Bulgaria asked EC to extend the deadline for approval of the Recovery Plan

Bulgaria has asked the European Commission to extend by another month the deadline for approval of the Bulgarian recovery and resilience plan, the institution told BNT on February 15. The previous extension, which was granted at the end of last year, expires today.

Bulgaria's plan was submitted to Brussels on 15 October last year and has since been assessed on the basis of the criteria set out in the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism regulation. If given the green light from the Commission, it will also have to be approved by EU finance ministers.

The European Commission said it remains in dialogue with the Bulgarian authorities, with whom it has had productive talks.

At the beginning of the month, Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, told the National Assembly that the government had made adjustments to the energy part of the plan to reduce Bulgaria's dependence on gas supplies from Russia.