The Committee on Budget and Finance of the National Assembly has given the green light at the first reading to a bill amending the Law on the Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria. The proposal was adopted with 19 votes in favor from the members of the committee.

The legislative initiative, introduced by Dimitar Petrov of "Progressive Bulgaria" and a group of members of parliament, provides for an extension of the deadline for capital companies to fulfill their obligations. The change concerns the process of converting their capital from levs to euros in their articles of association, with the deadline being extended from 12 months to 36 months, effective from the official date of the introduction of the euro in the country.

A key focus of the project is to ease the administrative burden on business entities. It is envisaged that the updated regime will include the following steps:

  • The obligation to submit an updated statute, articles of association, or founding act to the Commercial Register will only arise when an amendment to the company's constituent act is required on other grounds.
  • The mandatory requirement to submit these documents simultaneously with the first subsequent application for registration, deregistration, or disclosure in the Commercial Register will be removed.

According to the sponsors, current regulations create a serious problem, as the requirement to present an amended articles of association effectively blocks companies from disclosing their annual financial statements for the relevant year. The expectations are that the proposed changes will lead to more efficient processing of submitted applications and optimize the workflow at the registry, given the anticipated decrease in the number of incoming documents.

During the meeting, positions from relevant institutions were also expressed. Deputy Minister of Justice Iva Kecheva and Executive Director of the Registry Agency Eliana Ilieva supported the "Progressive Bulgaria" project. They argued that having a fixed deadline for fulfilling this commitment would have a disciplining effect on businesses.

During the same debate, the Budget Committee voted "against" a similar bill introduced by Nadezhda Georgieva of "We Continue the Change" and a group of members of parliament. Her proposal provided for the complete removal of the deadline for converting articles of association from levs to euros.