Bulgaria's parliamentary budget and finance committee has backed a deal between the government and the International Bank for Economic Co-operation (IBEC) that settles all money claims and liabilities left over from Bulgaria's exit from the bank. Lawmakers voted 17 to 1, with no abstentions, to send the deal to parliament for ratification.

Under the deal, the bank will pay Bulgaria back the full amount it put into the bank's capital — 15.1 million euros — in instalments spread over 20 years, with payments growing each year. The details are set out in the cabinet's notes attached to the bill.

Deputy finance minister Metodi Metodiev presented the bill to the committee. He said Poland and the Czech Republic have already signed similar deals with the bank, while Slovakia and Romania are in the process of signing theirs.

Bulgaria left IBEC on 17 August 2023. Parliament had earlier passed a law pulling Bulgaria out of the agreements that set up the International Investment Bank and IBEC.

IBEC's governing council set the terms for settling accounts with departing member states on 23 January 2023. The terms apply to any country that has formally given notice it is leaving, and each country must sign its own separate deal with the bank.

Bulgaria's finance minister and bank representatives signed the final deal this spring.