Funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan Will Not Be Suspended, Assures Deputy PM Tomislav Donchev

Funds under Bulgaria’s Recovery and Resilience Plan will not be suspended, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev said on September 25.

His statement came after MEPs from Renew Europe requested that the European Commission freeze the second payment to Bulgaria, citing the arrest of Varna mayor Blagomir Kotsev by the anti-corruption commission. The issue echoed in Parliament, where MPs failed to secure a quorum, cancelling today’s plenary session. On the sidelines, Boyko Borissov also criticised Prime Minister Zhelyazkov.

“Renew Europe” Calls on European Commission to Halt Payments to Bulgaria under the Recovery and Resilience Plan

Donchev stressed that such a signal from Renew Europe should not be underestimated, given the group’s influence in the European political family. However, he emphasised that since its formation, the government’s key priority has been restarting the Recovery and Resilience Plan, noting that already 23% of the funds — €3.4 billion — have been disbursed.

Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth:
“At the beginning, in four years of implementation, we had just 8% disbursed — €1.4 billion. Now it is nearly 23% — over €3.4 billion. We are pursuing the ambitious goal of paying out everything by next August, in less than 11 months.”

And he warned that Renew Europe’s signal to the European Commission could have consequences.

Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth:
“In light of the opposition’s calls for Bulgaria’s Recovery and Resilience funds to be suspended, I must point out that these funds represent about one-third of all European financing to which Bulgaria is entitled. The request is supported by their political family, Renew Europe. We cannot underestimate this request, there will be an effect from this. This is an extremely influential political group within the European institutions.”

Despite the situation, Donchev remains optimistic that all payments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan will be secured:

“At the same time, I want to state categorically that there is no such issue as six billion being at risk. And most importantly, through you, dear colleagues, I want to send a clear message to all beneficiaries and all those implementing projects: continue implementing your projects. We are working towards an ambitious deadline of next August. These political storms must not create hesitation, nor in any way slow down the pace of project delivery. Funding to cover project costs — both from the government to beneficiaries and from the European Commission to Bulgaria — will be available.”

Donchev also recalled that, with great effort, the government renegotiated the Plan in just a few months.

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