site.btaInnovation Minister: Bulgarian Development Bank Well Capitalized, in Excellent Financial Condition

The Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) can be a key financial and market instrument to support the policies of the State, caretaker Minister of Innovation and Growth Rosen Karadimov said on the Bulgarian National Television, quoted by his Ministry's press centre on Saturday. It should also work to overcome regional imbalances, he added.

The Bank's new strategy will try to seal these two fundamental objectives, together with the support of small and medium businesses, Karadimov said.

He stressed that the Bank's previous strategy expired in December 2023 and the Council of Ministers must adopt a new one for the three-year period 2024-2026. "The working group includes seven key ministries, trade unions, employers, municipalities and experts. Next week is the last meeting and it is to be submitted to the Council of Ministers," Karadimov said. He stressed that the Bulgarian Development Bank is well capitalized and in excellent financial condition.

The new strategy of the Bank will include the possibility to support the State with market mechanisms in the social sphere, health, energy, transport and communication connectivity, infrastructure projects.

"The bank is considering an option to find a mechanism in full collaboration with the relevant government entities to provide interest-free or low-interest loans to public sector workers. In this way, they will be able to use their retirement benefit in advance, which will serve as collateral for the loans to be disbursed by the BDB," Karadimov said, clarifying that the development of such an idea is a long process that should be implemented by a regular government.

Regarding investments in Bulgaria, he commented on the procedure under the Recovery and Resilience Plan for industrial parks in Bulgaria, which the Innovation Ministry administers.

"When you have an established infrastructure, when you have an educated workforce, when you have low taxes and a good atmosphere in the country, established logistics, investment will come here," Karadimov was adamant. 

"The role of the Ministry of Innovation is to coordinate the actions of its structures so that the end result in terms of investment and innovation in small and medium-sized businesses is to the benefit of the economy and the people," he was quoted as saying by the Ministry.