Deputy Minister Vitanova: 8 new procedures under the 2021-2027 Development of Regions Programme will be announced for application by the end of 202

Bulgarian regions will have access to the full resource of BGN 6.6 billion for different types of investments

Eight new procedures under the 2021-2027 Development of Regions Programme will be announced for application by the end of the year, with which the entire resource of the programme will be agreed, amounting to nearly BGN 6.49 billion. This was announced in Kyustendil by the Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works and Head of the Managing Authority of the RDP 2021-2027, Jura Vitanova. She opened the 8th meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the European Programme. Deputy Minister Vitanova stressed to the participants that the implementation of the Regional Development Programme (RDP) 2021-2027 is making steady progress. A total of 22 projects have been approved under Priority 1 and Priority 2 of the Programme, for a total amount of BGN 333.7 million. Under Priority 4, which is financed by the Just Transition Fund, progress is more visible. There, all 129 financing contracts were concluded under the first announced procedure for the energy renovation of multi-family residential buildings, with a total value of BGN 192.5 million. ‘From Kyustendil District, 13 project proposals have been approved and contracts worth BGN 15.9 million have already been concluded,’ Deputy Minister Vitanova said.

 The 1957 project proposals submitted under the measure ‘Diversification and adaptation of small and medium-sized enterprises to the economic transition’ totalling over BGN 927.3 million, more than 4 times the budget under the procedure, are under evaluation.

The Director-General of the Directorate-General for Strategic Planning and Programmes for Regional Development at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, Asya Stankova, presented in detail the progress data for each of the Priorities of the RDP 2021-2027, as well as for the completion of the final two-phase projects implemented under the Operational Programme ‘Regions in Growth’ 2014-2020. The final report on the implementation of the OPRG 2014-2020 must be sent to the European Commission by 15 February 2026.

 The meeting was also attended by Jörg Lakenbauer, Programme Manager at the European Commission. He congratulated the Managing Authority of the RDP 2021-2027 for the fast pace at which the delay in the start of the programme was made up and wished the successful implementation to continue.

The members of the committee approved the presented Methodology and criteria for the upcoming announcement of two procedures under Priority 4 of the RDP 2021-2027 - "Support for photovoltaic systems and facilities in small and medium-sized enterprises" and "Pilot initiatives for energy communities and improving the energy efficiency of public buildings", as well as the amendment of the Indicative Annual Work Programme for the implementation of the RDP 2021-2027 by the end of 2025.