Deputy PM Donchev: All conditions are in place to resubmit request for second payment under RRP and to receive the funds

There are all prerequisites for Bulgaria to resubmit a request for a second payment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and to receive the funds, announced Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev during a briefing at the Council of Ministers.

"Two months ago, I was rather pessimistic about the possibility of securing the funds for the second payment. But after three months of effort and two months of negotiations with the European Commission, the prerequisites are in place for Bulgaria to file the request and receive the payment by the end of this year," he stated.

Donchev explained that a process is currently underway to reduce the budget for investments unlikely to be completed on time and redirect those funds toward projects with a real chance of successful implementation.

He noted that for the past two months, very detailed negotiations have been held with the European Commission regarding some proposed changes to the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The goal is to bring the plan more in line with today’s realities, given that it was initially drafted two years ago, during which time many things have changed.

"We have the Commission's position that, at this stage, the commitment to liberalise the retail energy market should be dropped. This was one of the required reforms in the plan. The simple reason is that such liberalisation should only be introduced when there are adequate mechanisms in place to protect Bulgarian consumers."

Donchev also asserted that Bulgaria has fulfilled the requirement for alignment with the Climate Neutrality Roadmap. "It is effectively implemented," he added.

He further explained that the obligation to ban coal-based electricity production from 2038 should be dropped, while maintaining the overall cap on carbon emissions. They also propose an alternative reform of the corporate governance of the Bulgarian Energy Holding.

Bulgaria wants a change in the Recovery Plan. All these changes imply a new request for a second payment, Donchev said.

"The procedural step is as follows: we will withdraw the current request for the second payment. We will need some time to finalise negotiations with the European Commission on all proposed changes. Once that is done, we will resubmit the request, reflecting all agreed modifications. I sincerely hope that, if Parliament adopts all relevant legislation before the end of its current session, Bulgaria will be able to receive the second payment by early autumn this year."

The focus will then be on the third payment.

"And the news doesn’t stop here," Donchev concluded.