European Commission gives green light to the Bulgarian Recovery and Resilience Plan

european commission gives green light bulgarian recovery resilience plan

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13:07, 07.04.2022

The European Commission gives the green light to the Bulgarian Recovery and Resilience Plan, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said from the Granite Hall of the Council of Ministers in Sofia at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, where they presented Bulgaria's National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

"The Bulgarian plan is exceptional. Almost 60% of it is in support of the green transition. It is important for us that Bulgaria is together with the EU in this direction. The plan meets many conditions, which are quite high," the EC President said.

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov pointed out that the funding under the Plan is equivalent to about 10% of the Bulgarian economy and thanked the EC President for her presence in Sofia today.

"This plan is workable, innovative and will ensure the modernisation of Bulgaria. It enables us to ensure energy security and use the latest technologies, to reform the rule of law, to have stronger control over the Prosecutor General with the appointment of a judge who will be a temporary investigating prosecutor, to reform the anti-corruption commission and start working, to modernise the railways, to invest in education, research and modernisation," Petkov said.

The EC President recommended that Russian gas supplies should be paid in euros or dollars, as per the contracts with Gazprom. An analysis of Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree is needed and there is still no common EU position on the issue, but the contracts should be respected and supplies should be paid as stipulated in them, Ursula von der Leyen pointed out.

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov described the Plan as a step towards Bulgaria's energy independence.

"The Plan gives us steps forward to be independent from Russia, investing so much in alternative energy sources and in the battery complex. It allows us to use our energy. If we turn mineral springs into electricity, it will be clean and independent. So the Plan and the Greek gas link will allow us independence and the ability to control our economy and our destiny," Petkov said.

The President of the European Commission thanked the Bulgarian government for the assistance it is providing to Ukrainian citizens seeking refuge from the war in their country.

After giving a positive assessment of the Bulgarian plan, Ursula von der Leyen presented the Prime Minister with an honorary plaque.

The Recovery and Resilience Plan has 4 main pillars:

"Innovative Bulgaria"

"Green Bulgaria"

"Connected Bulgaria"

"Fair Bulgaria"

The largest share is "Green Bulgaria" - 41%. Nearly BGN 2 billion are planned for sanitation, over BGN 1 billion for social inclusion, BGN 700 million for digital connectivity, BGN 500 million for new trains and urban railways, BGN 350 million for modernising medical institutions, BGN 643 million for modernising care for pensioners.

BNT has learned that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will hold meetings with Bulgarian MPs at the Council of Ministers, but no further details have been announced so far.

images by Dessislava Kulelieva