site.btaSince June, Innovation and Growth Ministry Has Certified 8 Class A and B Investments Worth BGN 64 Mln

Since June 2023, the Ministry of Innovation and Growth has issued eight Class A and B investment certificates for investments worth BGN 64 million in aggregate that are expected to create 900 new jobs, Bulgarian Innovation and Growth Minister Milena Stoycheva said here on Tuesday.

Certification of ten new projects is in progress. They total approximately BGN 500 million and will open another 770-plus jobs, Stoycheva pointed out. "This shows the aspiration of our Ministry and of our country to attract investors of a new type and to turn Bulgaria into an interesting and attractive destination with  a stable macroeconomic framework that can emerge as an innovation hun in Southeastern Europe," she emphasized.

The Minister spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for a school at Residential Park Lozen in the Lozen Village (18 km southeast of Sofia).

This Class A investment, made by the German Lindner Group, will improve the educational environment, Stoycheva said, arguing that this reaffirms her Ministry's commitment to promote investments related to education, new technologies and high value added sectors.

Under the Investment Promotion Act and the Regulations for its application, Class A and B certificates are awarded by the Minister of Innovation and Growth to investment projects of specified threshold amounts creating a specified number of new jobs (varying by economic activity and location and entitle their holders to preferential treatment, such as:

• reduced waiting time for administrative services (issuance of design permits, improvement of investment projects, issuance of fire safety certificates);
• personalized administrative services, including provision of information and assistance to obtain the required documents; acquisition of a right of ownership or limited rights in rem or sale at lower-than-market prices without auction or contest for corporeal immovables constituting private state and private municipal property from the capital of wholly state- or municipal-owned companies;
• financial support for the construction of bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, level crossings, transmission lines, drinking-water and wastewater treatment plans and other physical-infrastructure elements;
• financial support for occupational training of holders of the newly created jobs;
• financial support for partial reimbursement of employer-borne compulsory social-insurance and health-insurance contributions for newly appointed employees;
• setting up an interdepartmental working group for institutional support involving stakeholders, academics and NGOs, public-private partnership with regions and municipalities;
• provision of grant aid for investments in education and scientific research or in the manufacturing industry.