Bulgaria could lose €437 million from the fourth payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility due to a lack of reform in the water and sewerage sector, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister for EU funds Maria Nedina said at a briefing at the Council of Ministers on April 3.
The caretaker government has submitted a request today for the next tranche of funding under the plan, worth €900 million.
Nedina said that reforms in water supply, as well as the planned restructuring of the Bulgarian Energy Holding, would not be completed.
The tranche includes funding for the modernisation of more than 50 hospitals, outpatient facilities in over 100 remote locations, support for people with disabilities, care homes for the elderly, STEM environments in more than 2,000 schools, and the renovation of schools and kindergartens.
“It also includes medical helicopters for emergency care, where we have encountered significant difficulties with the construction of hangars. In Bulgaria, it has proven very difficult to design even a single hangar, and none had begun the design phase. However, we believe that within the Recovery Plan, and under urgent deadlines, the government will manage to save the investment in both the hangars and the helicopters and complete them on time,” Nedina said.
The plan consists of 27 milestones, 16 of which have been submitted to the European Commission, while seven are in the final stage of negotiations and are expected to be submitted as part of the procedure that continues for another month.
By 4 May, Parliament should adopt reforms related to the anti-corruption commission, and by 22 June reforms concerning the Prosecutor. General. Failure to do so could result in the loss of €214 million already allocated under earlier stages of the plan, with the total at risk potentially reaching €357 million.
Photos by BTA
Caretaker Finance Minister, Georgi Klisurski, said that part of the €900 million tranche is at risk due to the failure of the National Assembly of Bulgaria to complete all reforms required under the payment conditions. This was stated in connection with Bulgaria’s official submission of its fourth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
He stressed that the government would make every effort to secure the maximum possible funding.
“This is important because by the end of August we must pay for all the investments mentioned. From the beginning of 2026 until the end of August, Bulgaria must disburse around €4 billion across all investments. EU funds from the fourth request, and those expected later this year under the fifth request, are crucial to finance meaningful investments, develop the economy and improve quality of life,” he said.
He added that if all investments are implemented, the Bulgarian economy could move into a new stage of development.
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