The Deputy Minister of Regional Development Yura Vitanova presented the details of the large-scale investment program during the eighth meeting of the Monitoring Committee in Kyustendil. Experts reviewed the progress of the European program for the period 2021-2027.
At present, the program reports significant institutional progress. A total of 22 projects have been approved under the first and second priorities, with planned financing contracts worth 333.7 million leva.
Priority 4, which is financed by the Just Transition Fund, is developing particularly dynamically. Under the first procedure for energy renovation of multi-family residential buildings, all 129 contracts worth 192.5 million leva have already been signed.
In a regional context, for example, Kyustendil District has 13 approved project proposals with contracts for 15.9 million leva. In parallel, an assessment is underway for 1,957 project proposals to support small and medium-sized enterprises, with a total value exceeding 927.3 million leva.
The Director General Asya Stankova presented a detailed analysis of progress across different priorities, including the finalization of projects from the previous programming period 2014-2020. The official final implementation report for the Operational Program "Regions in Growth" must be sent to the European Commission by February 15, 2026.
Jörg Lackenbauer from the European Commission was also present at the meeting and praised the Bulgarian team for quickly catching up on the initial delay in launching the program.
The Committee approved the methodology and criteria for two new procedures: "Support for Photovoltaic Systems in Enterprises" and "Pilot Energy Initiatives". Additionally, the Indicative Annual Work Program was updated until the end of 2025.
The total financial resource of 6.6 billion leva will be distributed among Bulgarian regions through eight new procedures to be announced by the end of the current year.