria between January 1 and September 30, 2024. This is 200,000 more than the tourists who visited the country in the best pre-pandemic year, 2019.

During the year, the Ministry of Culture prepared "Bagpipes and bagpipe playing in Bulgaria: transmission of knowledge and skills" for inclusion in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The nomination will be examined in 2025.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has levelled the lump-sum cash awards for medal winners at men's and women's world and European championships in the sports included in the Paralymic Games with the bonuses for medal winners in Olympic sports at men's and women's world and European championships.