11.10.2023
Bulgaria has great potential for growth and the cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will help our economy become still more competitive and will make innovation the main driving force. The Bank’s expertise is extremely important for Bulgaria to unlock its full capacity while it makes the most of the opportunities of European funding under the national Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) and the EU funds along with national funding. This was made clear at the meeting of Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov with the EBRD directors for a number of countries, including Finland, Japan, the United States, Türkiye, Israel, Slovenia and Bulgaria. The discussion was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel and by Finance Minister Assen Vassilev.
The EBRD officials were familiarized with the government’s priorities and, in particular, with the cabinet’s dedicated work for the country’s accession to Schengen, the Eurozone and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). They recognized the cabinet’s activity in the power sector and for the transport, railway and digital connectivity in the region. “We have the courage to address issues that have been overlooked for years,” the Prime Minister noted. The meeting highlighted, inter alia, the good conditions for doing business in Bulgaria and the expectations for even higher investor interest in the country in view of the prospects for our full integration into the EU.
The EBRD is one of the major investors in Bulgaria. Between the start of its operation in Bulgaria and 31 July 2023 the EBRD has invested EUR 4.5 billion approximately in 284 projects in Bulgaria in the field of sustainable infrastructure, finance, industry, trade and agribusiness. In May 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Bulgarian government and the EBRD on support for the implementation of EU-funded projects in 2021-2027 including projects under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The potential areas where the EBRD will provide technical assistance to EU-funded projects are the following: the improvement of the competitiveness of the private sector, support for infrastructure projects, for reforms and decarbonization of the power sector, financial instruments, design and implementation of reforms in the public sector.
